The Appeal that Never Was: Lewis Hamilton Denied

The FIA have decided to skirt around the fact that are blatantly wrong by stating that McLaren Mercedes' appeal was "inadmissible" and should never have been appealed.

So why not tell Mclaren Mercedes this, with a simple e-mail? This would have cost nothing, but no. The FIA set an appeal date, spent 22 hours deciding whether to allow McLaren to appeal and, in the end, just said "no."

I am outraged at the FIA. First there were lies about Scott Andrews. If you hadn't heard, the FIA sent a letter to all concerned with the appeal that Andrews admitted to making a mistake in Fuji last year, and that he should never have penalized Tonio Liuzzi for overtaking under yellow flags, and therefore justifying Toro Rosso's right to appeal.

However, Andrews has reportedly said "I have seen the e-mail and I'm extremely surprised by its content. In short, its grossly inaccurate and misleading."

So Andrews never said anything about making a mistake, and that the situation in Fuji should have warranted the penalty imposed. This just highlights the FIA's credibility, which is incredibly low.

Then we have the fact McLaren has had to pay well over £100,000 to sit in a court room for five hours, whilst being questioned and treated like imbeciles. This has also hurt Hamilton's Singapore preparations, which should have begun yesterday. This is in no way McLaren's fault, either—it had every right to appeal what was an incredibly silly penalty.

If Lewis Hamilton loses this year's WDC by anything under seven points, I shall crown him 2008 World Drivers Champion myself, as that is what he shall be! If he loses by more, then fair play to the man who beats him.

I would like to end on a published quote by Damon Hill, "It would be a travesty if Lewis Hamilton were to be denied the World Championship because of the lost points in Belgium."

And that is what this is, a TRAVESTY.