It is a sad indictment of the 2013 Singapore F1 Grand Prix when the two most talked about events happened post-race. While we cannot explain exactly why the crowd felt the need to boo race victor and multiple champion Sebastian Vettel we can go some way to explain the curious incident of Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso's post-race reprimands.
For those who missed it, Red Bull driver Webber retired on the final lap of the Singapore Grand Prix after his RB9 race car ran out of water and the engine set alight. After watching the action from the safety of the tyre barriers he entered the track to hail down a lift from Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, who proceeded to drive him back to the pits in a manner reminiscent of Ayrton Senna hitching a ride with Nigel Mansell at the 1991 British Grand Prix - or Felipe Massa hopping into Webber's car on the slowing down lap of the 2011 German race.
So why have Alonso and Webber been reprimanded?
Well, not for the 'taxi ride' anyway as there is nothing in the FIA rules that outlaws such shows of sportsmanship. It was the manner in which Webber hailed his cab that is the duo's undoing. For his part Alonso has been given a slap on the wrist for parking his Ferrari on the racing line of a blind corner to pick up his fare. Video exists showing both Mercedes drivers (Hamilton and Rosberg) having to take evasive action to avoid the stationary Ferrari, which they could not have seen until the last moment. While not running at race pace, the cars were still clocking speeds in excess of 80km/h through the corner and the last we checked F1 cars did not have to go through Euro NCAP pedestrian safety tests so had Webber been boarding the Ferrari from the right rather than the left he could have been struck by Hamilton's Mercedes.
Webber himself was hit with a charge of re-entering the race circuit without obtaining permission from the marshals. In fact the FIA charge says the marshals in attendance explicitly forbade him from entering a live track but Webber disputes this saying he did not speak to the marshals once the fire in his Red Bull's engine bay had been put out. This does not help the Australian's case though, as you can't really seek permission without talking to anyone.
Webber's punishment for the incident was the same 'slap on the wrists' reprimand as Alonso but as it was his third reprimand of the season a further punishment of a 10-place grid penalty for the next race in Korea was also imposed.
As a footnote, Derek Warwick - former F1 driver and one of the stewards in place in Singapore - is not averse to accepting a ride back to the pits in a competitor's car having hitched a ride with Gerhard Berger at the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix. This fact was not lost on Webber who tweeted a picture of the lift with the comment: "Looks like even one of the Singapore stewards has done it... #Cestlavie"