Lewis Hamilton Appeal: The Accessibility Of The Rule Book

For the past couple of hours, I have been looking though the rules and regulations that the FIA put in place, the press release they sent out, and various other bits and pieces to try and get a handle on what happened at Spa.  I don’t mean what happened on the road, I mean what happened after the race. 

What happened on the road is clear as daylight, Lewis tried to overtake, Kimi shut the door, Lewis runs wide, overtakes Kimi.  Then, hands the place back and re-takes him at La Source.  Easy enough.  There was always going to be debate about whether this was legal, and the stewards were always going to investigate it. 

Now here’s where the problem lies.  I’m not going to dispute the decision they made, or the penalty imposed.  But, just trying to decipher how they arrived at that decision is mind-boggling.  The stewards simply send out their message, and that’s that until the appeal can be lodged. 

Wouldn’t it be easier if the steward who is in charge could come out, and in plain English say, “Here’s what happened, here’s what we did, and this is why…”  It would settle debate, and simplify what, at times, can be a complex sport.

Below is an example, it is an extract taken from an FIA press release regarding McLaren’s appeal date today:

“At the Grand Prix of Belgium, run on 7 September 2008, and counting towards the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Stewards of the meeting imposed a drive-through penalty upon the driver of car No. 22, Lewis Hamilton, for a breach of Article 30.3 (a) of the 2008 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations and Appendix L, Chapter 4, Article 2 (g) of the International Sporting Code.

As the drive-through penalty was imposed at the end of the race, 25 seconds were added to the driver’s elapsed race time in accordance with Article 16.3 of the FIA 2008 Formula One Sporting Regulations.”

As it turns out, the FIA website also lists the International Sporting Code (in full, with all appendices) and the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.  The two articles that had been breached are quoted below

Appendix L, Chapter 4, Article 2 (g) of the International Sporting Code:

“The race track alone shall be used by the drivers during the race”

Article 30.3 (a) of the 2008 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations:

“During practice and the race, drivers may use only the track and must at all times observe the provisions of the Code relating to driving behaviour on circuits. “

Good advice, keep it on the road.  I recall Ron Dennis saying the same thing to Hamilton on the closing laps at Silverstone.  And he was probably saying the same thing to Lewis in Spa on the final laps, but it doesn’t really help. 

I know the rules need to be stringent, and need to be written in this way as to stand up in court.  But surely there’s a way that the FIA press officers can release a press statement that makes sense to people who aren’t in the business, or qualified lawyers.  It just seems a shame that there is zero transparency when it comes to the laws of Formula One.  They’re up there for all to see, but there is no explanation, no real accessibility to anything in those regulations.

So today, the professional people of the FIA Court Of Appeal, are deciding whether to overturn the decision of a group of anonymous, part-time race stewards… I’m glad it’s not me.