UPDATE: McLaren have announced that they will appeal this decision. We'll just have to wait and see I guess...
The drama has only just finished at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. We all felt that we'd been treated to enough of a spectacle during the 44 laps, yet the powers that be decided it wasn't finished when Lewis Hamilton crossed the line in first.
It was deemed that Hamilton gained an unlawful advantage when he cut across the final 'bus stop' corner with two laps to go. He knew this, so rightly let Kimi Raikkonen regain first place, before passing the Ferrari soon after.
Ultimately, it seemed to have been rendered irrelevant as the drama continued, with Raikkonen regaining the lead after Hamilton was nearly knocked out of the race by a spinning Williams of Nico Rosberg. Then, in yet another twist, the Finn lost control of his Ferrari and ploughed into a wall as the weather worsened.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Hamilton nursed home a car with no desire to go in a straight line and was rightly applauded for a great drive. Ten points in the bag for the Brit and a healthy lead in the driver's championship. Or not...
Hamilton was given a 25-second penalty, knocking him behind Felipe Massa and Nick Heidfeld into third position. Hamilton's lead is now just two points, rather than the eight points we all thought it had become.
Questions will be raised as to the consistency of the stewards' inquiries, with Massa receiving a measly fine in the last race, when many felt a time-penalty, like this one, would have been fairer.
Timo Glock was also handed a 25-second penalty in this race, for ignoring yellow flags, dropping him from eighth to ninth and giving the final points position to Mark Webber.
Personally, I feel that Hamilton should not have been penalised as he clearly tried to give back the advantage gained, particularly when it became irrelevant so soon afterwards. Given the lack of penalty for Massa last time, McLaren should be thoroughly disappointed, perhaps even angry, at this outcome.
comments (18) write a comment »
write a new comment
2 months ago
Interesting, very interesting, may be McLaren even seeded some rain clouds and got in the rains, one never knows in these days of technical advancement, or ask those people who have drought and all that as to how they talk about how science can bring in rains and how they do cloud seeding. God, if that happened, then the FIA should certainly include a "penalty" for "cloud seeding" - What say ye' guys?
from 2 months ago
Maybe the article I read the other day about the Jeebus Factor and F1 being fixed is true after all.....
2 months ago
i cant believe this... cannot believe it. WHEN hamilton wins the championship he will fully deserve it and it will be so much more worthwhile because he would have overcome a favoured, more experienced, world champion ferrari team.
f*** ferrari
f*** the FIA
f*** kimi
and f*** felipe massa
from 2 months ago
ok fair enough it was quite rude.... sorry everyone.
but dagni... you HAVE to agree that it hamilton gained no advantage. if they were racing in lanes it would be the same time difference and space difference as it was going down to la source.
2 months ago
I can't believe this, the rules state that if u pass through an escape route, u yield and carry on - Lewis did
You can legitimately pass at the next turn - Lewis did
Kimi then regained the lead later on before binning it at Blanchimont anyway, so pissed off. One of the true great races is now more remembered by the blatant ferrari favouritism.
Bloody ridiculous.
from 2 months ago
Michael, it is clear that you are aware of the F1 rules. I'm a big fan of F1 but not really knowledgeable about its many rules. May I request you to explain a bit more, in reference to the actions taken by both drivers? And also could you kindly compare this incident with the Valencia one that involved Massa and Sutil? How, if at all, the two incidents differ? Are the FIA actions taken in terms of these two incidents justifiable?
Thanks a lot.
from 2 months ago
Just doing an article now mate, so read that soon and I will explain, to my best.
from 2 months ago
I'm immensely grateful to you for an outstanding article, Michael. Tremendous. Thanks a lot. I wish the FIA had even a small percentage of your analytic ability.
John
2 months ago
Thats it - No more F1 for me- Roll on A1GP- What are they Bar Stewards ?
2 months ago
Massa nearly causes a serious pit lane collision and gets a tiny fine that he paid for out of loose change found down the back of a sofa in the Ferrari moter home. Hamilton gets points taken off him!
The cheeting **********************************************! They are killing this sport. The FIA should be made to pay!
from 2 months ago
I don't feel Massa deserved a time penalty, but my point is more that Hamilton absolutely did not deserve one. He gave the position back to Raikkonen and then proceeded to simply drive better than the Finn.
Also, the advantage gained was completely irrelevant ultimately. Do people seriously think Raikkonen would have suddenly found more speed and not spun??
From two laps out, the only way Hamilton could have failed to win would have been to spin off like Raikkonen did. He didn't, but was eventually punished despite driving an adept and mature race.
2 months ago
Write to the FIA - I am doing just that:
FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE L’AUTOMOBILE
8, Place de la Concorde
75008 Paris
FRANCE
2 months ago
It is one rule for Ferrari and a totally different set of rules for Mclaren they is no way on earth the FIA are going to let Mclaren or Lewis win this championship they took it away last year from Mclaren and tried to discredit Ron Dennis, now they are trying every trick in the book even when the race is won fair and square they shout foul !!
The Italians are out to ensure neither the Drivers or Constructors Championships are won by anyone other than Ferrari just how much of the FIA do the Italians own. Massa should have been penalised with a drive through it was so obvious you did not need to watch a video replay to see he nearly caused an accident !! THE FIA HAVE KILLED F1 get rid of Bernie and Max that duo should have retired years ago.
from 2 months ago
I couldn't agree more Denise. Have you read Mo's comments (username: John)? We need to know how we can make ourselves heard. F1 is not as organised as, say, FIFA or ICC. It's still rather small. Maybe, it's time that we can come together, organise ourselves in an efficient manner and try to influence F1's many decisions. Of course, this will happen if we really love this sport in the first place. Anything is possible. Besides, it is perfectly ok to try to save a sport that we love in a positive way.
2 months ago
Was Kimi an angel in all this? Why wasn't he even considered for further actions? How on earth do the 'Stewards' compute the 25 seconds in a way so as to ensure that Lewis is 3rd, not 2nd?
If they penalise Lewis in this manner (since according to the 'Stewards' he was at fault), Massa too must be penalised exactly in the same way for his mistake in Valencia. Clearly Massa was at fault and thus, the warning and the fines that followed. Am I right? But why would he get away so easily anyway?
It seems that the FIA penalty system is predominantly subjective. Therefore, the FIA must keep following the same precedence simply to demonstrate that they are not biased, unfair or irrational.
This is what they must do:
Either
1. Simply warn and fine Lewis
or (if Lewis' 25 seconds penalty is upheld)
2. Take Massa's points away for his unprofessional and in fact, illegal maneuver in the Valencia race.
Also, I think Massa should decline to inherit the 1st place in this way, off the track that is. If he has the true determination and passion of a champion, he must race and beat Lewis to earn it. It's really so embarrassing for a potential champion to accept points this way. It's really analogous to the 'hand-outs' given to 'beggars' on the streets in my country, they don't have any other means of earning their livlihood you know.
Didn't Lewis reject a huge opportunity last year of becoming the champion (off the track) claiming he'd never accept a championship that was not based on direct outcomes of the races???
Mclaren needs to take a more defined and robust stance. You might ignore this, if it were a simple human error. Unfortunately, it is a major element of injustice. Indeed, as far as penalties to Lewis are concerned, I can clearly see a 'consistent pattern' on the FIA's part that is characterised by much harsher, tougher and surprisingly, quicker measures against him. Please don't regard this as a 'conspiracy theory', Ferrari are rather influential. Moreover, noone should discount the authority (formal/informal, direct/indirect) that Schumacher can exert over certain FIA actions. Such authority is inevitable, it's Schumacher after all.
I'm invariably optimistic' Lewis will become the champion. But we can't just sit back, relax and expect it to happen, particularly, when there's clear presence of elements that are trying to influence the results.
Dr M Moniruzzaman (MO)
2 months ago
Thanks Mo for such a well articulated comment. I allowed you to use my account so that you may become encouraged to take part in this forum that, I believe, is quite exciting and productive.
Yes, Lewis will win but the FIA or whoever is trying to get it all changed must realise that McLaren are not at all a 'lazy, slow and ineffective' racing entity. Ron must do something about it. There are things that Lewis' supporters can do as well. Things like writing to the FIA, using the media to put pressure on the FIA, or forming a supporters' association that would act as a pressure group. All these initiatives are needed to ensure that it's fair and that it's as exciting (even more) as when Senna was alive.
Today, most of the spectators watch the F1 for Lewis alone because of the difference he has made. Lewis has attracted millions of new, absolutely new spectators as well. F1 has now become a hugely popular sport to watch. Even in the days of Senna, F1 didn't attract audience from the developing countries as well as from many developed countries. But now people of all ages in almost all the countries in the world watch F1 and their main motivation is 'Lewis'. I know this due to my association with media research agencies. Although no one can ever become as big as 'the greatest' Ali (this is the biggest sporting fact that has been tested over most number of times), Lewis is bigger than all present sports personalities. I'm not exaggerating, believe me. Also, you must note that I'm referring to all the countries in the world, not just the UK or the USA.
John
from 2 months ago
Thanks Mo and John well said, Lewis deserves our support he has make a vast difference to a sport which was becoming stale, the races have become just that RACES.
I am all for a supporters association anyone else out there interested?
2 months ago
I've seen the race over and over. Lewis yielded the advantage to Kimi in no time. He was pushed wide by Kimi that was crystal clear.
If I say Kimi should have been punished since he almost took Lewis out (hitting his car from behind), the stewards would surely reply 'But nothing happened there'. Based on the same premise I may argue what happened between Lewis and Kimi had no effect on Kimi crashing out or Lewis becoming champion. Based on the same premise I'd say 'nothing happened that warranted deliberation of any sort by the stewards.'
I'm a very calm and polite university professor. I have never known to react impatiently. But this is injustice of the worst kind, absolutely unacceptable.
I've just read an article that clearly aims to give it a 'race' issue and indicates we are favouring Lewis because of his race. Amazing!!! I'm white and proud to be so, I never support anyone based on his race, colour or religion. I like Lewis because he has revived a sport that virtually died. He has unequivocal commitment, charm, wit and aggression that I want to see in a race driver. Many people loved Senna for similar reasons.
This nation (The British) fought for Muhammad Ali and continued to recognise him as the true champion when the US government stripped him of his title and kept him away for 3.5 years. No wonder why Ali has called our country the greatest country. We just support what is right.
It's a shame that when we are focussing on a sport for valid reasons, mainly to voice against injustice, someone wastes no time in wanting to make it a 'race' issue.
write a new comment