When last in Gay Paree (sexual connotation in deference to Max “The Littlest Perv” Mosley) Lewis Hamilton was facing an FIA[sco] Inquisition over StepnyGate and Mclaren was slammed for 200 LARGE.
This week Hamilton will meet with the FIA[sco] Appeals Court on Tuesday in a bid to get his Belgian Grand Prix victory reinstated.
McLaren decided to appeal Hamilton’s 25-second time penalty which he incurred on his way to victory at Spa earlier this month.
The penalty was given when it was deemed Hamilton gained an advantage by cutting a chicane during the race and unfortunately for the British driver the victory was handed to his main championship rival Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.
Hamilton’s lead over Massa is now down to only one point after last week’s Italian GP, but if he regains his points his lead will extend to seven.
“All we can do is present the facts,” said McLaren chief executive .
“We have just got to present the data and, whatever the outcome is, that is the outcome.”
Three judges appointed to the International Court of Appeal will decided whether or not McLaren’s plea is justified.
Hamilton was battling with Massa’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen in the final stages of the race and cut across the Bus Stop chicane to overtake him, however Hamilton allowed Raikkonen to immediately overtake and reclaim the lead before overtaking him again at the next corner.
It’s now up to the judges to decide if Hamilton sufficiently surrendered the advantage he gained from cutting the chicane.
“Most people who were watching would say Lewis deserved to win that race and not Felipe,” Whitmarsh said.
“I’m probably slightly partisan on this but I do actually believe that’s what most people would imagine.”
A majority of the F1 drivers have said they think Hamilton benefited from the maneuver.
Tags: Lewis Hamilton, Martin Whitmarsh, Mclaren, Paris
peterg wrote,
Whether Hamilton deserved a penalty or not can be debated.
However, the FIA has given more ammo to the FIA-pro Ferrari, anti-McLaren firefight.
Link | September 24th, 2008 at 3:42 am