Hamilton punishment whips up storm
Eurosport - Tue, 09 Sep 15:54:00 2008
Formula One faced familiar accusations of shooting itself in the foot after McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was stripped of a sensational Belgian Grand Prix win.
"This is the worst judgement in the history of F1," fulminated former champion and television commentator Niki Lauda after race stewards handed McLaren's championship leader a retrospective 25-second penalty that dropped him to third place.
"It's absolutely unacceptable when three (stewards) influence the championship like this," the Austrian said.
After a processional European Grand Prix in Valencia, and against a backdrop of concern about the lack of thrills and overtaking, Hamilton's winner-takes-all duel with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in Spa had given the sport exactly what it wanted.
The fans left hailing a stirring Hamilton victory only to find out hours later that Ferrari's Felipe Massa was the victory.
Britain's tabloid newspapers bellowed an entirely predictable chorus of outrage, after what had been hailed as one of the greatest wins of the 23-year-old Briton's career.
"Just when you thought F1 couldn't get any more ridiculous..," declared the Daily Mail in a back page headline.
"Instead of celebrating one of the greatest duels of recent times, revelling in true genius by Raikkonen and Hamilton and lauding a remarkable win, that same old stench emanated from Formula One," said the Daily Mirror in a race report.
Hamilton was penalised after he cut the chicane in the heat of battle with Raikkonen and emerged ahead of the Finn.
Although he let the Ferrari regain the lead on the straight, he then immediately emerged from its slipstream to overtake.
Raikkonen was struggling in the wet and Hamilton would undoubtedly have passed him further down the road had he waited longer, but stewards ruled nonetheless that he had gained an advantage in that incident.
McLaren have said they intend to appeal but whether or not they can do so remains to be decided by the governing FIA with a date yet to be set for any hearing.
That will mean Hamilton heading to Monza next weekend for Ferrari's home grand prix, and the last race in Europe this year, with only a two-point lead over the Italian team's Brazilian Massa.
If Massa wins in front of the massed ranks of Ferrari fans, he could take the lead in the championship only to have it taken away again on appeal if McLaren are successful.
Last season was also dominated by off-track action. McLaren were stripped of all their points and fined $100 million by the FIA after a festering spying controversy over Ferrari data in their possession.
Then, after a battle that went down to the wire with Raikkonen taking the title by a single point, fans went away from the final race in Brazil unsure who was champion pending a McLaren appeal.
For Hamilton, the only thing to do is beat the Ferraris on their home turf and keep ahead of them to the end of the championship.
"It is just going to be a very tough fight but I will do everything I can to make sure I come to the next race just as strong, if not stronger," he said before the stewards' verdict.
"I know I can get stronger, so we as a team are going to do that and we are going to keep on improving."
This site is Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! and Eurosport. All rights reserved.
- Terms of Service
- Updated Privacy Policy
- Copyright/IP Policy
- Remarks and Suggestions
- Corporate info
- Jobs at Eurosport
Notice: We collect personal information on this site. To learn more about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy.
Comment 605 - 624 of 624
From Ian B: "Yong C, get back in your paddleboat and go home mate." and "no racial pun was intended"
I think everyone can see exactly what you intended, mate. The words "human" and "sub" come to mind when I try to find an appropriate phrase to describe you. Precisely the sort of thing I'd expect from people who do not read the rules and plead ignorance of the law.
Lewis is the best... swing any penalty on him and he will surely swing back with a win I believe Italian and the remaining grand prixes are his for the taking. watch this pace!
+++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, Spankers and ******* Ltd
Chelsea
+++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
Her Max Greasemypalm
The folowing was posted on a related article.
The rules state; if you cut a chicane, you must give up that corner, and have no competitive advantage for the next TWO corners.
I've been searching for quite some time now through the FIA International Sporting codes and Appedices and have seen nothing even close to this.
Where is this rule, if it exists?
It makes me sick to see all the hassle with the stupid decission of the three stewards. I have decided not to watch F1 anymore.
I wish anyhow Hamilton all the luck for the rest of this season.
wonder what advantage L H got from the chicane Unless the stewards are
blind going around the chicane louis was right alongside rick so muxh so that he forced him out on the chicane . Another point why they keep mentioning louis' father for being present . W hy no mention of Massa's fatger and his wife ?
i do also agree the fia dislike mclarean but i do not think is anything against hamilton i think it ron dennis they have problem with but i also think itv are bias towards LH and don't give other drivers credit they deserve
i am a f1 fan it is clear to see if hamilton cut the courner yes he let him past again but he went straight behind him got his slip stream and over took him there for gaining a avantage which funny enough he didn't need to do as kimi was slow and if he had just waited he would of got past anyway so he has no one to blame but himself he just should of been paitent and we wouldn't be having this debate
I have been formula1 fan for over 15 years now and have loved the sport, but the operative word is "sport", which it now no longer is. I've been a fan of ferrari for years but i still havent forgotten the incident between micheal schumacher and JV at the end of the season back in the 90's and at that time micheal schumacher was hated for a long time. Back then is was real racing. Although supporting a team is one thing and even as a schumacher and ferrari supporter myself i can see the skill and talent LH has going so far as to say he may even be a match for the great schumacher especially in the wet and i think over the next few years despite all the controversial activity and decisions going on in the background behind closed doors we should be able to see just how good he is, and he deserved to win that race. There are still 5 races left so watch him closely. Dont get me wrong massa and kimi are skilled good sensible level headed and safe drivers, but they lack something that LH displays on the track, and he is bringing all the fans back to formula1!
hamilton did not give back the position properly, he cut the chicane where otherwise would have crashed out or lost enough time to lose, and then used to advantage he dropped right behind kimi for .5s and drafted right around him. he gained far too much time running through one of the longer chicanes in f1.this is fair decision regardless of team/driver.
if im f1 driver and you all still blaming the stewards were wrong, then every race i will make short cut and give back position on straight line and regain from it shortly...
if im f1 driver and you all still blaming the stewards that they are wrong, then every race i will make short cut and give back the position on straight line side by side and regain the position...
Lewis is the next world champion. No doubt about it, because he is a black young man, it will be tougher than if he was white
F1 is boring. Make it interersting. No Rules! Higher curbs. First one over the line wins.
Mr. hoorah for ferrari,maybe you should take a look back at the past champion Michael S. and his habbit of putting people off track to win championships. Look back to 1995 and 1996 or just ask Mr. Damon Hill. Enough is enough. F1 does not stand for Ferrari 1.
I SUPPOSE IT WAS HAMILTON FAULT THAT KIMI LOST IT AND HIT WALL
FROM BOB BEE
In club racing (in the USA) if you give back the position RIGHT AWAY there is no penalty... How is F1 any different? Let them race, if someone does something wrong then whack them.
I'm bored as hell by the current Formula One, its politics, its blatant favouring of certain teams and the root cause is the meglomaniac management of the circus by that obnoxious control freak Ecclestone. All he is interested in is lining his own pockets and sod everyone else who disagrees with him. What the sport needs is the setting up of a viable alternative to current F1 and I would love to see the likes of Ron Dennis push for this. Formula One is dead in its current form. As to the Hamilton incident, Kimi and Lewis are both top focussed drivers and were actually involved in some real racing (praise to both of them!) and there was NO malice or thoughts of cheating by either of them. The bumps and Lewis' excursion across the chicane were what happens in real honest racing. Lewis had the beating of Kimi anyway. Privately I can imagine Kimi was probably as surprised as anyone that Lewis got penalised though of course he would never be allowed to say it!!!!
was a keen F1fan but after last Sundays race count me out
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account