02.04.2009
There’s been a bit of confusion today over the reasons for Hamilton being disqualified from Sunday’s Melbourne Grand Prix, so we thought we’d try to clear things up.
The punishment of Lewis being stripped of his position and points was handed down, because the FIA believe that he lied to the Stewards.
According to the report on the FIA’s website Lewis and Team Manager David Ryan were asked, specifically, whether or not an instruction was given to Lewis telling him to let the Toyota of Jarno Trulli back past. They insisted that this was not the case, but if you listen to the recording of McLaren’s radio transmissions (below) you will hear Lewis’s race engineer say: ‘Lewis, you need to allow the Toyota through. Allow the Toyota through.’
It appears therefore that the representation made to the Stewards by McLaren implied that Trulli had muscled his way past Lewis, when in reality it appears that Jarno passed Lewis in exactly the same manner in which Lewis passed Jarno.
Listen to the interview given by Lewis Hamilton to the Media immediately after the race
Listen to a recording of the radio transmission between Lewis Hamilton and the Team
Then let us know what you think
UPDATE: It is now being rumoured that the FIA might hand down a more severe penalty to Lewis and McLaren, either a race suspension or even a season ban..
An FIA spokesperson is quoted as saying “Given the seriousness of this matter, we cannot rule out further action at this stage”
What do you think?
[poll id="4"]
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18 Comments
Stig
April 2, 2009It’s clear from the McLaren and Toyota radio transcripts that both teams sought clarification during the race from the FIA Formula One Race Director.
Charlie Whiting is the FIA’s Formula One Race Director and head of the F1 Technical Department, in which capacities he generally manages the logistics of each F1 Grand Prix, inspects cars before each race, enforces FIA rules, and controls the lights which start each race.
The FIA Formula One Race Director must take responsibility for providing timely feedback to teams requesting clarification during a race to avoid ambiguous results.
Clearly the FIA were aware of the incident at the time and had access to both the McLaren and Toyota team radios during and after the race. If the FIA race stewards had not been provided copies of the radio transcripts prior to making a decision, that oversight is clearly the responsibility of the FIA.
The FIA should be able to deal with such incidents during the event, but they have again demonstrated that the FIA is not fit for purpose…
[img]http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/muppet/images/f/fe/Puppetgovernment.jpg[/img]
Stig
April 2, 2009It’s clear from the McLaren and Toyota radio transcripts that both teams sought clarification during the race from the FIA Formula One Race Director.
Charlie Whiting is the FIA’s Formula One Race Director and head of the F1 Technical Department, in which capacities he generally manages the logistics of each F1 Grand Prix, inspects cars before each race, enforces FIA rules, and controls the lights which start each race.
The FIA Formula One Race Director must take responsibility for providing timely feedback to teams requesting clarification during a race to avoid ambiguous results.
Clearly the FIA were aware of the incident at the time and had access to both the McLaren and Toyota team radios during and after the race. If the FIA race stewards had not been provided copies of the radio transcripts prior to making a decision, that oversight is clearly the responsibility of the FIA.
The FIA should be able to deal with such incidents during the event, but they have again demonstrated that the FIA is not fit for purpose…
[img]http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/muppet/images/f/fe/Puppetgovernment.jpg[/img]
muo
April 2, 2009If it was any other driver, no one would be questioning the decision. Unfortunately, for him, Hamilton gets these penalties…..because they are all warranted. The stewards don’t arbitrarly make it up as they go along, they provide Evidence, going by the Rules. If you can’t accept that, tough.
Mclaren told him to let trulli back through. He did. He then told the stewards a different story, saying he was ‘reading a message on his dashboard’ (from what I gather’ Implying that Trulli overtook him unfairly.
Now we know that he did infact slow down, instructed by the team, hence why Trulli had to pass. Mclaren knew that if they said that, in their initial appeal, OF COURSE the stewards are going to go ‘well…..you told him to let Trulli past. He let Trulli past. Why are you appealing your own decision?’
Conclusion. He lied to the stewards. It’s as simple as that. The facts of the matter are very clear, and if people don’t like it, thats simply tough. Last year all the penalties were arguably justified (although Fuji is debatable) – if you do something wrong. You get a penalty. If you continue to do wrong things…..you continue to get penalties.
in 1994 Schumacher got a 3 race ban, due to his Wooden plank being a few mm lower than the minimum (arguably due to damage caused when he spun off during the race at Spa over the kerb and gravel). Even if it was illegal, a 3 race ban was harsh. In this case……Lewis flat out lied to the stewards, to try and salvage a 3rd place, knowing that if he’d said ‘The team told me to let him through’ Trulli would have kept his 3rd.
The facts are clear. He deserves the disqualification. Thats the end of it.
muo
April 2, 2009If it was any other driver, no one would be questioning the decision. Unfortunately, for him, Hamilton gets these penalties…..because they are all warranted. The stewards don’t arbitrarly make it up as they go along, they provide Evidence, going by the Rules. If you can’t accept that, tough.
Mclaren told him to let trulli back through. He did. He then told the stewards a different story, saying he was ‘reading a message on his dashboard’ (from what I gather’ Implying that Trulli overtook him unfairly.
Now we know that he did infact slow down, instructed by the team, hence why Trulli had to pass. Mclaren knew that if they said that, in their initial appeal, OF COURSE the stewards are going to go ‘well…..you told him to let Trulli past. He let Trulli past. Why are you appealing your own decision?’
Conclusion. He lied to the stewards. It’s as simple as that. The facts of the matter are very clear, and if people don’t like it, thats simply tough. Last year all the penalties were arguably justified (although Fuji is debatable) – if you do something wrong. You get a penalty. If you continue to do wrong things…..you continue to get penalties.
in 1994 Schumacher got a 3 race ban, due to his Wooden plank being a few mm lower than the minimum (arguably due to damage caused when he spun off during the race at Spa over the kerb and gravel). Even if it was illegal, a 3 race ban was harsh. In this case……Lewis flat out lied to the stewards, to try and salvage a 3rd place, knowing that if he’d said ‘The team told me to let him through’ Trulli would have kept his 3rd.
The facts are clear. He deserves the disqualification. Thats the end of it.
muo
April 2, 2009Also people must be deluded, in your poll, if they are voting ‘ The race result should not be altered after a race has ended!’
So……..what, even after a car is found to be illegal? or something was done unfairly on track? what a ridiculous statement to agree with.
F1 is not as simple as any other sport, highly technical in nature, and 90% of the time, the race results do carry forward. It’s very rare that race results are changed afterwards, and if it does happen….it happens for good reasons, backed up by evidence.
muo
April 2, 2009Also people must be deluded, in your poll, if they are voting ‘ The race result should not be altered after a race has ended!’
So……..what, even after a car is found to be illegal? or something was done unfairly on track? what a ridiculous statement to agree with.
F1 is not as simple as any other sport, highly technical in nature, and 90% of the time, the race results do carry forward. It’s very rare that race results are changed afterwards, and if it does happen….it happens for good reasons, backed up by evidence.
muo
April 2, 2009The official press release explaining the Stewards decision…..
http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/f1releases/2009/Pages/f1_stewards_decision.aspx
Pretty clear to me.
muo
April 2, 2009The official press release explaining the Stewards decision…..
http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/f1releases/2009/Pages/f1_stewards_decision.aspx
Pretty clear to me.
Mark McTavish
April 2, 2009Forget trying to increase the number of overtakes…let’s increase the number of scandalous rule breaches! At least 1 per race please!
Mark McTavish
April 2, 2009Forget trying to increase the number of overtakes…let’s increase the number of scandalous rule breaches! At least 1 per race please!
Stig
April 2, 2009Apparently the FIA have issued a communication to FOTA reminding the teams of the latest guiding principles of regulation under the “FIA Sporting COde”, as agreed with Formula One Management…
[img]http://www.pistonheads.com/pics/members/20538-car.jpg?0.59969299901248[/img]
Stig
April 2, 2009Apparently the FIA have issued a communication to FOTA reminding the teams of the latest guiding principles of regulation under the “FIA Sporting COde”, as agreed with Formula One Management…
[img]http://www.pistonheads.com/pics/members/20538-car.jpg?0.59969299901248[/img]
Ian F
April 3, 2009Damn… from the recordings you would have to assume that Lewis did receive orders to let Trulli through. We can all probably understand (but not necessarily agree) with McLaren’s decision to push for P3, but in this case they were unjustified.
However, it does call into question a driver’s ability to express his free will and whether “team orders” give grounds to try and pull a fast one. My answer would be to punish McLaren ie. no manufacturer’s points this round (maybe more) and a warning about future infringements, but to award Lewis P4 points.
Ian F
April 3, 2009Damn… from the recordings you would have to assume that Lewis did receive orders to let Trulli through. We can all probably understand (but not necessarily agree) with McLaren’s decision to push for P3, but in this case they were unjustified.
However, it does call into question a driver’s ability to express his free will and whether “team orders” give grounds to try and pull a fast one. My answer would be to punish McLaren ie. no manufacturer’s points this round (maybe more) and a warning about future infringements, but to award Lewis P4 points.
Alceu
April 3, 2009From the text:
“According to the report on the FIA’s website Lewis and Team Manager David Ryan were asked, specifically, whether or not an instruction was given to Lewis telling him to let the Toyota of Jarno Trulli back past. They insisted that this was not the case, but if you listen to the recording of McLaren’s radio transmissions (below) you will hear Lewis’s race engineer say: ‘Lewis, you need to allow the Toyota through. Allow the Toyota through.’”
Stop thinking with the colors of the English flag, and start thinking with your brains. They’ve just insisted that they didn’t let Trulli pass, but they deliberately did. Period.
Alceu
April 3, 2009From the text:
“According to the report on the FIA’s website Lewis and Team Manager David Ryan were asked, specifically, whether or not an instruction was given to Lewis telling him to let the Toyota of Jarno Trulli back past. They insisted that this was not the case, but if you listen to the recording of McLaren’s radio transmissions (below) you will hear Lewis’s race engineer say: ‘Lewis, you need to allow the Toyota through. Allow the Toyota through.’”
Stop thinking with the colors of the English flag, and start thinking with your brains. They’ve just insisted that they didn’t let Trulli pass, but they deliberately did. Period.
Pete Wadsworth
April 3, 2009@Alceu – that’s exactly what the text says. I think you’ll find that the story seems to be agreeing with the Stewards decision.
Pete Wadsworth
April 3, 2009@Alceu – that’s exactly what the text says. I think you’ll find that the story seems to be agreeing with the Stewards decision.