(read all three of these articles from autosport) McLaren are to press ahead with their appeal against Lewis Hamilton's Belgian Grand Prix penalty, the team confirmed on Tuesday. Hamilton was handed a 25-second time penalty after the race stewards deemed that he had gained an unfair advantage by cutting a chicane in his battle with Kimi Raikkonen. On Sunday night the team notified the FIA that they intended to appeal, but they have weighed up whether or not to continue with the action over the past 48 hours. The team issued a statement on Tuesday stating that they were to continue with the action, which will now go to the FIA's International Court of Appeal. McLaren's F1 CEO 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." **************** Surinder Thathi, one of the three stewards who handed down the 25-second penalty to Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix, has denied any talk of a conspiracy against McLaren. Hamilton was dropped from first to third after race officials deemed he had gained an advantage by cutting a chicane in his battle with then leader Kimi Raikkonen. But the decision to strip him of victory has caused huge controversy, and led to accusations from fans and the media that there is a bias in the sport against McLaren. However, Thathi insists that the stewards only handed the penalty down because they believed there had been a clear breach of the rules. "There was no conspiracy against anybody, McLaren included," Thathi, who comes from Kenya, told news agency Reuters. "We acted professionally and within the FIA rules. Hamilton took a short cut inside of the corner while off the track." He added: "We had a choice to mete out a time penalty or 10 grid places in the next grand prix race. We opted for the former and handed a time penalty of 25 seconds. "I know I am a very unpopular person in the United Kingdom now, but then I was doing my job and I know I acted professionally." ******* McLaren have revealed that they were told twice by FIA race officials during the Belgian Grand Prix that Lewis Hamilton had given back the race lead to Kimi Raikkonen in an 'okay' manner. With the team confirming on Tuesday that they were pressing ahead with their appeal against Hamilton's 25-second penalty for gaining an unfair advantage, McLaren's F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh claims that the team enquired twice with Race Control whether or not their driver had acted in a legitimate manner. Hamilton was given the penalty after cutting across the Bus Stop chicane while attempting to pass Kimi Raikkonen for the lead with three laps to go. Whitmarsh said: "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." Hamilton has confirmed that he definitely backed off as he exited the chicane to allow Raikkonen to retake the lead, prior to choosing to make a move at La Source hairpin. "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," he said. "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 6.7 km/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."
He continues to indict himself again. Where is it written that Kimi owes him any room at all. Felipe left none in Hungary LH!!! You drag race Kimi down the stretch until the team TELLS you to back off - only to quickly draft and cross rather than clearly yield. A well coached mouthpiece he is. His move to allow Kimi to repass was to merely attack on the inside. He had hundreds of meters to let that happen way before. All he had to do was back off as kimi exited the turn. He didnt hence the penalty. Case closed for now at least. Appeal pending.
Does it really matter Ron? Any racing fan with reasonble inteligence can easily conclude the Lewis made no attempt to brake and took the easy and shortest route back to the track. He DID NOT give back all of the lead that he would otherwise not have had if he had even touched the brakes to avoid Kimi. Its so obvious. Why even continue the discussions on about half a dozen threads?
That it doesn't matter what Hamilton did or if they appeal. My opinion is that he cheated, but who cares. The FIA has made their decision and the boys at McLaren are going to have to swallow it.
Steve, You have to give the guy a break - he was wrong so many times on so many things and got called out on them (the KERS thread in this very forum) that when the stewards at the race agree with his opinion (even though race control and a vast majority of fans disagree with it), he's going to parade out how he's "right" as if he's just discovered the cure for cancer. He'll be dining out on this one for months. Not to worry - everyone saw what happened, who won, and all we can do now is wait to see if the corrupt and scandalous Mosley takes time away from hookers and chains to do the right thing.... oh, wait
I can see how the 25second penalty would have been appropriate had Kimi stayed on the track and finished 2nd. The reason being that he supposedly would have finished 1st had the chicane not been cut by Lewis. But since Kimi crashed, Lewis would have finished 1st anyway. The correct action at that point became a 10 grid spot penalty. By imposing the time penalty instead, they handed the race to Massa who was never in a position to win. IMO, it just goes to show the bias they have against McLaren or, at the very least, the incompetence and bad judgement of the race stewards.
