Formula One: Stewards Change Race Result...Again!

Formula One was having a reasonable start to the season, but once again it has been dragged into disrepute by none other than the governing body the FIA.

As if it wasn't bad enough that the result all the spectators saw in Melbourne was changed hours after the end of the race, it has again be changed days after the event!

They have now decided that Lewis Hamilton and McLaren mislead Australian race stewards with their evidence and have therefore disqualified Hamilton from the race result, and restored Toyota's Jarno Trulli to third.

And don't forget it could yet still change, when the legality of the diffusers used by Brawn Gp, Toyota and Williams is decided by an FIA hearing on April 14th.

I have to ask myself what is the point in watching a race these days, let alone paying to watch from the grandstands, when the result will only be decided hours/days/weeks after the chequered flag by some men in a room, rather than on the track!

I for some crazy reason thought F1 was a professional sport, governed by professional stewards, who would be very reluctant to change the results of a race that millions had seen without all the facts, but clearly I was mistaken.

Now whether the decision is right or wrong by the FIA, you have to ask yourself why didn't the stewards in Australia investigate the incident properly at the time? Changing the outcome of the race shouldn't be something you do without all of the facts and you must be absolutely certain of your decision before you announce it.

The way it sounds to me is that they just took Lewis and McLaren's word for it, why would they give any information to incriminate themselves?

The stewards had footage of Trulli falling off the track and Lewis going past, so they must have just come to the decision that Trulli overtook Hamilton illegally under the safety car.

Now if they're 'investigating' the incident why didn't the stewards at the time ask for the team radio transmissions, telemetry or media interviews and take it all into account.

I'm also confused as to how a separate set of stewards from those in Australia can pass judgement? The stewards in Malaysia who have passed the new judgement were not at the original investigation and therefore any information they have regarding the original hearing is from third parties or just hearsay.

Surely it should be up to the original stewards to decide, now that new evidence has come to light.

It's another point in the argument for a full-time group of stewards to attend every race, which would hopefully bring a bit of a professionalism to proceedings.

In future the FIA should make it clear which drivers are under investigation immediately after the chequered flag and not issue the result of the race until they have completed any investigations in full.

Drivers under investigation that finish first, second, or third should not be allowed to attend the podium ceremony.

I feel the race result should only ever be changed if a drivers car is found to be illegal, such as being under weight or using parts that don't meet regulations. Any breach of the rules by a driver should receive punishment for the next race, like a 10-place grid penalty, if a penalty cannot be applied during the race such as a drive-through penalty.

With a wet race forecast for Malaysia what's the betting the race stewards have final say in the result of the race? The real question is though how many days after the event will we have to wait for the result to be confirmed?