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.
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.
Comment 346 - 365 of 425
Mclaren is a bunch a bloody @#$% cheaters. Go Massa! Go Alonso!
I feel I have to leave for a couple of days as I am forgetting how to spell after reading most of the Ferrari supporters comments. Is dis leks eya cont age us:
I could not agree more with "macellaganmhor" comments I too have been an avid fan of motor racing as far back as the late 50's when Motor racing was Motor racing, it is about time that the fans woke up that they are being taken for a ride as racing has been overtaken by rules and regulation and a big heap of bias against any team other than the Prancing horse, we saw a very good example of that bias last w/e, having seen LH at the wheel he is an out and out racer like it used to be, with the Jim Clark's, Stirling Moss and Fangio were. The only good side today is the monocog cockpit construction which protects the driver, and we saw how effective that was when Kubica hit the wall last year, when his car compleatly disintigrated and lived for another day with little or no injuries, racing in the very next race and that is the only good thing in F1 today period.
Hi Jbolan
\Jimmy was world champion in 1963 and 1965 he also won the Indianapolis 500 in 1965 -when he was killed on the race track at Hockenhiem, he had won more GP's than anyone else - 25 - and had also taken 33 pole positions, as you say RIP
Thanks for your comment
It was the Dave Clark five who were also a big hit back in the sixties - man - they were awsome!
This is very difficult for me, I have been a fan of F1 now since my friend Jim Clark was world champion and have followed every race with fanatical and faithfull enthousiasm to the point of excluding all other competitive sports other than the wonderfull scene that was F1.
After a huge amount of deliberation, I have decided that I have watched my last race, I tried hard last year not to be put off by the favouritism shown to Ferrari and the very harsh penalties handed out to McLaren and looked forward to a year of fair and equal racing in 2008.
When nearly all involved in stewarding and politics surrounding the sport openly and blatently flaunt thier support for an Italian team and penalise the nearest title contender at every opportunity, when even the commentators are afraid to speak out in fear of losing thier positions and drivers are muted and fearfull of repercussions - it is time to say goodbye to this one time fair and sporting event - I can't watch it anymore!
God bless you Jim
Donaldo
FIA...Ferrari In need of Assistance!!!!!
re 345 at last something sensible being said about incident between kimi and lewis if you looked hard at it heikki was behind lewis who locked up and went straight on so heikki maybe to blame for first corner incident but massa punted lewis by cutting chicane and how massa claims he was in gravel when it was grass back to kimi on late rerun last night kimi couldnt recall lewis hitting him but mentioned heikki had got close to him and what bourdais did wasnt illegal as drivers knew that he was doing what was agreed so massa at fault as blundell couldnt understand why bourdais was penalised and how come massa overtook webber by using pitlane and not penalised and kubica for forcing kimi wide must be because of ferrari international assistance or fia for short who garauntee race wins for you or opponents will get penalised even if they do nothing wrong
Perhaps the stewards are watching a different television feed than those of us at home are. But from where I was sitting, the incident between Bourdais and Massa was entirely Massa's fault. The only way Bourdais could have avoided it was to run into the wall on the inside of the turn.
This season is a complete farce. Even more so than last year. Races need to be decided on the track, not afterward.
Oh well, maybe I'll start watching NASCAR. There you are expected to make contact at least.
C'mon Lewis! The whole gaggle from the FIA (Ferrari Investment Authority) are against you. The whole set up is rigged to favour the red scum. After 21 years of being an F1 fan, I am sadly saying goodbye to the joke that is now Farcical 1! I am done watching currupt racing decisions, Bernie Lording it about, Max romping and Ferrari laughing! Shame on you FIA, shame on you Bernie, shame on you Maxy!!! You have taken a race of sport of REAL gentlemen and made it a laughing stock. I am sure even the American's are laughing at us, as they go round and round and round. Maybe I should start watching some NASCAR.
Hamilton watch your back because they are out to get you and they will get away with it
and they may be given extra pionts for doing it
all of you have recorded the GP watch closely and then you will see who pushes raikkinen off ive had enough of this onesided sport Bye Bye F1 0r should i say Ci verdiamo Ciao!
all of you have recorded the GP watch closely and then you will see who pushes raikkinen ice had enough of this onesided sport Bye byB F1 0r should i say Ci verdiamo Ciao!
355 his father was Hitlers mate during the european troubles.
ShaunC, go boil your head, your comments are worthless.
why cant hamilton stop crying and do something about that chip on his shoulder
hamilton got what he deserved he thinks he can bully his way through everthing and when it goes wrong he makes out he is being picked on he should stop whinging and get on with it i admit f1 is getting boring but it dont help when u got hi crying all the time
what if bourdais had been leaving the pit lane when masa was illegally pasing webber.would the resulting carnage have been the fault of bourdais .an x f1 fan of 50 years
r l milligan has a good point i agree that is could be supposed that the first black black driver is having a hard time with stewards rulings ect
who was max moseleys father and what did he stand for???
Although I ratlle a few cages and like a laugh there is a serious serious problem here that must be addressed. The thing is, I havent got the slightest idea of where one would start. The totally biased slants to the way penalties are being handed out leaves me totally bemused. As far as I am concerned, it is with great sadness, that I will no longer be following this sport. 30 years I have followed this through good times and bad times but I am afraid it has now reached rock bottom. I try to convince myself I am wrong but the recent decisions that have been allowed leads me to the conclusion that there is a far more dangerous precedent being set in that a coloured person is not welcolm as a world champion.
This I find to be very sad in that there are a lot of fantastic suporters fans out there (even Ferrari Ones) that I am sure must be felling the same way. Perhaps a petition or somthing similar would be a thought. At the very least one could hopefully make the decision makers in this sport aware of the feelings of the fanbase. And do not be kidded no fanbase no sponsor no F1
Although I ratlle a few cages and like a laugh there is a serious serious problem here that must be addressed. The thing is, I havent got the slightest idea of where one would start. The totally biased slants to the way penalties are being handed out leaves me totally bemused. As far as I am concerned, it is with great sadness, that I will no longer be following this sport. 30 years I have followed this through good times and bad times but I am afraid it has now reached rock bottom. I try to convince myself I am wrong but the recent decisions that have been allowed leads me to the conclusion that there is a far more dangerous precedent being set in that a coloured person is not welcolm as a world champion.
This I find to be very sad in that there are a lot of fantastic suporters fans out there (even Ferrari Ones) that I am sure must be felling the same way. Perhaps a petition or somthing similar would be a thought. At the very least one could hopefully make the decision makers in this sport aware of the feelings of the fanbase. And do not be kidded no fanbase no sponsor no F1
A thought to cheer up a few F1 fans. Just think how much money B.E and M.M has lost over the last couple of weeks. A small brite side to the credit crunch.
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