McLaren officially launches appeal

he Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team confirms that it has, via its UK governing body, the MSA, filed a notice of appeal to the FIA’s International Court of Appeal against the decision not to exclude cars 09, 10, 16 and 17 from the result of the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Rules of the FIA International Court of Appeal allow a team only a short period in which to file a notice of appeal and McLaren has complied with that. The team has taken the view, from the information that we currently have available that there was non-compliance with the Regulations. The team believes that the FIA has, in written clarification of the Technical Regulations and in its minutes of two Formula 1 Team Manager meetings, made clear how it would interpret and manage the Regulations and Procedures associated with the control of fuel temperatures. This process was followed in the normal manner by the FIA Technical Delegate following the Brazilian Grand Prix and the irregularities were reported by him to the Stewards of the meeting. Consequently the team does not understand the justification as described in the decision published late on Sunday evening.

The significance of this matter and its timing is, of course, regrettable. The team wishes to win races and Championships on the track. However, if there has been an irregularity, which is not the fault of the team, we feel that the matter must be properly examined to ensure that the rules are applied. This is something that we believe the FIA would fully support and would wish to be seen to have done.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes wishes to stress, however, that it does not question the integrity of either the BMW or Williams teams. We know, without even enquiring, that neither team would have sought to achieve a performance advantage by such an irregularity and that the situation could only have arisen as the consequence of an operational error within the team on the day.

Ultimately we feel that the FIA should determine whether an irregularity occurred or not, and the team will fully respect the process and any decision that is ultimately given.