107pc rule to keep slow cars ’out’ in 2011 - Whiting

Hispania will be excluded from more grands prix in 2011 if the struggling Spanish team does not up its pace.

That is the suggestion of FIA race director Charlie Whiting, after the untested F111 car did not get within 107 per cent of the Q1 provisional pole time in Melbourne.

The 107pc rule has returned in 2011 following the debut of three less competitive teams last year, with the Virgin cars only narrowly qualifying at Albert Park.

HRT’s Colin Kolles argued after qualifying that Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi should be allowed to race "under exceptional circumstances", but the stewards did not agree.

Given the 107pc rule, stewards may permit a driver who has not qualified to race if for example he has set "a suitable laptime in a free practice session".

But Whiting is quoted by Gulf News: "If you’re out, you’re out."