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Stewards deny conspiracy in Hamilton penalty.

Wed 10 Sep, 10:14 AM


One of the FIA stewards on duty at the Belgian Grand Prix has spoken out to deny that there was any malice in the penalty that dropped Lewis Hamilton from first to third.

With the British media, and the Formula One world in general, not quite able to believe the dramatic post-race goings-on at Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, one of the officials at the centre of the controversy has denied claims that 'it was personal'.

Lewis Hamilton appeared to have strengthened his lead in the Formula One world championship with another display of his wet-weather ability, having seen of long-time leader Kimi Raikkonen in increasingly tricky conditions at Spa-Francorchamps, but, long after the world champion had found the wall and Hamilton had sprayed the champagne, the stewards took the decision to penalise the Briton for cutting the Bus Stop chicane.

The 'moment' came in the heat of battle with Raikkonen, when Hamilton's attempt to find a way past at the penultimate corner ended with him over-shooting and cutting across the 'infield'. Coming out ahead of the Ferrari, Hamilton backed off to hand the lead back to his rival, before then diving to the inside at La Source and claiming top spot with what he - as well as the team and, apparently, race control - thought was a legitimate move.

Although there was no protest from Ferrari, the result was called into question as soon as the McLaren crossed the finishing line and, hours after the chequered flag had fallen, Hamilton was duly penalised 25 seconds, which dropped him to third overall, stripping him of his fifth win of the year and slashing his championship advantage to just two points as main rival Felipe Massa inherited top spot.

The British press naturally claimed 'foul', while others in the sport expressed their incredulity at the decision, but Surinder Thathi, one of the three stewards in charge at Spa denied that there was anything in the decision that harked back to last year's dispute between the FIA and McLaren.

"There was no conspiracy against anybody, McLaren included," the Kenyan stressed to Reuters, "We acted professionally and within the FIA rules. Hamilton took a short cut inside of the corner while off the track.

"We had a choice to mete out a time penalty or ten grid places a the next grand prix, and we opted for the former and handed down a time penalty of 25 seconds. I know I am a very unpopular person in the United Kingdom now, but I was doing my job and I know I acted professionally."

McLaren has since launched an appeal against the decision, claiming that it had been told by race control that Hamilton's actions in backing off on the start-finish straight and then making a move on Raikkonen at La Source were sufficient to counter the short-cut.

 

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  1. ALAN, what does being black have to do with anything?

    From tifosi4eva, on Wed 10 Sep 11:17PM

  2. firstly, he is black, secondly he is too good, thirdly, they could not have a rookie win F1 world championship, fourthly, ron dennis, and finaly, max mosley. thats why lewis will have to wait a long time to win the championship..

    From ALAN, on Wed 10 Sep 10:00PM

  3. firstly, he is black, secondly he is too good, thirdly, they could not have a rookie win F1 world championship, fourthly, ron dennis, and finaly, max mosley. thats why lewis will have to wait a long time to win the championship..

    From ALAN, on Wed 10 Sep 9:53PM

  4. firstly, he is black, secondly he is too good, thirdly, they could not have a rookie win F1 world championship, fourthly, ron dennis, and finaly, max mosley. thats why lewis will have to wait a long time to win the championship..

    From ALAN, on Wed 10 Sep 9:51PM

  5. firstly, he is black, secondly he is too good, thirdly, they could not have a rookie win F1 world championship, fourthly, ron dennis, and finaly, max mosley. thats why lewis will have to wait a long time to win the championship..

    From ALAN, on Wed 10 Sep 9:50PM

  6. there are some stinging comments being made here,wow!i do think people calling foul on Ferrari on this situation is unjust,Ferrari made no complaint about the incident in question,so the decision was based upon what the stewards had picked themselves!i do admit that Ferrari are favoured quite well when it comes to penalty decisions,the most recent Massa's at Valencia's.to wendy rogers, the FIA do not have jurisdiction on incidents like that as it did not interfere with another competitor,in actual fact Kimi screwed up his own race by his actions.i do think hamitons penalty is very harsh,they shouldve given him a 10grid penalty instead of 25secs.i would agree with the decision if it was a dry track,but seeing as the conditions were very tricky then i would be on the fence,the rule is too subjective on these types of incidents.

    From casualsmilez, on Wed 10 Sep 9:48PM

  7. Whether you like Lewis or not, there is no denying his ability to drive not only fast but fairly. He did what he had to do to make good a situation he found himself in by accident - he didn't cut the corner on purpose any more than Raikkonen didn't spin off on purpose. What a shame people seem intent on trying to spoil something so good......still , I think Lewis is more than capable of doing it even if some seem intent on making it hard for him. We're proud of him what ever happens .

    From amp.uk@..., on Wed 10 Sep 8:44PM

  8. Dear F1 stewards. Can you tell me which Fiat (sorry, Ferrari) will win this weekend at Monza, it will save a lot of wasted time watching it on tv.

    From marktsparky65, on Wed 10 Sep 7:41PM

  9. Ross Brawn when questioned, said carefully that Ferrari had always worked well with the F1A, helping and advising them. So Ferrari become Best Friends with F1A. When it comes to the crunch, who do you support? Your best friend or the other fellow? Whose good points do you see clearly, whose bad points do you gloss over? Whose story do you find it easier to believe? The bias is subliminal, subconscious, so the F1A find it easy to deny that it's there. You see the same thing with other sports referees. They probably don't realise that they have a bias towards one team, but it's there. So now McLaren have to do the sweet-talking, and become F1A'a newest Best Friend. Simple!

    From jpnijsse@..., on Wed 10 Sep 6:39PM

  10. Hamilton was forced wide and hit the salad at the chicane. Had he not done so, he would have been guilty of "causing an avoidable accident" (see Kovalainen) and furthermore of taking out the race leader. It is instinctive to avoid such a coming-together in any event. Hamilton then correctly, and as legally required, surrendered the lead at the first opportunity. Having done so Hamilton re-passed Raikkonen. That Hamilton had given the lead fully to Raikkonen can be evidenced by VT footage which will show that he crossed the rear of Raikkonen's car before making his pass. Hamilton was simply more confident in the car underneath him in the wet than Raikkonen. For evidence and effect of what that sort of confidence can do, one need only to look back at Senna in the European GP at Donnington or Schumaker in the Spanish GP. For the drivers' sakes, what needs to happen is for McLaren's appeal to be heard before Monza so that it is at least a closed book but whether it will or not is open to debate

    From suziandjustin, on Wed 10 Sep 5:28PM

  11. Its simple a black-man in a whitemans world and he's kicking @#$% white folks wont accept that...any1 wana argue that...?

    From Sobowale, on Wed 10 Sep 4:01PM

  12. From my memory of the race Hamilton was not the only one to cut the corner of the chicane. Were they penalised? It seems to me that when racing in future anyone being overtaken can force the other driver wide like that and thus secure themselves an automatic 25 second cushion. Surely we want more exciting racing like Sunday. This decision could well have the effect of turning F1 into even more of a procession. Isn't overtaking difficult enough already. Seems to me F1 is badly and sadly lacking in common sense or is someone trying to press the self destruct button. I am not sure I want to watch this sanitised cr*p any more!

    From MJ, on Wed 10 Sep 3:18PM

  13. Yes there is conspiracy, the sport is OK only if Ferrari wins

    From Rafael M, on Wed 10 Sep 3:01PM

  14. F1 is about money, money talks and the rest we all know...

    From Rafael M, on Wed 10 Sep 2:58PM

  15. Yes there is conspiracy, the sport is OK only if Ferrari wins

    From Rafael M, on Wed 10 Sep 2:56PM

  16. If you think F1 is Ferrari-biased now, wait until Jean Todt makes it to FOM

    From Roo, on Wed 10 Sep 2:00PM

  17. McLaren checked with officials during race - no problem; Ferrari did not complain; steward says no conspiracy; ergo: it must have been a VERY BAD DECISION on the stewards' part !!!!!

    From m.e.jenner@..., on Wed 10 Sep 1:40PM

  18. If there is no biaz againsed Mclaren why was Kimmi not penalised for going against a green light and injuring a pit mechanic? After all isn't the pit lane part of the race course. Causing broken bones to a team member is worse that avoiding a crash!

    From wendyrogers@..., on Wed 10 Sep 12:40PM

  19. Mclaren , why did u not stand by Mosley in the heat of his `NAZI SAGA`.
    Ferrari did, and did he say after the court case?
    u will be punished well well.
    Smiling here in Africa.
    Greetings to all.

    From NATHANIEL N.O., on Wed 10 Sep 12:33PM

  20. Ferrari out from F 1. and new stewards members, ho ewer they are!!!!!! They are not fit for the job!! I am a vomen ho have follow all F. 1. race the last 30 years and it start to look like a race in a childrens playground! Shame on you Ferrari team, stewards and P. Massa, you start to look patetic!
    By the way, M. Mosley, why is he still around.............no shame at all...........
    Or, no brain, no shame!
    Mrs. Kristy B.

    From kerstin k, on Wed 10 Sep 12:10PM
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