I think a one race ban for LH would have been appropriate.
Perfectly fair result. LET'S MOVE ON! Kimi's Ferrari showed decent in Bahrain. New aero packages coming for most teams. The emergence of Vettel (and Webber?) as genuine contenders for wins. I have a feeling the rest of the year is just going to get better and better. I'm looking forward to seeing some great racing and leaving the politics behind! Oh, and by the way... GO KIMI!!!
I dont like LH but i think it would have done the sport no good. Obviously he lied to the stewards and got of lightly, I personally think he & the team got the right punishment and will make them think twice about pulling a fast one now.
+1 Now let's have at least one Toyota win and then a Renault Alonso win (somewhere) and then Ferrari and McLaren as well. That'd be what, six different teams in one year?
The Ferret himself said it best, "If you never lie to the stewards, you have nothing to worry about " and " That ? Oh , you mean THAT ? It's for engine cooling......... " Image Unavailable, Please Login
Actually, your facts are a little off. Bernie decides to run a race late, not the FIA. The stewards were stupid, they believed Hamilton and Ryan. How can any rational person believe anyone at McLaren?? I believe it was the guys at SpeedTV that brought the recordings to Whitings attentions. You see Whiting has been "instructed to avois any bad publicity for F1, so he figured the folks at McLaren were being honest. Now with the tapes being made public, what choice did Whiting have? And certainly with the tapes playing in the background like elevator music, Hamilton and Ryan could have decided to be honest. But they chose to be typical McLaren, and intentionally lied. So how do you blame the actions of these two on the FIA? Not sue how the FIA would be embarrassed if the facts are that Hamilton and Ryan lied. The coincidental departure of Ron Dennis sure smells, but the fact is, he is thankfully gone. Every artical I have read so far today on this subject is critical of the FIA's leniancy in this matter, in which I agree with the decision for the IMMEDIATE good of the sport. Mosley has spoken to the criticism by stating that he personally did not feel the penalty was light. Well, OK. Frankly it was overly lenient. You do not lie to the stewards and it does not matter if it took four months later for the truth to come out, expect to be blasted. If this were Ferrari, we would hear nothing but jeers of favoritism. But it was the correct decision. This time. It was not necessary for the stewards to cover their butts, except that next time they should not believe what anyone at any team tells them. Shame on them for trusting young Hamilton and 30+ year McLaren employee Ryan. McLaren, Ryan, Hamilton, and whomever, shot themselves in the foot. The FIA had nothing to do with McLaren's dishonesty. Neither did Max nor Bernie. That is silly to believe this. Even McLaren/Hamilton fans finally have to admit this. Having to deal with the lying was a problem for the FIA knowing that any decision would not please everybody, as we see inthis forum. But ignoring it would be sending the absolute wrong message.
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has thanked the FIA for its treatment of the team in today's World Motor Sport Council hearing. The team was charged with five breaches of the FIA's Sporting Code, receiving a three-race ban suspended for 12 months after accepting all the charges. The decision to suspend the penalty was made because of the team's conduct in addressing the cultural problems that led then-sporting director Dave Ryan and Lewis Hamilton to mislead the stewards over whether he had let Toyota's Jarno Trulli past under safety car conditions in Australia. Whitmarsh, who appeared briefly at this morning's hearing in Paris before leaving, repeated his apology for the team's conduct and insisted that it had taken steps to ensure that it would never happen again. "I would like to thank the FIA World Motor Sport Council members for affording me the opportunity to answer their questions this morning," said Whitmarsh. "We are aware that we made serious mistakes in Australia and Malaysia, and I was therefore very glad to be able to apologise for those mistakes once again. "I was also pleased to be able to assure the FIA World Motor Sport Council members that we had taken appropriate action with a view to ensuring that such mistakes do not occur again." (Call me a sucker, but I like this guy. This took balls, and admission of responsibility. At least there is one person on the McLaren team that has them. I really think McLaren will return to the days of Bruce and then Teddy)
I'm just befuddled about this entire thing, honestly I really do not think they could make it any more confusing. I understand what has happened, but I really don't understand why. Then again we are talking about the FIA and chances are the answer to the why question is "because we can" or "we felt like it".
Good post. The decision was overly lenient taken on its own-factor in the scandal and $100M fine imposed less than 2 years ago on this same team the decision is a joke. Ryan is gone yes but LH also lied and should sit out a race to let him think things over. FIA dropped the ball again.
That's the point I left out -- the late hour and the rushed hearing is probably what made McLaren think they could get away with "revising the facts". There's a difference? How often has FIA told Bernie to buzz off, when it comes to F1? (Okay, maybe that should have read F1Mgt or FOM, rather than FIA.) (Not that FIA is making good decisions, either. Seen what they've done to WRC?) But my issue is that the stewards had conflicting verbal reports -- like that doesn't happen all the time? But instead of investigating fully, they cut it short and picked McLaren to believe. If they'd just left it alone, Trulli would have gotten third. Instead, they penalized Trulli 25 sec. Wrongly. It's only because they found that their initial decision was wrong that they were forced to go back and blame McLaren for causing them to mess up the initial decision. That's the whole reason this lie turned into a scandal instead of just another conflicting report. Ask yourself: if the stewards had heard the radio transmissions when rendering their original decision, what would that decision have been? To haul McLaren and Hamilton into a scandal? Or to just say, "you did let him pass, so he keeps the position". If they'd done their work fully, the stewards probably wouldn't have changed the results from the way the race actually ended. Trulli would have gotten 3rd, Hamilton would have gotten 4th. But the late hour contributed to them doing a rush job, instead. McLaren was penalized for lying: they didn't even get 4th. Which is probably more of a penalty than they'd have gotten if the lie had been discovered on the spot. So what should McLaren be punished for: for lying, or for lying *convincingly*? (Or for lying to those rushed and gullible enough to believe them?) The point is that it wasn't just McLaren who "brought the sport into disrepute". They had lots of help, there. Well, Bernie, then: between the rushed decision, and then having to call the Malaysian GP due to darkness, the whole notion of late races *should* be an embarrassment. It just wasn't thought through.
Laughable, Ahh It's a shame isn't it! the FIA have pulled the plug on Ferrari International Assistance. Boohoo It just proves even more what a joke the FIA are.
Nothing directly, but indirectly: 100 mil fine = absurd,v slap on the wrist this time = no logic based on previous?? Ferrari don't benefit, hence you as a fan upset, the hammer didn't come down harder this time. Other factors Max v RD, Ferrari benefits. FOTA(headed by Luca) v FIA Diffusers v Ferrari overuled, Budget cap v Ferrari, Luca does not want. Mclaren on parole in Max's pocket = FOTA spilt = divide and conquer. FIA gets it's way.
S-you must have me confused with imperiale(?)! Mclaren ultimately does everything to itself.. although FIA is totally inconsistent in its rules...let's make racing cheaper but introduce new tech like KERS; let's take away all of MS's points for trying to take out JV but let AS keep his after taking out AP in Japan 1990....I (we) can go on all day about inconsistent rules applications in all sports...but the facts here are both LH and McL lied and only came clean AFTER they were to going to be exposed just as RD came clean after FA threatened to expose that debacle 2 years ago. In addition I said hammy should sit out for a race, although one can argue his DQ from the race was a sufficent enough penalty.
Sorry for ranting off at you not my real intention, I really don't like folk that think the FIA run the sport in a fair manner, when it suits them. Is it any coincidence that RD resigned before the kangaroo court was held, and Whitmarsh was goveling, I'am F1 anti establishment because, IMO the ones running the sport are the biggest liar's and hyprocites in it!. And we all end up barking up the wrong tree because of it, confusion in the sport reigns supreme , why : it gives Max and his cretins carte blanche to do what he wants, thats the way he likes it... This lastest farce has IMO just highlighted that his personal vendetta with RD influenced the supposed penalties, in other words grovel to Max, don't disagree, or you will suffer.
I think Mr Enzo Ferrari would be proud of LH. Enzo was known for being a tough man, who said- "if you're not cheating, your not trying hard enough". Ferrari was all for cheating, but he'd get pissed if you were sloppy enough to get caught. Lets not pretend any of these teams are angels
They are not angels and when they do get caught they should get punished. If it were Ferrari the outcry would be amazing. Mclaren is right there with them, a top team. They CONSPIRED to lie and got caught even after Whiting gave them a chance to come clean. The actual FIA imposed suspended sentence is a joke. The more I think about it, more should have been done. If it were Ferrari what do you think other teams would want? The maximum and rightfully so. Mclaren walked on this and paid nothing. Joke.
When the FIA can't change the results to make for better TV ratings...they lose interest. If Ferrari or McLaren had a chance to win, either was running away with the points, or anywhere near the lead.... the FIA was going to even the score and level the table with punishments. (aka- keep the TV ratings high) Since both teams are mid-pack at the moment... the FIA and all their fake outcry of disgust..... gets no real punishment because a punishment for McLaren at this point would hurt TV ratings. (they were just waiting to see of LH won that last race and needed his points corrected)
+1 Aha yes someone else that can see the light. It simply amazes me folk on here on there high and mighty moral horse's, talking as if this is the biggest crime in F1's history, I suggest they read up on F1 history, it's littered with it.
Sure there is politics and money. As in all things. Check with Stirling Moss and his disappointment with LH.
If Mclaren gets caught again they enter new territory.... Triple secret Super Probation. When will it end ? Someone think of the children.
Really ? They got caught because of LH's interview with a reporter who passed his comments to the race stewards. Who had/have Mclaren under a microscope per Mad Max. No other team operates under this scrutiny. Do you honestly believe this crap doesnt happen every race ? As I've said before its the FIA who was under scrutiny with this decision. By FOTA.
Yeesh, so I read the updated report on F1 and have been catching up with you guys. Sounds like we still stand with a handslap? And if they do it again in 12 months then they're out for 3 races... maybe? Oooh, I feel an FIA triple-dog-dare coming on!! http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/5/9297.html
Max and Bernie have now actually come out and declaired that they are full of crap. What we need is a new series where the constructors set the rules by majority vote.
