You will notice in the picture that Stig is still in his lane. He came very close but never crossed the centerline. Risto unfortunately did cross the centerline and ran into the back of Stig's car, causing Risto to hit the throttle again which spun his car out of control and totaled his car.
The reason given for the disqualification of both times was from bracket racing rules that say "excessive braking that causes an accident is grounds for disqualification". The official that made that call had been drinking heavily and dissappeared when confronted about the drinking. The FIA "board" that upheld the ruling would not look at the photos, said they were relying on the track officials call of what they "thought they had seen". The officials also said they didn't fully understand the appeal because it was written in English, even though they were discussing it in English. The appeal basically said that the incident happened after the finish line, was not caused by excessive braking, and that Stig had not left his lane until being hit in the rear. Of course the three FIA board members were track personnel who had changed their shirts. And they refused to even allow the team to buy or look at a rule book.
Stig's car has been repaired and will run tomorrow. He lost points plus $4,000.00 for low qualifier because of the bogus ruling. The other drivers have stated that they do not understand the ruling either. I wonder if they will give the money to the team that earned it on the track.
Last year Stig brought a 2nd car with a new driver to the same track. They completed what they were told was required for his license to be valid, but when he ran quick enough to qualify and bump a Finnish driver, the track and FIA "officials" present refused to give him his license and threw out his run. A week later the FIA said the ruling was wrong but there was nothing they could do to correct the situation at that time.
