Hey, Originally posted deep in an Aprils fools thread - This could be significant: Gotta love F1! David - Sorry for the hijack, I just thought it deserved it's own thread. Cheers, Ian
Apparently, Hamilton claims that he was busy reading instructions from the Safety car on the dash, which caused him to slow up and let Trulli pass. Trulli's pass is what got him the 25 second penalty, costing him 3rd place. But, the investigation is looking at the possibility that the message should have been cleared long before the incident and also that McLaren told Hamilton to intentionally slow up. If the dash message can be proved to have been cleared long before the incident, then you would have to question Hamilton's honesty here. But, that's a BIG IF. This should be interesting.... At least it's not a typical "Ferrari/McLaren" conspiracy!
Thank you .... It appears the answer to this is here: The FIA has apparently now got a copy of McLaren's radio transmissions from the race, which were recorded by its equipment, but not heard live by officials in race control. So we have to wait and see..
I have a feeling Mclaren told LH to let Trulli pass, probably because Mclaren are scared of getting hit by a penalty, if so the fine is wrong, or at least to harsh but again no one is sure what's what. The sad part is already the board room is deciding the results..
Now IIRC every car is under a timed limit for circulating the track under the SC. If McLaren thought that Hamilton was going too fast and would cross the start finish line too soon they very well have told him to slow up.
Thanks. I should have started a new thread myself. I read it on Manipe this afternoon. Think that the FIA should institute a new rule stipulating that no race can be run before the last one is "over"?
(The heading of this thread does not seem appropriate, no one knows if anyone lied intentionally) FROM AUTOSPORT: Lewis Hamilton is to be summoned before the FIA stewards on Thursday afternoon in Sepang in order to clarify why Jarno Trulli passed him under safety car conditions in Australia, AUTOSPORT has learned. An FIA spokesman has confirmed that stewards from the Australian Grand Prix will reconvene to evaluate further evidence not available at the time of the initial inquiry - which took place after the race last weekend. Hamilton was promoted to third place in the results after Trulli was concluded to have passed him under safety car conditions, on lap 57, and was given a 25s penalty that dropped him from third to 12th. However, if Hamilton is deemed not to have provided all the details of the incident in the initial inquiry, he may face sanctions. While Trulli could be reinstated to third place in the Melbourne results, despite Toyota dropping its appeal. Over the past few days, the FIA is believed to have unearthed new evidence including its recording of the McLaren radio conversations, which were not being monitored live and thus played no part in the original inquiry. Hamilton passed Trulli when the Toyota driver slid off at the penultimate corner but the pair swapped positions later in the lap. The recording allegedly provides fresh insight into the matter and the stewards want to check if it aligns with Hamilton's version of events. Hamilton was quoted by SpeedTV as saying: "I was behind Trulli under the safety car, and clearly you're not allowed to overtake under the safety car. But he went off in the second to last corner, he went wide on the grass, I guess his tyres were cold. And I was forced to go by. I slowed down as much as I could. I was told to let him back past, but I mean... I don't know if that's the regulations, and if it isn't, then I should have really had third." McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh told the BBC after the Australian Grand Prix: "At the end, under the safety car, Trulli fell off onto the grass and Lewis had no choice but to go past him, he was not on the racing circuit. "Trulli then re-took the place under the safety car, which ordinarily you wouldn't do so I know that the FIA are looking at it at the moment and doubtless we'll have a ruling in due course," he added. Trulli said that Hamilton was so slow that he appeared to be in trouble. "When the safety car came out towards the end of the race Lewis Hamilton passed me but soon after he suddenly slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road," said the Italian. "I thought he had a problem so I overtook him as there was nothing else I could do
So much for ....LH is lucky!!!! Well I'am keen to hear what was said, and how the FIA arrived at this yet again!! turn round, they stated they would let us know how they come to these decision's, I fear I will be waiting a long time. The 1st friking race and we have the results changed ...twice within a week!!!
The whole matter could have been resolved much earlier, I wonder why they didn't listen to the team radio recordings right after the race when they decided to penalize Trulli in the first place??
From: http://twitter.com/Jamesallenonf1 I think it's ridiculous. I also thought it was ridiculous that they demoted Trulli in the first place. They should not be able to change race results more than 5 minutes after the end. If someone cheats and gets found out later they should suffer a penalty at the next race, but the results from a race should be final and locked once the podium ceremony has taken place.
Agreed Florian, it really makes me ill, I'am not defending LH or Mclaren on by this, but what I really feel the problem is, my bet is that they just didn't know what to do for the best, to avoid getting a penalty, and yet they they end up with one!! If it wasn't for BrawnGP this year!!, Argghhhh ...the FIA arrghhhhhhhhh