Hamilton punishment whips up another F1 storm
Formula One faced familiar accusations of shooting itself in the foot on Monday after McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was stripped of a sensational Belgian Grand Prix win.
"This is the worst judgement in the history of F1," fulminated former champion and television commentator Niki Lauda after race stewards handed McLaren's championship leader a retrospective 25-second penalty that dropped him to third place.
"It's absolutely unacceptable when three (stewards) influence the championship like this," the Austrian told German reporters.
After a processional European Grand Prix in Valencia, and against a backdrop of concern about the lack of thrills and overtaking, Hamilton's winner-takes-all duel with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in Spa had given the sport exactly what it wanted.
The fans left hailing a stirring Hamilton victory only to find out hours later that Ferrari's Felipe Massa was the victor.
Britain's tabloid newspapers bellowed an entirely predictable chorus of outrage, after what had been hailed as one of the greatest wins of the 23-year-old Briton's career.
"Just when you thought F1 couldn't get any more ridiculous..," declared the Daily Mail in a back page headline.
"Instead of celebrating one of the greatest duels of recent times, revelling in true genius by Raikkonen and Hamilton and lauding a remarkable win, that same old stench emanated from Formula One," said the Daily Mirror in a race report.
MCLAREN APPEAL
Hamilton was penalised after he cut the chicane in the heat of battle with Raikkonen and emerged ahead of the Finn. Although he let the Ferrari regain the lead on the straight, he then immediately emerged from its slipstream to overtake.
Raikkonen was struggling in the wet and Hamilton would undoubtedly have passed him further down the road had he waited longer, but stewards ruled nonetheless that he had gained an advantage in that incident.
McLaren have said they intend to appeal but whether or not they can do so remains to be decided by the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) with a date yet to be set for any hearing.
That will mean Hamilton heading to Monza next weekend for Ferrari's home grand prix, and the last race in Europe this year, with only a two-point lead over the Italian team's Brazilian Massa.
If Massa wins in front of the massed ranks of Ferrari fans, he could take the lead in the championship only to have it taken away again on appeal if McLaren are successful.
Last season was also dominated by off-track action.
McLaren were stripped of all their points and fined $100 million by the FIA after a festering spying controversy over Ferrari data in their possession.
Then, after a battle that went down to the wire with Raikkonen taking the title by a single point, fans went away from the final race in Brazil unsure who was champion pending a McLaren appeal.
For Hamilton, the only thing to do is beat the Ferraris on their home turf and keep ahead of them to the end of the championship.
"It is just going to be a very tough fight but I will do everything I can to make sure I come to the next race just as strong, if not stronger," he said before the stewards' verdict.
"I know I can get stronger, so we as a team are going to do that and we are going to keep on improving."
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J Micallef
Sep 9th 2008, 09:25
@Andy Corbet - some of my best friends are italians (sicilians, actually) and we really have fun together - but we simply dont mention F1 or soccer. They're such bad losers.
@N. Schembri - if ferrari didn't want their info to leak, they should be careful who to employ. Spying? What happened when Ross Brawn went to Honda - did Montezemolo brain wash him from all his knowledge and experience at Ferrari??
Hamilton only gave Kimi the same advantage he had before the chicane - the fact that he took advantage of the slipstream is just a coincidence - it could have been a slow corner, and no one would have spoken a word against the 'ragazzo' (Ferrari's words).
And please remember the french GP this year when Kimi's exhaust was detached and hung only by a cable - he was not called to the pits to have it removed or fixed 'cos he was in front!! Imagine it detaching itself @ 300kph!! Absolutely no concern to safety, no mechanical defect flag...sigh...
Matthew Scerri
Sep 8th 2008, 23:43
@Noel Grixti D'Amato - please do as you say and go see Hungarian GP 2006 and Japanese GP 2007. closing stages. or any Canadian GP for that matter. Suzuka 2005 is the only time i know where the FIA made the driver slow down for cutting a chicane even if he already let him by (even less than lewis did yesterday). and they later half officially said they were wrong for making him give up his position twice. guess who the driver was? Fernando Alonso. not really FIA's favourite boy.
Noel Grixti D'Amato
Sep 8th 2008, 20:45
To all those that are saying that lewis let kimi pass:
Please see again the race and you will see that he let him pass infront, only when they were near the finish line!!! then see other races when the driver that cuts a corner, has to immediately allow the other driver to pass!!!
Obviously lewis didnt do it cos he would have lost all the engine power and would not have been able to pass at the end of the straight. he should have tried on the next lap. he is showing lack of experience.
can mclaren try to win simply regularly??? have you all forgot last year spy story???
Chris.Borg
Sep 8th 2008, 20:20
Good Evening,
This was an Epic battle between Kimi and Lewis ,Two of the best drivers in F1.
Massa was nowhere to be seen, as usual a few rain drops and he does not know how to handle the situation.
Lewis and Kimi deserve a medal for giving us the best last few laps ever.
Well done to the both of you,as you were excellent.
As for those sick people at the F.I.A. they ought to be ashamed of themselves!
Best Regards,
Chris.Borg.
Msida.
Lewis Farrugia
Sep 8th 2008, 20:15
"That same old stench emanated from Formula One" said one of the British tabloids. It refers to the stench of corruption.double-dealing and lack of sportsmanship which always seems to be associated with italians wherever they compete or have any interest in the result. Shame on FIA.
Liam Kelly
Sep 8th 2008, 18:36
Id just like to say that the decision to penalise Hamilton is an utter nonsence...even my brother who is a staunch Ferrari tifoso admitted that it was incorrect.
Absolutly no advantage was gained, he would have passed Raikkonen eventually anyway, besides which, how can Raikkonen get away with wrecking Adrian Sutils car by increadibly stupid and wreckless driving?
Utter nonsence and blatent favouritism.
Matthew Scerri
Sep 8th 2008, 18:11
@N Schembri - i suggest you take a close look at a fight that went on during the 2007 Malaysian GP between RedBull Racing and Spyker (now Force India) which might change your opinion of "Sir" Ron Dennis conducting the made up spy saga. well i know it wouldnt but what the hell.
While you're at it, Check Hungaroring 2006, Fuji 2007, and any race at Montreal to relate to yesterday.
PS - do you FIA(T) apologists even know what article 30.3a says? (Kimi broke it more than Lewis yesterday.)
just look at what they did to Mr.Pantano, Mr.Zuber and Mr.Senna on Saturday to see how clued up these stewards were.
Hamilton had 2 options. crash into Kimi or cut the chichane and give position back (which pictures clearly show he did). luckily he took the chicane. still gave him 6 more points than kimi.
anyway seriously considering skipping my F1 Travels next year. This sport is supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport yet it's probably the pinnacle of corruption. I'm wasting my time and money.
Andy Corbet
Sep 8th 2008, 18:02
I find it surprising and bizarre that so many local readers seem to have an antipathy for the Ferrari team. Is this phenomena unique to the people of Malta, myself being british and have lived in other countries, have never seen such views in my life. One would never expect it from the Maltese being almost identical in way of life to their neighbours and brothers from the mainland Italy.
Mark Galea
Sep 8th 2008, 17:48
@G.Camilleri.
Your comment on Schumacher's Unorthodox wins being always on the same side of the fence is rather short sighted to say the least.
May I remind you that Schumi won his first crown amid a lot of contoversy following what was considered a racing incident involving Damon Hill. If my memory serves me right he was then racing Benetton Renault.
Marco Porsella Flores
Sep 8th 2008, 17:46
@ N Schembri
Actually, Hamilton allowed Raikkonen to regain his position as the rules state! When Jean Alesi was asked to comment about the incident, he categorically stated that Hamilton had acted correctly according to the rules.
I must add that prior to the incident, Hamilton was just behind Raikkonen so I cannot agree when it is stated that Hamilton gained an unfair advantage by cutting across the chicane. In fact when he allowed Raikkonen to regain the first position, Hamilton was right behind him just as he was before the incident occurred.
ray deguara
Sep 8th 2008, 17:20
I totally agree with alan T,If ferrari were true sportsman they would concede Hamiltons win.If anyone is to be penalized, its Raikkonen for pushing Hamilton off the track.These preferences towards Ferrari by the stewards are becoming stomache turning
Alan Camilleri
Sep 8th 2008, 16:01
@ N Schembri
What about when Kimi exited the track and wiped thehis 1 sec distance from Lewis?
Also when Lewis went off track after encountering Nakajima a YELLOW flag was in place, yet the stewards did not even raise an eyebrow on this blatant irregularity.
If we are to open the endless list of the latest off track table top decisions one trait emerges - they all favoured Ferrari - remember the Malaysia 99 barge boards the 2006 Hungary, when Scumacher twice passed De La Rosa's McLaren by exiting the track, and silence ruled.
After all, Kimi stated in an interview that his battle with Lewis was a now or never stance. And also, the Ferrari F1 boss Domenicali stated that "it was a racing accident".
This episode is another one in the political battle between Mosely and Ron Dennis. Do not forget that the 3 stewards are, at every race, supervised by the Mosely appointed Allan Donelly, whose company in the past acted as an advisor to the F(errari) I(nternational) A(id). How's that for a pure conflict of interest.
Please give us pure racing, not concoted results.
john Debattista
Sep 8th 2008, 15:14
STop talking shit , did you forget last season's spy scandal , those how cheat will never be happy . Ha Ha Ha . the data is still in Mac hands and thats an advandage for the next 5 years .
G.Camilleri
Sep 8th 2008, 15:13
Lest we not forget the instances when Michael Schumacher managed to get away with "unorthodox " wins, imagine with whom......... in the name of the FERRARI!!!!!!!!!!!!
Coincidences do occur in life............but do they always have to be on the same side
of the "fence"!!!!!!!!!!
Steven Livingston
Sep 8th 2008, 13:53
I have to point out that anyone who sees Hamilton's detour through the chicaine as trying to gain an advantage is seriously lacking any common sense. Had he not taken evasive action against Raikkonen's aggressive blocking tactics, there would have been a collision with both cars probably unable to race further. He immediately let Raikkonen pass again and through superb driving made an excellent pass almost immediately after.
Any of you who think that wasn't brilliant racing (and cheating????) should give up watching formula 1 and become train spotters instead - you'll be able to have your high speed action without any overtaking whatsoever.
Jean Paul Barthet
Sep 8th 2008, 12:46
What is the point of having competing teams when at the end whether they win or not on the track, it always goe Ferrari's way. Obvoisuly when their driver drove out of the pits and nearly caused and accident in the pit lane, no penalty was given that had any direct influence on the race results!!! and to quote the TImes article.... "In the end he escaped with a 10,000 euro ($14,870) fine, with stewards deciding that while his release from his second pitstop had been unsafe there was no sporting advantage gained." .... Like EUR 10000 has any form of bearing on either Massa or the Ferrari Group!!! Come on, who are they trying to kid???
If we arrive to a point where the FIA or anybody else decides the outcome of the race after the race has finished, then we might as well stop watching this so called "sport". We might as well be better off watching those farses on WWF!!
N Schembri
Sep 8th 2008, 12:41
@J Micallef
I don't think it's right to make such judgements/conclusions.
The truth is that Hamilton really did a big mistake, he was supposed to give back the position to Kimi immediately when he was out of the chicane (as the rules state). Instead, he went out of the chicane flatout to keep up very close to Kimi, and just released the pedal halfway through the straight to get an advantage of the circumstances in view of engine revs etc.
Don't forget that the off-track action all starts because something happened on the track.
& BTW....."Nah! Just when we start having fun watching F1....Some teams try their utmost to win on the track, while others try to win off the track." ......are you recalling the biggest F1 scandal?....the 2007 Spy Saga conducted by Sir Ron Dennis?! ......if I was a Brit, I would be ashamed to have a "Sir" whom did such things.
joyce aquilina
Sep 8th 2008, 12:26
of course Hamilton was stripped from his win ,because he is not driving a ferrari.
look at the ferrari drivers when they are given a penalty,no points are taking from them they just have to pay a stupid fine.
well done lewis hamilton you are the best
J Micallef
Sep 8th 2008, 11:55
...and of course, there were NO communications between Ferrari bosses and the racing stewards, and of course, the racing stewards are acting for the good of the sport.
Nah! Just when we start having fun watching F1....Some teams try their utmost to win on the track, while others try to win off the track.