There has been much talk of the Toyota appeal against the penalty handed out to Trulli for overtaking under the yellow flags in Melbourne. It seems that the version of events I assumed in my post yesterday was correct - at least, F1-Live (courtesy of GMMF1) seems to think so. Trulli did indeed go off the circuit after the yellows went out and so it could be said that he was merely taking back his rightful position in overtaking Hamilton.
The relevant moment - Hamilton goes by as Trulli rejoins
Unfortunately, the rules do not cover rights and wrongs when a car is off circuit during a safety car period. They permit overtaking of a car that is slowing because it has a problem but say nothing about whether this includes off-track excursions. Much depends on the answer to this question, therefore.
The stewards are ducking the issue by saying that the case would not be heard by the WMSC as 25-second penalties cannot be appealed against. They have to take that view because the WMSC so famously ruled that way in McLaren's appeal on the Spa penalty last year. And now we can see how the FIA's avoidance of important and result-affecting issues can come back to haunt them.
The Trulli incident has pointed out a serious weakness in the safety period regulation; in failing to cover the possibility of cars leaving the circuit and re-joining, it creates a grey area where the teams and drivers have no idea of correct procedure. Hence McLaren's playing safe in allowing Trulli to re-take his position - they have experienced the FIA's rough version of justice often enough to be wary of any possible interpretation of the rules.
Some are saying that Toyota could have done the same by querying the situation with the Clerk of the Course, Charlie Whiting. Unfortunately, McLaren has shown that this is pointless, the stewards being quite capable of disregarding whatever Charlie has said before.
This is an unacceptable situation for the teams, drivers, fans and the sport. The gap in the regulations has been highlighted and it should be filled as soon as possible by adding off-track excursions to the list of exceptions in which cars can overtake under yellows. It could be argued that this is a matter of safety and so the FIA could make such an amendment immediately, especially as there would be no dissension from the teams - they are always in favor of anything that makes the rules clearer.
Thanks to the idiocy of the WMSC's decision that 25-second penalties cannot be reversed, however, this is not going to happen. The safety period rules will not be examined and nothing will be done as usual. Toyota might as well recognize the futility of their appeal and accept the situation as it stands.
And the sport will have to continue as before, knowing that there are grey areas in these regulations and others - cooling of the fuel springs to mind as does the definition of leaving the track. It is frustrating that all of these matters could so easily be cleared up with a few alterations to the rules and yet the FIA seems blind to the need.
It matters not that I think justice has been done inadvertently this time. The fact is that Trulli made a mistake and had to go off-track; if he paid for it by losing a place, that is only fair. By penalizing the Toyota driver, the stewards have actually agreed with this, apparently lumping off-circuit excursions with the slowing-car rule. But the point is that nothing has been clarified and the next time something similar happens, the stewards could decide entirely differently.
It is blatantly obvious that many of the sport's regulations need to be amended and updated but the FIA fail again and again to attend to the matter, preferring to fiddle with unnecessary introductions such as the two-tire per race rule. One is left wondering when the sport will gain a governing body that cares first for justice and racing, rather than how to jazz up "the show".