At an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council held in Paris on 29 April 2009, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes admitted five charges of breaching article 151c of the International Sporting Code relating to events at the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix.
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We dont really know Lewis lied, for all we know Lewis was disqualified for starting the race which wouldnt supprise me.
Ill be very interested as I am sure will most of you at reading the full verdict, but im sure McLaren if they are innocent will not take this laying down
Spencifer_Murphy wrote:
DQ'ing them at Malaysia wouldn't exactly be a punishment fitting the crime...they balled up in Australia, so they should get penalised in Australia. Anything more than that would be draconian and would bring the sport into FURTHER dispute.
Spencifer_Murphy wrote:
Unfortuantely we've yet to see proof they did lie and/or cheat, and even if they did, DQ'ing them at Malaysia wouldn't exactly be a punishment fitting the crime...they balled up in Australia, so they should get penalised in Australia. Anything more than that would be draconian and would bring the sport into FURTHER dispute.
If you read the FIA statement it clearly says that McLaren mis-informed/directed the stewards. That = lying.
McLaren arn't appealing...I think that says it all.
Last edited by axle on 02 Apr 2009, 13:02, edited 1 time in total.
NormanBates wrote:this hamilton penalty smells like april's fool... it seems the stewards are investigating some "new evidence", but from there on it sounds pretty improbable (though yes, I do remember 2007's spy case)
time to eat my words: it has just appeared on the official f1 web (and it's april 2nd, and it wasn't there an hour ago)
jason.parker.86 wrote:We dont really know Lewis lied, for all we know Lewis was disqualified for starting the race which wouldnt supprise me.
Ill be very interested as I am sure will most of you at reading the full verdict, but im sure McLaren if they are innocent will not take this laying down
the stweards asked questions, they answer what was asked...im guessing thats what it boils down to.
mclaren didnt appeal the trulli result, they merely reported the trulli off as something the stewards might like to look at.
all in all, i dont think the stewards did a very good job of investigating the incident. I dont think mclaren lied, i dont think they were asked. But it was all getting too messy so i think everyone should just live with the decision now and move on.
Wow, absolutely stunning news. First off, I'm appalled at how long it took the stewards to arrive at a correct resolution of the situation. Secondly, I feel sad for McLaren/Hamilton for thier penalty. Apparently (if you believe the stewards account) he deserved it. Congratulations to Trulli, who now is rewarded by a great drive. Starting in the pits and finishing third, no matter what the circumstances and luck, is an achievement. It's a shame that Toyota and Trulli were placed in a position where they could not officially appeal because of the regulations.
For those who take delight in Hamilton's predictament, I really wonder. Personally, I've never met him. I only know of Hamilton through TV and the net. Any opinion of him is based on brief glimpses of him either in a racing scenario, or giving interviews. neither is a good environemnt to gauge a person and their makeup. He's basically a total stranger, and I can never understand how a person can develop such strong feelings of animosity against another human being without any real knowledge of him. Life is too short to spend your time wallowing in negative emotions.
Racing should be decided on the track, not the court room.
there are a few reports that the fia may not be done with this yet....possible referal to the world council... possible exclusion from the championship if they so inclined.
i do think mclaren messed up, but not to the point where it needs to go any further.
As I state in my blog (http://www.f1nerd.net/2009/04/02/hamilt ... d-blunder/) I think the bigger problem here isn't Hamilton being disqualified, but the whole stewarding system. If the stewards don't have all the information available at the time of a hearing they shouldn't be doing the hearing, simple as.
Why do I get the feeling that Mosley feeds from all this judicial bickering over rules and interpretations, hell I don't even understand what those FIA statements mean?
As an engineer, I'm still intrigued by the technology involved, but F1 has little sporting value to me from now on.
"I spent most of my money on wine and women...I wasted the rest"
Absolutely agree with Kester - the stewards should be subject to some kind of deadline - maybe the chequered flag, you know that thing that tells the drivers to stop racing!
But of course this could be a great way to cut costs in F1 - the drivers can just go to the pub whilst the FIA and the stewards spend a week deciding what the results are to be for each race!!
Perhaps McLaren should change their marketing material...
Spencifer_Murphy wrote:I think the order of events is somewhat more like this:
+ Whole weird SC events unfold
+ Lewis told to let Trulli past, he does so.....etc etc
I think you've summed it up well here Spencifer.
I honestly can't see the team lying outright knowing full well that radio transmissions from both teams exist somewhere. Not that they actually prove where any car was at any time mind you. A concentrating driver might wait ten seconds before saying something, in which time he could be hundreds of metres down the road.
As usual the stewards think they are the main even. At least in other years they let us have a few races before they start their drinking and dartboard decisions.