Tuesday 23rd September 2008

Hamilton Loses Appeal Over Belgian GP

FIA uphold 25 second penalty for cutting chicane

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Hamilton now leads by just one point

McLaren have lost their appeal against Lewis Hamilton's drive-through penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix, it has been reported. The British driver had been given a 25-second penalty for cutting a chicane at Spa but strongly fought the punishment at yesterday's FIA appeal in Paris.

Felipe Massa won the race after Hamilton was demoted to third. If the appeal had been successful Hamilton's lead in the championship would have increased from one point to seven. However the five judges upheld the penalty, leaving the championship wide open.

'Article 152 of the International Sporting Code states that drive-through penalties are "not susceptible to appeal",' the FIA said in a statement. 'Having heard the explanations of the parties, the court has concluded that the appeal is inadmissible.'

Following the decision Hamilton said: 'People will probably expect me to be depressed about today's result, but that isn't me,' said Hamilton. 'All I want to do now is put this matter behind me and get on with what we drivers do best: racing each other. We're racers, we're naturally competitive and we love to overtake. Overtaking is difficult, and it feels great when you manage to pull off a great passing manoeuvre. If it pleases the spectators and TV viewers, it's better still. So I'm disappointed, yes, but not depressed.'

Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren's chief operating officer, added: 'We are naturally disappointed with today's verdict, and to have received no ruling on the substance of our appeal. No-one wants to win Grands Prix in court; but we felt that Lewis had won the Belgian Grand Prix, on track, in an exciting and impressive manner.'

[andyuk911]

Oh sod ... well we all knew they would never over rule ...

[sniff diesel]

Can't say I'm suprised with the result TBH.

[Mad Jock]

So, it's now easy to cobble a championship result. Make sure that any cars other than Ferrari get a drive through penalty, and it doesn't seem to matter whether the drive through is actually performed, or just time added at the end of the race, the result will always stand because it can't be appealed. Result!
Only needs to be applied if Ferrari are losing a race, in the interests of appearing to be impartial.
Appeals lost on technicalities only apply to teams other than Ferrari. No penalty for Massa in Vallencia. I seem to recall that Schumacher only fell foul of the FIA when he was a Benneton driver, but never(?) when with Ferrari.
The obvious solution to end all this is for all the other teams to paint their cars red.
Cynical? Moi?

[PPPPPP]

This is silly. Drive through penalties have to be un-appealable because you cannot know what would have happened if the driver had not done the drive through (which is physical and actually happened, rather than calculated after the event).
Once the drive through has been converted to a calculated time penalty, it is no longer a drive through and there is no reason for it not to be appealed.

[IforB]

Not exactly a surprise though is it. Whilst I think it's an absolute farce at least you can say the FIA are consistent in their decision making.

What a crock.

[the_hood]

I think it's a fair result. Hamilton gained momentum by cuttin the chicane. He possibly would've still been able to overtake if he'ls waited, seeing as the Ferrari is a bit of a pig to drive in the wet.

[RacerMDR]

i went to the BTCC at the weekend - it was fantastic!

after over 20 years of F1 watching - i'm now done with the cheating farce.

My time and money will go to the BTCC and MotoGP.

Its a shame for Lewis that he is in F1 - he deserves to be somewhere honest, honourable and more competitive.

[IforB]

the_hood said:

I think it's a fair result. Hamilton gained momentum by cuttin the chicane. He possibly would've still been able to overtake if he'ls waited, seeing as the Ferrari is a bit of a pig to drive in the wet.

Nice to see that someone has the same understanding of physics as the FIA does on the reality of what a "racing" series really means.

[Bombjack]

PPPPPP said:

This is silly. Drive through penalties have to be un-appealable because you cannot know what would have happened if the driver had not done the drive through (which is physical and actually happened, rather than calculated after the event).
Once the drive through has been converted to a calculated time penalty, it is no longer a drive through and there is no reason for it not to be appealed.

In the real world (as opposed to the FIA mirror-reality) judges are only supposed to make interpretations of law based on intention of the law-writer when the law itself is ambiguous. The law the Court chose to focus on is not ambiguous. That the law is badly drafted in achieving the purpose it was made for is not their concern.

The Court's failure in my opinion is in failing to consider the precedent of the previous ruling (Liuzzi-Sutil) - there they did have discretion. I don't see why lack of opposition to a ruling makes it any less of a ruling when it comes to precedent.

[Callan.T89]

FIA = BS

[gopher cough]

2009 season, the FIA has promised to clean up its act and there will be no more controversial decisions, both Ferrari drivers will start on 30 points, then the stewards can hand out fair decisions instead of a huge bias to the posh fiats.

anyone going to any of the last 4 GP's should hang up a huge white sheet with 'lewis won spa' on it for the TV cameras

[GBRM]

How can they waste a day in court and the outcome be it's appealable and then waste another day listening to the appeal and the end result is tough, it's not appealable??!! Have I missed something?

[waynepixel]

How they come to the point of inadmissible is beyond me, they had all the evidence in black and white, and the technical data as well. But am I surprised about the FIA decision, NO.

[Dizi]

FIA - Ferrari International Assistance.

Bah

[bad_roo]

Having heard how he conducted himself in the appeal, I'm glad the cocky little braggart got nothing.

And I will probably cheer Kimi on for the rest of the season.

[FNG]

Yes you're right, he should know his place.

The lawyers are far more important than the drivers after all.

[bobd]

Well FIA you should be ashamed! I have never heard such a biased load of crap in all my life. The man gained an advantage returned the status quo and then passed fairly. Next corner interpretation has been given to justify a wrong doing by the FIA.
When will these idiots understand that the public wish to see entertaining racing with an across the board fairness applied.
I am not upset because its Lewis, but because its one rule for one team and a different set for the rest.
FIA get your house in order for 2009

[Dagnut]

little arrogant sh!!t...

transcript from court

[I]""I have been a racing driver since I was eight years old and I know pretty much every single manoeuvre in the book, and that's why I'm the best at my job.

"We are talking about a skilled driver under intense pressure making a split-second decision which no-one, not unless they are in Formula One, can comprehend."

Tozzi told Hamilton to "stop personalising" the issue as he was under instruction from Ferrari, who "know as much about Formula One as you do".

Hamilton responded: "With respect, I doubt it."[/I]



you what son?

[kevin ritson]

Dagnut said:

little arrogant sh!!t...

transcript from court

[I]""I have been a racing driver since I was eight years old and I know pretty much every single manoeuvre in the book, and that's why I'm the best at my job.

"We are talking about a skilled driver under intense pressure making a split-second decision which no-one, not unless they are in Formula One, can comprehend."

Tozzi told Hamilton to "stop personalising" the issue as he was under instruction from Ferrari, who "know as much about Formula One as you do".

Hamilton responded: "With respect, I doubt it."[/I]



you what son?

Bitter little failure are you?

[Scuffers]

Dagnut said:

little arrogant sh!!t...

transcript from court

[I]""I have been a racing driver since I was eight years old and I know pretty much every single manoeuvre in the book, and that's why I'm the best at my job.

"We are talking about a skilled driver under intense pressure making a split-second decision which no-one, not unless they are in Formula One, can comprehend."

Tozzi told Hamilton to "stop personalising" the issue as he was under instruction from Ferrari, who "know as much about Formula One as you do".

Hamilton responded: "With respect, I doubt it."[/I]
LOL!

you what son?

sorry, but I think he is in a better possition to say this than some lawyer or you for that matter...

Edited by Scuffers on Tuesday 23 September 17:43