It is late afternoon in Europe. Where is the decision?
Unofficial word is: appeal rejected. Brazil result unchanged. Official confirmation awaited. Jonathan
It'll be interesting to read the rationale. It should actually be thrown out because of a procedural technicality (McLaren missed to protest the results of the race).
LOL Seriously, I don't like the sound of silence. This thing should have been decided within an hour and thrown out on a technicality. The longer this lasts the less good it sounds.
IMO, FIA has two choices: 1) Take away constructor points from BMW & Williams in Brazil, driver points as stands. Kimi wins the title or 2) Decided that driver and car are indeed one package, thus DQ BMW & Williams and their drivers in Brazil, but in doing so, they will have to DQ Alonso and Hamilton for the 2007 season all together. Kimi wins the title. If they do anything other than one or the other, what will follow in the F1 world will be unthinkable.
In all honesty - I think McLaren are getting screwed. Forget the stepneygate drama - and Yes I am glad Kimi is Champion. But in a normal year, the FIA would exclude these two teams and drivers immediately. just look at Canada 2004 when both Williams were disqualified for having brake ducts that were millimeters too large. Just my 2 lira. Kevin S. Orchard Park, NY (tifosi to the core)
FYI - Not official............. Court of Appeal rejects McLaren claim 16/11/2007 Although it has yet to be officially confirmed, we hear that the International Court of Appeal has rejected McLaren's appeal against the result of the Brazilian GP and that consequently the World Championship standings remain unchanged. We repeat, this has not been officially confirmed but does come from a very good source. http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=33411 _________________
Well - my point is - aside from the colossal f-up that was Stepneygate - they are getting screwed in this stand alone incident. Kevin
BTW - I believe that under British law they have to wait until after 12/31 to lower the boom on Mike Coughlan. I would expect a major civil suit against him by McLaren..........
A third option is to just fine BMW and Williams so there is a penalty for the infraction and be done with this season (and mess).
There is not clear criteria for this (as usual). In Brasil 95 they disqualified Benetton and Williams (a problem with gasoline too) but didn´t disqualify the drivers.
http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3213_2887295,00.html Kimi remains champ!! Wasn't too much of a surpirse. There are many ways to argue this but in the end it didn't look good for McLaren
The FIA International Court of Appeal met in London on Thursday, November 15, 2007, to examine an appeal lodged by the Motor Sports Association (MSA) on behalf of its licence-holder Vodafone McLaren Mercedes against the decision (document 41) of the Panel of the Stewards of the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix dated 21 October 2007 and counting towards the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. Following a report from the Technical Delegate indicating that the temperature of fuel pumped into the cars N°9 - Nick Heidfeld, N°10 - Robert Kubica, N°16 - Nico Rosberg and N°17 - Kazuki Nakajima, was more than 10 degrees centigrade below ambient temperature, the Stewards of the Meeting met to consider whether a penalty should be imposed. Having heard the evidence they decided not to impose a penalty as they had sufficient doubt as to both the temperature of the fuel on board the car and to the true ambient temperature. Having heard the explanations of both parties and having examined the various documents and other evidence, the Court decided that the appeal lodged by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is inadmissible. The International Court of Appeal was presided over by Mr Jan STOVICEK (Czech Republic), elected President, and composed of Mr John CASSIDY (United States), Mr Vassilis KOUSSIS (Greece) and Mr José MACEDO e CUNHA (Portugal). The full text of the International Court of Appeals decision is available, on request, from the secretariat of the FIA International Court of Appeal in Paris. Note: Unofficial document for media use, not binding on the International Court of Appeal.
"Appeal is inadmissible". As I thought, a technicality that killed the whole thing in the first place: McLaren cannot appeal simply because they forgot to protest the race results. Only an answer/decision from the FIA to such a protest could be appealed. Gee, they must feel really stupid now. PS: Had they allowed the appeal, there would be still the two can of worms of a) the temperature measured not at the nozzle (as the regulations claim it should be, but isn't) and b) two different temperature readings at the Brazilian GP (the one used by the FIA stewards, and the official one transmitted to the teams, both showing different temps). Forget the political implications of a McLaren Championship win, these two issues alone would have made the FIA look even more incompetent as Ferrari's lawyers would have fought them to the bitter end.
There was no way on earth the establishment (Bernie and friends) could let McLaren win. Letting Hamilton have the title would have been bad for the sport in a scandal ridden year. F1 should asterisk 2007* as the year of shame.
Great news, the decision was fair. Now Ron Dennis and his band of cheats can now settle down and try to rebuild the Mclaren name. They really pulled a boner this year.
As close to an asterisk-free champion as we're going to get from 2007. Ron and Lew, thanks for hanging on to those shreddies in China. That faint glimmer and the bag of neutrals in Brazil made things right. Finally, it's time to erect the tombstone for the year of accusation.
