McLaren Hamilton appeal may be disallowed
Martin Whitmarsh said:
"Following our decision to register our intention to appeal the penalty handed out to Lewis Hamilton by the FIA Stewards at the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix, we hereby confirm that we have now lodged notice of appeal. Lewis describes the incident as follows."
Lewis Hamilton said:
"In the closing stages of the race I was catching Kimi consistently, lap by lap, and with three laps remaining I got close enough to attempt to overtake him on the entry to the last chicane. I managed to get slightly ahead of him in the braking area for the first apex of the chicane. He fought back approaching the second apex – but, in doing so, he left no room for me on the inside line. The only way for me to avoid a collision was therefore to cut inside the second apex. "
"I came out of the second apex in front of Kimi and so I momentarily lifted-off on the straight, to ensure that Kimi got back in front. The team also came on the radio and instructed me to allow Kimi to repass, which I had already done. As a result, Kimi crossed the start/finish line ahead of me and 6.7km/h quicker than me."
"After allowing Kimi to completely repass, I crossed from the left side of the track to the right side of the track, passing behind Kimi in the process. I then attacked Kimi on the inside of the first corner, and successfully outbraked him."
Martin Whitmarsh added:
"From the pit wall, we then asked Race Control to confirm that they were comfortable that Lewis had allowed Kimi to repass, and they confirmed twice that they believed that the position had been given back in a manner that was 'okay'."
"If Race Control had instead expressed any concern regarding Lewis's actions at that time, we would have instructed Lewis to allow Kimi to repass for a second time."
Statement ends
09/09/08 (GMM) McLaren may not proceed with its appeal against Lewis Hamilton's Belgian grand prix victory demotion, British newspapers report on Tuesday.
It is suggested that, amid uncertainty about the admissibility of a drive-through penalty appeal, the British team may instead simply turn its attention fully to this weekend's Italian grand prix and then the final four flyaway races of the season.
The Guardian newspaper said McLaren will make its final decision on Tuesday.
As per the requirements, the Mercedes powered team almost immediately notified the FIA that it intended to appeal the verdict, but then has more time to formalize the request with the governing body.
Former triple world champion Sir Jackie Stewart commented: "It's inconceivable that you shouldn't be able to appeal in a situation like this. It could affect the world championship's outcome."
McLaren officials are saying very little on the record about the saga, but Austrian great Niki Lauda – who raced both for Ferrari and McLaren – has revised his opinion that the FIA is not biased in favor of the Prancing Horse.
"I never believed those stories," he told Bild newspaper this week. "But it is clear to me now — Ferrari does get preference."
Another former racer, Germany's Hans-Joachim Stuck, added: "The pendulum clearly swings in the favor of Ferrari, and that has often been the case."
Also quoted on the matter is Sir Stirling Moss, a celebrated British driver of the 50s.
"I thought it was an absolutely appalling decision," he said.
Less surprising is that Stewart, 69, is robustly on McLaren's side, and the Scot has also used the occasion to renew his call for a panel of professional, permanent and highly-paid stewards.
"F1 attracts the largest capital investment in sport," he said, "but it's being overseen by people who are not doing it full time and we get inconsistent decisions."
09/08/08 (GMM) McLaren has eight days to officially lodge its appeal against the Lewis Hamilton penalty decision with the governing FIA, the German news agency SID reported on Monday.
The news was confirmed by a spokeswoman of the Paris based body.
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| It appears everything is being done possible to put the screws to Ron Dennis and his team. Perhaps Mosley thinks Dennis tipped the News of the World newspaper about Mosley's sexcapades and with Mosley, paybacks are a bitch. |
McLaren already announced its intention to appeal the 25-second penalty hours after the Belgian grand prix on Sunday, and the news was confirmed in the form of another team statement early on Monday.
The FIA's International Court of Appeal would then hear the appeal.
But it is suggested that the court's first task might be to assess whether the case is even admissible, because the Hamilton penalty was actually issued as a "drive through" that was unable to be served in the normal way because the incident occurred so late in the race.
Drive-through penalties cannot be appealed.
Referring to McLaren's appeal, an FIA official confirmed to the British newspaper The Times that he was "not sure if it would be admissible".
09/07/08 (GMM) McLaren has informed the stewards at Spa-Francorchamps of their intention to appeal the decision to strip Lewis Hamilton of victory at the Belgian grand prix, the FIA confirmed on Saturday evening.
The official news means the result will now remain provisional until a hearing of the International Court of Appeal.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa was declared the official winner of the Belgian grand prix after stewards issued championship leader Hamilton with a retrospective 25 second penalty.
The penalty, which would have been a drive-through had the incident not occurred so close to the end of the 44-lap race, turned his victory into third place.
Stewards deemed Hamilton did not properly allow Kimi Raikkonen to re-pass after overtaking the Ferrari driver by cutting the Bus Stop chicane with 3 laps to go.
Hamilton did let the Finn pass him after the chicane, but he then used the slipstream of the Ferrari to immediately launch a successful overtaking move at the next corner.
Ferrari, meanwhile, clarified that while team officials did attend the stewards' investigation, no official protest was lodged.