FIA confirms McLaren appeal
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was crowned at Interlagos last Sunday, but if three cars had been excluded by stewards for allegedly using illegally cold fuel, Lewis Hamilton would have scored enough points to beat the Finn.
McLaren is appealing the stewards' decision to not penalize both Williams and BMW-Sauber cars even though scrutineers identified a discrepancy.
FIA president Max Mosley, however, is downplaying the possibility of Hamilton being handed the title on appeal.
"You could argue whether McLaren had a right to appeal the stewards' judgment," he is quoted as saying by the British broadsheet newspaper The Guardian.
"They could have protested the result of the race but they didn't. But even if the cars classified ahead of Hamilton would be excluded, would this change his position?
"The court of appeal will have to rule on that," Mosley added.
10/26/07 The International Court of Appeal will hear McLaren's appeal against the decision of the Brazilian GP race stewards on Thursday 15 November. The stewards decided not to punish BMW Sauber and Williams for the fuel temperature discrepancy that was discovered after the race.
10/23/07 (GMM) F1's governing body confirmed on Tuesday that McLaren intends to appeal the 'cool fuel' issue.
Despite both team drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso publicly not supporting the decision to revisit the outcome of the world championship, the FIA published a statement confirming receipt of the 'Notification of Appeal' on behalf of McLaren.
The appeal "is against the decision of the Stewards of the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix, made at 21.35 hrs on October 21st 2007 (document number 41), that it was inappropriate to impose a penalty on cars 9, 10, 16 and 17", the FIA statement read.
Mercedes-Benz competition director Norbert Haug on Tuesday denied that the outfit is appealing because it cannot accept losing the drivers' title to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
"We just want to get some clarifications on the contents of the regulations and this is in the interest of every team," the German said in a press statement.