Hamilton stripped of Belgian GP win

Eurosport - Mon, 08 Sep 08:25:00 2008

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was stripped of victory in a thrilling Belgian Grand Prix after stewards decided he had gained an advantage by cutting a chicane during a last-gasp duel with Kimi Raikkonen.

2008 Belgian GP McLaren Hamilton - 0

Hamilton was given a 25-second time penalty by race officials which saw him demoted to third and victory handed to second-placed Felipe Massa, allowing the Ferrari driver to cut the Briton's lead in the championship to just two points.

Brazilian Massa crossed the line second but won the maximum 10 points ahead of Germany's Nick Heidfeld, the BMW-Sauber driver promoted to second. Hamilton won six points to move to 76 in the championship to Massa's 74.

World champion Raikkonen had led until rain began to fall and Hamilton, the 23-year-old championship leader who had started on pole position, reeled in the Ferrari and powered past on the penultimate lap.

The action did not stop there, with the desperate Raikkonen fighting back to retake the lead before losing control on the slippery surface and smashing into a wall while Hamilton went wide over the grass.

The two rivals had already banged bodywork, skidded and narrowly avoided other cars before stewards decided that Hamilton's late maneouvre had broken the rulebook.

"It was an experience and a half," said Hamilton before the stewards gave their verdict. "It was just mix and match. I was just praying for rain. I wanted it to come because I knew how to deal with it.

"It was one of the most exciting races of my career. I love having battles."

It was a stunning turnaround to an afternoon that, until two laps from the end, looked sure to revive Raikkonen's championship hopes with a fourth Belgian Grand Prix win in succession.

Starting in fourth place, the Finn made a determined move on Massa after running wide at the tight first corner.

The two Ferraris ran side by side up the hill through Eau Rouge before Raikkonen, whose engine had blown in the previous race in Valencia, scythed past and took the chase to Hamilton.

Hamilton then locked his right front tyre and spun at La Source at the start of the second lap, with Raikkonen seizing the advantage.

Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso was fourth with Germany's Sebastian Vettel fifth for Toro Rosso.

Poland's Robert Kubica was sixth, a result that elevated him to third in the championship with 58 points, with France's Sebastien Bourdais considerably enhancing his prospects of staying at Toro Rosso next season with seventh.

Mark Webber of Australia took the final point for Red Bull after Germany's Timo Glock also picked up a 25-second penalty.

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, who had started in third place, missed out in 10th place after capping a string of errors with a drive-through penalty.

Reuters

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  1. maghinim.
    maghinim
    maghinim

    Anyone recognise this­ @#$% as someone to bore your @#$% off not to mention­ someone whos head you`d love to cave in?

    In reference­ to the essence of the argument that is current:

    1. ­ Hamilton gave back any advantage he gained by allowing­ the boring Fin to retake the lead position.

    2. How can­ you take advantage of someone who didnt finnish­ (intentional spelling error), the race?

    REWIND­ ........to shut (maghinim) up. Mclaren didnt steal­ this data, they were gifted it by a pissed off Ferrari­ employee. Now sod off (maghinim) and apply your­ hemmorhoid cream.

    PS.

    Can we meet somewhere so I can­ @#$% you?

    From peter s, on Sat 27 Sep 10:36PM
  2. Weaver, again I need to educate you beyond your years.­ Winning is what matters in F! and if you calculated the­ 3 out of 4 win scenario thru the 2007 season that would­ mean Ferrari would have won 12 out of 16 races. Since­ their were 17 races that year they could take the day­ off and let McLaren fight it out for a token victory.­ THATS DOMINATION!. Stop with your dictionary­ definitions, they do not apply to the discussion. My­ comments that McLaren illegally acquired technology was­ referencing several books in light of your lack of­ factual information regarding the stolen Ferrari­ technology, I was not giving credibility to the­ information. Sorry I wont have you around to banter, I­ love schooling under-educated experts.

    From mags, on Fri 12 Sep 3:39AM
  3. I STOPPED WATCHING F1 WHEN SENNA DIED (GUTTED­ COUND'NT BELIEVE IT)
    I GOT BACK INTO IT WHEN A­ YOUNG NEW TALENTED BRIT CAME ALONG LAST YEAR
    WE NOW­ HAVE A CLOSE BATTLE WITH THREE GREAT DRIVERS AND IT­ SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN F--KED UP
    IF THIS IS NOT OVERTURNED­ AND MASSA DOES GET THE TITLE BY A POINT OR TWO I AM­ SURE HE WILL NOT BE 100% HAPPY .. HE IS A SUPERB­ DRIVER VERY VERY COMPETITIVE . I WOULD NOT WANT A­ TITLE GAINED BY CONTROVERSY AND SPECULATION.. I WOULD­ WANT TO HAVE MY DRIVING WIN IT .. PEOPLE MAY FORGET­ BUT THE DRIVERS WHO IN THE PAST HAVE TOOK A TITLE BY­ CHEATING (NOT THE CASE WITH MASSA HES NOT A CHEAT)­ WILL REMEMBER JUST HOW THEY BECAME WORLD CHAMPION
    I­ WOULD DARE TO SAY THAT MASSA FROM THE HEART WOULD LIKE­ TO SEE THIS DECISION OVERTURNED TO.. SO THEN IF HE DOES­ TAKE THE TITLE HE WILL BE 100% HAPPY HE DID IT WITH­ SKILL
    AND NOT OFF TRACK DECISIONS

    From Russell P, on Thu 11 Sep 2:08PM
  4. FERRARI you are poor - people!!!

    From saso, on Thu 11 Sep 12:47PM
  5. WHY ARE FERRARI SO RATED ARE THEY NOT OWNED BY FIAT­ (SHED ON WHEELS)
    WHAT ALL THIS BANTER ABOUT MACLAREN ­ NICKING INFORMATION FROM FERRARI
    GOING BUY THE ENGINE­ BLOW UPS FERRARI HAVE HAD ITS A GOOD JOB THEY­ DIDN'T COPY THE ENGINE TOO HAHAHAH
    FERRARI BIT­ LIKE ITALIAN FOOTBALL GOOD UNTIL UNDER PRESSURE THEN­ THEY START WAIVING THE HANDS ABOUT AND GET HOT UNDER­ THE COLLAR

    COME ON MACLAREN YOU CAN WIN THIS­ SPAGHETTI WESTERN

    From Russell P, on Thu 11 Sep 12:25PM
  6. LEWIS HAMILTON WILL BE WORLD CHAMPION
    LEWIS HAMILTON­ WILL BE WORLD CHAMPION
    UNDERSTAND
    UNDERSTAND
    IF NOT­ TAKE UP STAMP COLLECTING YOU MOANING GITS

    From Russell P, on Thu 11 Sep 11:38AM
  7. Forgot to add - I suspect I have been around F1 a darn­ site longer than you have - and that includes working. ­ But frankly this discussion is becoming boring so I­ shan't bother with it any more! Bye bye!

    From Weaver, on Thu 11 Sep 6:36AM
  8. "claim"? maghinim, says it all really - I­ could "claim" I was 10 foot tall or a­ millionaire but it wouldn't make it true.

    Oh and­ "dominate" means "tower above;­ overlook; overshadow" or "occupy a commanding­ or elevated position". If Ferrari were managing­ to do this, then it seems odd that only one of their­ cars was beating the McLarens in those races (or none­ as in some of them).

    From Weaver, on Thu 11 Sep 6:32AM
  9. weaver, first off, let me apologies for the moron­ comment, it was not called for. However, at the rate of­ second and third place's that McLaren were­ chalking-up in early 2007 the championship would have­ been over at Silverstone, how appropriate. If you took­ the time to read my comment you would have noticed that­ I said - FERRARI WON 3 OF THE FIRST 4 RACES OF 2007 AND­ DOMINATED MCLAREN - AND THEY DID. The objective of­ racing is to WIN. Ferrari won all 4 poles and defeated­ McLaren 3 of the first 4 races by: +7 sec., +2 sec. and­ +6 sec. McLaren were simply out-classed. It was around­ this time that most of the testimony and investigative­ documents contend that McLaren outfitted their cars­ with new aerodynamic and suspension technology. Alonso­ testified under oath and gave specific details on the­ type of changes made to his car and the origin of the­ new technology - FERRARI. He testified to avoid going­ to jail or getting fined $50m, not because of your­ ridiculous assertion that he needed team orders to win.­ By the way, stop with the holier-than-thou routine,­ McLaren has used team orders to win races for years,­ unfortunately that has not been an issue in recent­ years, this is when I want to call you a moron again,­ but I'm not . Instead, their are several books that­ you should read that will provide detailed information­ on the events of stephnegate, read them before you rant­ about the competitive world of McLaren Motorsports.­ Some of these books claim that for years McLaren has­ been illegally acquiring technical data from other­ teams, and I'm not talking about the kind of data­ one receives from drivers when they switch teams.­ I'm talking big time technology from Benetton,­ Renault and Honda. As for the re-pass, of course it is­ allowed - but it was assumed illegally. Again, read the­ rule book, it states that a driver may NOT GAIN­ ADVANTAGE! that includes position however, you can fail­ to gain position on an opponent but still gain­ ADVANTAGE. That's why Hamilton was penalized

    From mags, on Thu 11 Sep 4:18AM
  10. maghinim - firstly I think it is interesting that you­ need to resort to name calling. I was quite polite to­ you and find it a shame that you cannot extend the same­ courtesy to me. Oh and by the way I can assure you­ that my mental development is well beyond the ages of 8­ to 12. (Meaning of moron in case you did not even know­ the meaning of the word you were using).

    Now let me­ see- you say that the McLaren cars were not competitive­ for the first four to six races in 2007? Then it is­ interesting to note that they were second and third in­ Australia (beating at least one Ferrari). They were­ first and second in Malaysia (beating both Ferraris). ­ They were second and fifth in Bahrain (beating at least­ one Ferrari) and second and third in Spain (beating at­ least one Ferrari). In the fifth race they were also­ first and second.

    These races all took place when­ according to you they could not compete because they­ did not have the Ferrari technology. It is such a pity­ that you either did not check your facts or decided to­ assume that I did not know the results. Given the real­ competitive edge that the McLaren cars already had they­ had no need of Ferrari data. As for anything Alonso­ may have said whether or not on oath it absolutely­ cannot be believed - he only decided he had something­ to say when he realised that McLaren (unlike Ferrari)­ would not give team orders to allow him to beat­ Hamilton in every race. Oh and remember that Alonso­ was in receipt of this data apparently but did not­ report it!

    As for the Spa race - I pointed out that­ Kimi hardly lost an advantage given his swift­ re-overtaking. Oh and the rules say that a re-pass­ must be allowed in such an off track manouevre and this­ is what Hamilton did - and that it was OK was confirmed­ by the Race Director.

    From Weaver, on Wed 10 Sep 8:25PM
  11. +++FIA PRESS RELEASE+++

    Lost and Found:
    Three brown­ envelopes containing 'quite a bit of dosh' were­ lost at SPA.
    If found, please return to the Stewards or­ the Ferrari Pits.
    Yours
    Herr Max Greasemypalm
    Bankers,­ Bonkers, Spankers and ******* Ltd
    Chelsea, London

    From Pete, on Wed 10 Sep 7:57AM
  12. weaver, I am well aware who stole proprietary­ technology from Ferrari. As I mentioned earlier, it was­ a former loyal McLaren employee that maintained close­ ties with Newey and the other criminals from McLaren.­ He was a British citizen that came to the Ferrari team­ to work with Ross Brawn. He became disgruntled when­ Brawn left Ferrari so he decided to steal $100m of­ industrial secrets and turned them over to his friends­ at McLaren. As for who has the better cars, look at the­ constructors points moron, Its laughable, McLaren would­ be running neck and neck with Toro Rosso without the­ stolen Ferrari technology. Don't be naive, they are­ absolutely using the ill gotten booty or the ill booten­ gotti. As for the huge fine they paid, IT WASN'T­ ENOUGH! McLaren executives should be serving time in­ prison for industrial espionage. McLaren had possession­ of stolen property worth $100 of millions of dollars­ and said nothing untll they were caught. Alonso­ admitted under oath that McLaren were adding Ferrari­ created design to the McLaren cars LAST YEAR! He told­ investigators and the courts that he watched McLaren­ technicians add new aro-dynamic packages created­ directly from the stolen Ferrari documents and this­ would put them on par with Ferrari. McLaren settled for­ $50m because the scandal would have destroyed McLaren­ forever, and I do mean forever. Do you remember how­ last year started, Ferrari dominated the first 4 races­ of 07'. winning 3 of 4 and I believe finishing 1-2­ in two of the four races. Then what happened? McLaren­ all of a sudden became competitive for several races­ and began competing for the championship. We all know­ what happened next. Shameful the Brits have no dignity.­ On the most recent incident, suffice it to say your­ comments are not inaccurate and irrelevant. Its not­ about Kimi overtaking or re-taking Hamilton, IT'S­ ABOUT THE ADVANTAGE HAMILTON GAINED BY CUTTING THE­ CORNER. Its about the RULES. The same one's you all­ screamed about when Shumi. violated them.

    From mags, on Wed 10 Sep 7:08AM
  13. Hello whoppa12 = some data was stolen last year by a­ FERRARI employee who obviously thought so little of­ them he wanted to try and pull them down! Either that­ or Ferrari engineered the whole thing to discredit­ McLaren - much more likely!

    Oh and as for whether­ Hamilton could have braked - well if he had done he­ would almost certainly have lost the back end of the­ car and swiped Kimi and himself off the track - would­ you have preferred that to happen and possibly injure­ both of them?

    From Weaver, on Tue 9 Sep 7:08PM
  14. Some of you people here are a joke. What has this kid­ done to piss you off so much?
    "He's­ arrogent" So are a bunch of other sports and­ entertainment celebs. So What??
    "He's­ agressive"And Shumi wasn't?? Big deal.­ "He was thrust into the limelight too fast".­ Too fast? He proved last year that he was better than­ most of the field only
    losing the championship by 1­ point and if you can be honest you'll have to admit­ that rookie mistakes cost him the championship not his­ driving ability.I've been reading the F1 forums for­ awhile now and you people were moaning about Hamilton­ long before
    he turned a wheel in F1. Really sad.­ You're doing the same thing to Hamilton that­ we
    Americans are doing to Obama. You hate to see him­ come out on top no matter how good
    he'd be for the­ sport and in our case,the country.
    Get a grip­ Europe,you're starting to look as backwards as you­ claim us Americans are.

    From soblkbug74, on Tue 9 Sep 3:28PM
  15. lewis had 3 options
    1. Crash in Kimi - spoilt the race­ like in Canada
    2. Cut the chicane - new experience and­ got his lesson
    3. ***BRAKE*** - i think he does not­ know about this because of his arrogance

    i havent seen­ any reactions from Webber's dad because of the­ 25seconds penalty... give Vettel a ferrari car, he will­ show lewis whos the boss

    From tizom, on Tue 9 Sep 2:17PM
  16. LH cut the chicane, was he unable to break preventing­ his car off the track ???

    racist are the comments of­ the McLaren fans, if it involves ferrari then it MUST­ be cheat and mafia...obviuosly Max Mosley is a sicilian­ godfather and Bernie a don from
    brooklyn....who stole­ Ferrari designs last year ? a bunch of brits paid by­ German Mercedes Benz..AUFWIDERSEHEN !!!!

    From whoppa12, on Tue 9 Sep 12:39PM
  17. The decision doesn't, and shouldn't, look at­ who should have won the race. The decision is looking­ at an incident and determines the penalty for that­ incident. What that penalty causes, as far as race­ results are concerned, should not affect the­ decision.

    All the pro Lewis comments are asking the­ officials to consider who should have won the race, and­ base their assessment on that. At the same time, many­ commentators are against making decisions based on the­ colour of the car. So make up your minds - fair­ decisions based on the incident, or subjective­ assessments?

    From Buzz, on Tue 9 Sep 11:34AM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Lewis... Hahahaha

    From g2k, on Tue 9 Sep 11:06AM
  19. Regardless of wether Lewis had an advantage or not,
    A­ little further on after taking the lead Lewis went off­ and Kimi took the lead.
    THEN Kimi spun twice finishing­ up in the wall.
    Even if Lewis didn't take the lead­ at the first corner he STILL would have won the­ race.
    The only way Kimi could have won the race was to­ pit and change into wets as soon as the rain­ started.

    Come on FIA reverse this decision that­ EVERYONE disagrees with.

    From Alien, on Tue 9 Sep 10:39AM
  20. You can send your fan mail with praise for the­ outstanding stewards to Herr Max Spankmybotty here.­ There's nothing he likes more than a storm of a­ whipping ... err ... make that whipping up a­ storm:

    FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE­ L'AUTOMOBILE
    8, Place de la Concorde
    75008­ Paris
    France
    Telephone: +33 1 43 12 44 55
    Facsimile:­ +33 1 43 12 44 66

    Yours
    Rene Artois
    Purveyor of Flying­ Helmets and Wet Celery to the Rich and Infamous

    From Pete, on Tue 9 Sep 10:37AM
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