Hamilton unhappy with stewards

Eurosport - Mon, 13 Oct 15:53:00 2008

Formula One World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton has said it was unfair to punish he and Felipe Massa equally after their respective mistakes in the Japanese Grand Prix.

FORMULA 1 2008 - McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, in a red cap, is surrounded by journalists after the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji - 0

McLaren driver Hamilton's advantage over title rival Massa is down to five points after the Brazilian was promoted to seventh following a post-race penalty for Sebastien Bourdais.

Bourdais was adjudged to have been at fault when he and Massa touched as the Frenchman exited the pit-lane, while the Ferrari driver served a drive-through penalty for earlier causing Hamilton to spin and the Briton suffered the same fate for forcing Raikkonen off the track at the race start.

Hamilton (pictured in red cap) said he committed an error after losing his pole position to fellow front-row starter Raikkonen while indicating that he was not happy that Massa was not punished more heavily.

"You can always look back and wish you did something else," he reflected. "I made a mistake and I paid for it. This sort of thing happens: you've just got to keep your head up and keep going.

"We [he and Massa] both got the same penalty, but I didn't hit anyone and he did. I guess that's just the name of the game."

Before learning of Massa's second point thanks to the Bourdais punishment, Hamilton said the World Championship race was unaffected by events at Fuji.

"I don't think it makes any difference," he said. "I lost one point today, which I guess is damage limitation, and we'll move on to next week.

"We will still be just as competitive, and we're going to make sure we win the last two races - not at any cost, but we plan on winning."

The final rounds are set for China and Brazil, with the next race in Shanghai in a week's time.

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport

Comment 406 - 425 of 425

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. Hi - i.yeatman, yeah I know Ferrari are cheats, Massa is part of Ferrari and the Stewards are the 12th man in the Ferrari team (I don't actually know how many there are in the Ferrari team but that's what you say when the ref is on one team's side in footie soooo..). And Alfonso is an A-SS

    From emma_roid80, on Thu 16 Oct 12:35PM

  2. Lets face it the only way to sort this is to have the ability to have decisions refered to a real court. The FIA have shown over and over that they are incapable of making reliable consistant decisions. Makes no difference who you think is in the right, it needs a totaly independent final referal procedure. If your scared of that then your probably the ones in the wrong.

    From Carl B, on Wed 15 Oct 2:17PM

  3. Well said Guido!

    From AndJustice4All, on Wed 15 Oct 1:08PM

  4. I can see that the only driver complaining is Hamilton, why don't he shut his big mouth and start driving better, he's got a good car

    From Guido F, on Wed 15 Oct 11:21AM

  5. Todd,
    you miss the point .Bourdais was racing Massa for position. Just because Massa is ahead of him in the championship does not mean that he has to give way to him by lifting off. He stayed within the pit exit lane and Massa just turned into him. The stewards penalised the wrong man. Is it any wonder that the FIA is accused of bias?
    The FIA need to appoint an ex FI driver or two (to avoid thoughts of bias) if not as voting members of the stewards' commitee certainly to advise them on racing.

    From skisman@..., on Wed 15 Oct 10:14AM

  6. FI IS DEFINETELY NOT READY FOR A BLACK DRIVER TO WIN YET !IT SMACKS OF PURE RACISM .
    ASK ME IM FROM THE LAND OF COLOUR! SA..HAMMILTON IS FACINATING AND HAVE THE GUTS!HE SHOULD JUST HANG IN THERE AND BEAT THE REDS TO BECOME WORLD CHAMP ON HIS OWN ..NEVER MIND THE RACIST ALONSO.HE IS JUST NASTY.I PRAY HE BECOMES THE NEXT HAMILTON,(QUOTING HIS DAD)!
    FROM JAZZY

    From jasminebarron2004, on Wed 15 Oct 9:50AM

  7. It is unfair that Hamilton was not punished for his dangerous acts in the previous races.

    From Stanley, on Wed 15 Oct 5:39AM

  8. DB, was that a Prancing Star on that car that just went by?

    From sky, on Wed 15 Oct 4:06AM

  9. The racist are coming, the racist are coming. So far I haven't seen men in white sheets burning down homes and killing people. Yes, there are many other ways to be racist but I don't believe we've seen it in F-1. Lewis is driving one of the best cars on the grid. He's making a ton of money. The sky is not falling. Chicken little lied. Let's talk about the problems with the sport; stewards, Mickey Mouse tracks, how Bernie wants to destroy the history so he can make more money. Those are the issues that are important. If you believe that the steward have wrongly penalized Lewis, it's usually because the steward have done some really stupid things lately. It's not because they are racist, it's because they are blind and stupid, on occasion. And sometimes the stewards are right.

    From sky, on Wed 15 Oct 4:03AM

  10. Face it. Hamilton made a terrible mistake at the start. He's been making terrible mistakes ever since he's been in the points lead. Last year... This year... Same Hamilton. Lately he's gotten in the car and disconnected his brain from his natural driving talent and pulled some of the worst, boneheaded passes I've seen in years. He needs to join Montoya in Nascar (huck, spit), where you're commended and encouraged to lean, beat, bang and park someone.
    Lewis has driven like a madman (and I don't mean that in a good way).
    He's forced his fellow competitors off the track rather than make a clean pass.
    In Japan the incident at the start was all his doing. Everyone complained about Massa's blunder, but if the incident was reversed the press (announcers and all) would've praised Lewis for an outstanding pass. They would've given him all the credit, praising his driving capability and claim no fault because he was well under him (regardless of riding the curbs).
    Lewis needs to remove his head from his hind end or he'll lose the title again. The only one he'll have to blame is himself. I'm betting he'll implode such as he did last year. Besides, Lewis' McLaren-Mercedes-Ferrari is the top team out there.

    From DB, on Wed 15 Oct 3:53AM

  11. All I have to say is where is your evidence that Massa, Ferrari, and Alonso are cheaters? Jeezuz, what's next? The London Transport bombings were a government conspiracy?

    If you're going to call Massa a cheater for punting Hamilton into a spin on lap 2 then you need to accuse Lewis of being a cheat for forcing Raikonnen off in turn one. Face it, they were both stupid driving incidents and both drivers were penalized for their respective poor judgement.

    And was it Massa's fault that Bourdais didn't give way when he was coming out of the pits? No! Did Massa get special treatment by the stewards penalizing Seb 25 seconds? No! How about we all point the fingers where they really should be? Point them at the FIA and the stewards for trying to get their fifteen minutes of fame. They are the ones who are changing the outcome of the races. The drivers and the fans are just suffering the consequences.

    How about we all agree that you are wrong, unless you can prove it, and you just shut the eff up!

    Crank Yanker

    From Todd, on Wed 15 Oct 12:15AM

  12. shaun c , You are in imbicle to even think Lewis tried to take out Massa . I'll bet you think Lewis used the side of his car to ram Massa'a front wing .

    From barry w w, on Tue 14 Oct 11:26PM

  13. It is so damn obvious that ferrari are cheats and dont want maclaren to win ,masa, raikonen and alonso belong to the dark side racist pigs,it trickles from the top ie Max moseley we all know he is a Nazi idealogist,no matter what LEWIS is going to be the greatest driver that boy got skills, FIA were not ready for a black boy to take over and cause sell out tickets and its only his second season in F1 they cant break Lewis, his dad is there for him thats what matters (to deal with this racism)mclaren should pull out that ferrari wont have competition and can win all the races ever.LEWIS BE STRONG WE ALL CAN SEE THEM CHEATING YOU YOU ARE NOT ALONE. AS YOUR DAD LAST SEASON FAMOUSLY SAID IN AN INTERVIEW HE (LEWIS) "IS NOT GOING TO BE THE NEXT SCHUMACER (cheat) but HE IS GOING TO BE THE NEXT LEWIS HAMILTON" YOU HAVE MADE HISTORY SON GOOD ON YOU!

    From Waleed w, on Tue 14 Oct 10:38PM

  14. Come on Lewis, put them all in their place and win the last 2 races and show them that whatever dirt is thrown at you, you still come out of it smelling of roses

    From SUSAN M, on Tue 14 Oct 10:16PM

  15. emma roid its ferrari team that cheat as only way they can win wc and rick m thats why massa had to punt lewis off as hes so fat it slows his car down too much and anyway why would ferrari win anything other than by cheating and the fact they can rely on alonso to help them

    From i.yeatman@..., on Tue 14 Oct 8:44PM

  16. These decision, are so outrageous FIA clearly don't want McLaren or a blackman to win. It's about time we start boycotting Alonso team sponsors and Ferrari sponsors. Alonso and Robret are vile racist. Robret that ugly animal

    From Hell Y, on Tue 14 Oct 8:40PM

  17. As for Shaun's comments,when he calls Lewis a cheater,what about Michael Schumacher

    From thomas, on Tue 14 Oct 7:12PM

  18. I may be too late to comment on this travisity they call sport. I tried contacting FIA directly by email to no avail. If something isn't done soon this really will be the end of F1. I've followed motor racing all my life and have several generation inmy famliy connected with the sport, which used to be much more honest than it is now.

    From PatriciaC, on Tue 14 Oct 7:05PM

  19. Ferrari are the cheaters,if i could bet on it i'd say there's backhanders going somewhere

    From thomas, on Tue 14 Oct 7:01PM

  20. shaun you sound like a big child, sure your name is not alonso

    From I TYSON, on Tue 14 Oct 4:26PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account