Lewis Hamilton excluded from Australian Grand Prix, Trulli third
Lewis Hamilton has lost his third place in the Australian Grand Prix following a new investigation by the FIA stewards.
Jarno Trulli’s third place has been reinstated. His claim Hamilton had deliberately slowed to let the Toyota driver pass during a safety car period was upheld.
The FIA examined new evidence from McLaren’s radio communications which proved McLaren instructed Hamilton to slow down.
After the race Hamilton and McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh gave conflicting accounts of what happened to reporters: Hamilton claiming he had been told to let Trulli past, Whitmarsh saying Trulli passed Hamilton of his own accord.
Before the appeal Trulli said:
The FIA really got it wrong in that decision. We have all the evidence, including Hamilton’s admission, that I did not overtake him. He let me pass.
More needless controversy
It’s clear McLaren and Hamilton made a mistake by first encouraging Trulli to pass Hamilton on the track, and then not explaining why they had done so to the FIA. They have paid the price for this error of judgement.
But it is equally clear that the both the FIA’s rules and their implementation of them are far from perfect.
Hamilton originally passed Trulli when the Toyota driver went off the track during a safety car period. At that moment McLaren were unsure whether he had broken the rules or not. It later transpired they had not, but given their track record with the FIA stewards it is hardly surprising they were paranoid about making a mistake.
This sort of confusion might once have been resolved straight away with a call to the race director to check the correct running order of the cars. But when McLaren tried this at Spa last year they were incorrectly informed they had not transgressed, and ended up getting penalised
Max Mosley subsequently declared teams should not communicate with the race director on matters like this during the race. This needs to change.
A short message from race control could have informed McLaren and Toyota who was in the right straight away, and cleared up the matter without any fuss. Such calls are commonplace in other racing series, particularly in America, and there is no obvious reason why F1 couldn’t do the same.
Instead we have the same old story of the stewards fiddling with the results after the chequered flag, and F1 spoiling an excellent weekend’s racing by following it with days of needless acrimony.
Update: Full verdict from the stewards
At the first hearing following the Australian Grand Prix the Stewards did not have the benefit of the radio exchanges between driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and his Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes nor did they have access to the comments to the Media given by Lewis Hamilton immediately after the end of the race.
From the video recordings available to the Stewards during the hearing it appeared that Jarno Trulli’s car left the track and car No 1 moved into third place. It then appeared that Trulli overtook Hamilton to regain third place, which at the time was prohibited as it was during the Safety Car period.
During the hearing, held approximately one hour after the end of the race, the Stewards and the Race Director questioned Lewis Hamilton and his Team Manager David Ryan specifically about whether there had been an instruction given to Hamilton to allow Trulli to overtake. Both the driver and the Team Manager stated that no such instruction had been given. The Race Director specifically asked Hamilton whether he had consciously allowed Trulli to overtake. Hamilton insisted that he had not done so.
The new elements presented to the Stewards several days after the 2009 Australian Grand Prix which led to the reconvened Stewards Meeting clearly show that:
a. Immediately after the race and before Lewis Hamilton attended the Stewards Meeting he gave an interview to the Media where he clearly stated that the Team had told him to let Trulli pass.
b. Furthermore, the radio exchanges between the driver and the Team contain two explicit orders from the Team to let the Toyota pass.
The Stewards, having learned about the radio exchanges and the Media interview, felt strongly that they had been misled by the driver and his Team Manager which led to Jarno Trulli being unfairly penalised and Lewis Hamilton gaining third place.
The FIA has also published a recording of an interview Hamilton gave to the media and a part of his team’s radio broadcast.
What a Joke… This is Crazy…
LET THE BLAME BEGIN!
if there was only a disable whining plugin for wordpress…
Word is McLaren is not going to appeal. They seem to have accepted the judgment.
McLaren don’t have a good track record with the FIA and appeals, do they? LOL.
What Max said: really, pretty stupid. Race positions should be decided during the race, never after it.
No it’s not a joke…
*sigh*
If he did not tell the stewards pertinent details he should be punished accordingly. Especially when he goes blabbing it elsewhere and ‘forgets’ to tell the stewards some pretty important details, thats just poor and bad sportsmanship. He should be telling the stewards everything that happens, even if its to his own detriment.
I agree.
Second that… If he did indeed hold back some truth he has deserved the penalty.
I think people should back down from the Hamilton fetishizing – ‘he,’ ‘he’, ‘he.’ It’s kind of juvenile. Hamilton told various sources he’d been told to let Trulli pass. If McLaren then made a TEAM decision to claim otherwise, the onus is on them, not Hamilton, who was basically placed in an impossible position by his employers.
I think the decision’s right, though, at a team sporting level. McLaren are looking just as shoddy as they did in the spygate and Alonso episodes.
I agree with David. McLaren have caused this to come about, not Hamilton. Listening to his team radio, he seemed like a young driver trying to find out where he should be, not like a cold, calculating tarred-with-the-same-brush-as-Schumacher figure. It seems to me that the team have decided to keep this info from the stewards to gain podium prestige, but failed to inform their driver before he spoke to the media. They deserve the punishment, but Hamilton doesn’t. He does have to wear it, however. Team sport ‘n’all.
FIA makes F1 a shambles again
FIA’s contribution to this problem was, as stated before, Mosley’s rather ridiculous undermining of Charlie Whiting’s authority as race director.
And the rather strict options about what penalties can be handed out (though, as discussed earlier, before Hamilton/McLaren’s misleading of the stewards came to light, in this case a 10-slot grid penalty plus dropping Trulli to 4th would have been a more appropriate penalty)
What’s mindboggling is, was the team aware that Hamilton had given the interview? And they think the stewards will not find out? They’ve pretty much given away any chance that they will be treated fairly from now on — any of their testimony would be treated with justified suspicion by stewards in the upcoming races, who would not want to be cuckolded as the Melbourne ones did.
I’m getting fed up with F1.
Not that I want to see Lewis and VMM getting away with stuff when they are clearly misleading others, but because of the constant inconsistency of the stewards and the FIA. Get it right on the day, during the race and let that be an end to it!
Pathetic state of affairs.
Good!!
Rubbish! So what does this mean? Does Lewis keep fourth? Or does he get the 25 second penalty which would place him 12th?
If the team is at fault, the driver should not be penalized. I know its a team sport but this is clearly the teams wrong doing. Strip the team of Contructors points or fine them, they should strip the driver of points.
Hamilton gets disqualified from the classification. If they did mislead the stewards then it is just, but as he went and told the media I don’t beleive it was intentional. If they intended to mislead you’d imagine they would get their stories straight…..
Forget rule changes, this is what F1 really is, needless, continous post race controversy and meddling which essentially makes the idea of a race completely pointless.
So let me get this straight. And before I start, McLaren are geese for not being honest.
But.
Trulli slides off. Slides back on then, knowing he cannot pass under safety car, did it anyway. Then, after the usual FIA faffing, he’s penalised 25s and Lewis gets the third that was technically his anyway.
So they’re recalled, despite Toyota giving up (ie declining to press charges) a new meeting is called, McLaren’s flexibility with the truth uncovered and, despite the fact that Trulli had broken the rules, he is reinstated. So instead of just bumping Lewis back to fourth, he is DQed?
What?
yeah DQ seems harsher than trulli’s 25 second penalty.
end of the day, trulli went off, they let him back in front.
then the fia stuck it’s nose in, messed up the results, threw in a penalty, then, messed the results again and threw in a bigger penalty.
really the teams sorted it out on the track it all was fair.
as much as i really don’t want to see all the whining, it does seem harsh for something that was never an issue.
oh i see why now. because once the FIA decided to investigate the 3rd place they then hid the evidence and mislead the FIA into giving them the position rather than telling the fair truth and allowing toyota to retain the 3rd place.
oh well, burnt for being bad.
That Trulli Slid of Behind the Safety Car, he was entitled to get back his position as per rules. So McLaren like good boys gave back Trulli his position. Stewards in Australia were incompetent enough Not to know the Rules deemed Trulli wrongfully overtook Lewis behind Safety car. And stripped the Italian off his righful result. Now another bunch of idiots try to undo it without honestly confessing botch up was at their end. And Hamilton loses his fourth place. Two wrongs doesn’t make it right, it just makes bloody screw up.
To be honest I am not a fan of the brit ( solely due to his loud mouth and “ME” Talk), but the kid is wronged this time for sure. SPA actions of the Brit were contentious for sure.. but this time around he is being wronged
Correct events ; Trulli slides off track, Hamilton slow s down (80KMH too slow for safety car regime),Trulli overtakes Ham ,Trulli disqualified after interview with stewards , Hamilton mislead the stewards pass and do not say anything to stop the wrong decision to disqualify Trulli. What a champion!!(thanks to Glock )
By the way you defend the cheating guy looks like you are english!!
It just says Ham lost his 3rd, so he’s most probably been put back to 4th. Its not the end of the world people.
He has been disqualified. So he will not be classified.
Oh well. He misled the stewards so he deserves what he gets.
I wouldn’t say Hamilton mislead people. He told the truth originally, it seems his team lead him into the situation and then lied.
Starting to think its all fixed now.
You mean you only just think that?
Hmmm, if he didnt tell the stewards stuff that he later admitted in an interview then fair enough, he should be penalised for it, although it does seem a little harsh given that the whole situation was rather confusing to start with. And as much as i think that Trulli deserves his points back, how have they removed a 25s penalty – they wouldnt have been able to remove a drive thru – is that not why you cant appeal it in the first place! Technically, both drivers should have then recieved the 25s penalty if they were going to do anything about it – rather than remove Hamilton altogether, not that it makes much difference.
Ideally id have liked the original result to stand, and I am a fan of neither driver – but they both deserved some points! If only Hamilton had been honest to the stewards in the first place thats what would have happened! All over an extra one point.
I agree that if Hamilton was misleading, he should get some punishment, but to be DQed from the whole thing is terrible.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but do any of us think that Raikkonen and/or Massa would be excluded from the results if they had been in the same position?
Well it isn’t a massive surprise Hamilton and McLaren getting penalised is it, what are the odds they won’t be allowed to appeal?
I hope the FIA release all the evidence they have to make their decision as transparent as possible. From what I read so far it is based on the radio transmissions not matching Hamilton’s and McLaren’s statements, so I have to ask why did the stewards not look into these before issuing their original penalty in Australia considering how big an impact it had on the final results, as Trulli lost his podium and ending up with nothing.
Good.
they FIA need to clarify things sooner so we don’t have issues and results to races being decided nearly a week after the race has finished.
I agree that lewis and Mclaren should not get away with this behavior or actions and is probably mostly there fault it has gone on so long. if there wasn’t conflicting story’s from them it should have been resolved by monday at latest.
Oh well bring on Malaysia i say!!
Ferrari no points so far, therefore Mclaren are’nt allowed any points so far!! is someone trying to line up the season for a grand finale at the end again. Or am I just being paranoid My guess is via the FIA the season will be decided at the end. Come on chaps I thought you wanted cars to race not deciding who wins in the stewards office.
I dont think this has anything to do with Ferrari – Lewis and Mclaren broke the rules by allowing Trulli to get penalised for something that wasnt his fault. If he had admitted it straight away that he slowed down to let him back past, he would probably have fourth place right now.
yeah that’s right bring ferrari into it…i knew someone had to be that pathetic!
since when should the outcome of a race be dictated by what a driver SAYS. Its his actions that we all tune in to see.
so how many post race interviews do you think we will get from drivers now? It will be ‘no comment’ to every question
nice one FIA… you cant write rules, you cant be consistent. Why not just tell us now who will be champion.
Keith, how about running a pole to see who agrees the fia are any good at their job??? could be the most one sided yet.
oh c’mon mate, the drivers can say whatever the heck they want to reporters, as long as they tell the stewards the truth!
Don’t be blaming the stewards for Hamilton’s and MacLaren’s lack of honesty.
To clear up according to Autosport Hamilton has been disqualified from the Australian GP, not just demoted back to 4th as some seem to beleive.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74146
C’mon enough with the FIA/Ferrari stuff. As a fan of Lewis and Mclaren I agree with the stewards. If they lied or did not say something they knew vindicate Toyota then the penalty is fair. They should no by now to be open and honest. Perverting the course of justice. say no more.
I see your point I really do and accept that, but its all kicking off again isn’t it, why do they have to meddle with the race results days after. It just isn’t racing to decide all this after, in other sports the refs decision is final. Does this mean we should look into Englands world cup win in 66 and have a re-think!!! Maybe Eddie the eagle should have won gold after all so on and so forth.
I agree Graham, it’s a little frustrating. Ref’s decision is final.. But F1 is a dictatorship!
They may need to impliment a de-brief after race prior to the podium to allow ll issues to be resolved. It wouldn’t do much for the show but it may avert some un-necassary messings about like this.
On a lighter note – I suggested earlier in the week to do the parade lap and then see if they can borrow a lotto machine from camelot to draw the race results..
I see your point as well, but the FIA are making the appearance that McLaren/Hamilton ‘lied’ (or rather ‘intentionally mislead’) without showing us their documentation of the original hearing. How can we trust that their interpretation of the conversation that took place as FACT without hearing it. Everyone can interpret things differently and I would chalk this up to that sort of circumstance.
Its pretty clear McLaren’s position on this after hearing the audio from the team radio. THEY DIDNT KNOW WHAT TO DO AT THE TIME and were most likely still unclear after the race. Like them, I too would have assumed that, with the radio transmissions being COMPLETELY OPEN, the FIA ’stewards’ would have done their JOB and reviewed all the facts before making a decision in the first place. Granted, I would have tried to get that clarification, but I can easily see (again, without the actual transcripts of what happened behind closed doors) where the confusion could run over into the ‘hearing’ that occurred after the race and Hamilton made the mistake. FIA wants to portray it as an outright lie without providing the evidence to back it up. If indeed it was, shame on McLaren/Hamilton – but I just don’t believe it was an intentional effort to mislead the officials.
At worst, give Trulli back his 3rd place and Hamilton his 4th because Hamilton, it seems, did slow at the order of the team to let Trulli by, or at least he slowed as a byproduct of being on the radio repeatedly and veered off line. Who says you have to stay on the ‘racing line’ when behind the safety car? Disqualifying a driver because one interpretation of the conversation/questions (again, unpublished, so I do not know exactly how they were worded) differs from another is highly suspect. I am sure this is an unprecedented situation, as are most situations Hamilton gets involved in, it would seem. But, when there are precedents (Spa, last year) they just get thrown out because its him driving.
/rant.
Lol, this just adds to the spectacle. If Lewis’s is not careful he may just get that ‘Schumacher v2.0′ tag after all. Ooh, what a shame
FFS
Honesty, unfortunately underrated by many. Great start to the season.
How dumb is Whitmarsh to think they would get away with this. They didn’t edge on the side of caution in this instance did they.
Disappointed with Mclaren.
What a farce.
It seemed under the safety car none of the drivers had a clue what they were supposed to be doing, like when they had to overtake the safety car. Hamilton and McLaren were probably just as confused about how to deal with this situation too. First Vettels arguably unfair share of the blame for his crash with Kubica, then the 25s penalty on Trulli which was just harsh given the circumstances, and now this? I can’t wait for the diffuser hearing.
I think, it’s cool with Lewis-Trulli incident now. Lewis probably would have had the 4-th place if he would have told the truth at the first place.
I also agree with Schumi that Vettel’s punishment was too much as well.
But, I think they are now having second thoughts on this one as well.
As a mccca fan this is very bad news.
As the points haul was probably the last we were going to see for a while not that has gone it is going to be very bare in the macca trophy cabinet!!!
If Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from the results of the GP then this sounds like he will get no points.
What next? Brawn, Toyota and Williams all disqualified over the diffusers, Ferrari handed the 1-2 instead because had the ‘naughty’ other cars not been running on the same racetrack they wouldn’t have caused the same wear and tear on the Ferrari engines or the mistakes made by the drivers! Well anything is possible these days!
Indeed, for those of us sick and tired of the FIA and their henchmen stewards deciding the outcome if races, let’s not forget that “diffuser-gate” is still brewing, and that the entire course of the season could be completely changed in the next few weeks
Excellent article Keith. You have really summed it up succinctly. I bet Lewis wonders why he bothers. The thought that such a brilliant drive, just like the one in Spa, should lead to nothing, is such a farce and a smack in the face for F1 fans.
The penalty has nothing to do with his driving, or the actual incident itself – it is they way they kept quiet about slowing down to let Trulli back past that is the problem. It is their own fault – harsh but true.
Well not really – in fact it’s more like a warm comforting arm around my shoulder (as an F1 fan), so please don’t bracket all F1 fans under your terms.
He and his team were disingenuous and have been punished. End of story.
Well said….
I agree S Hughes- terribly harsh for the circustances. I’m a Hamilton fan, and thought that was one of his best career drives. But yet again, the stewards much up the whole situation…..
What a mess and shame
Ruining a person’s hard work over a faulty message..
Disqualifying is way too harsh a penalty..
Wow, the FIA has no idea what their doing. i cant believe how long this B.S. has gone on without it being solved immediately. Trulli ran off course so Hamilton moves into P3 and Trulli takes P4, and all the crap after about radio transmissions and what ever else…FORGET ABOUT IT, just throw it out the window, and leave the results as that. I cant stand F1 this year:(
no you have no idea what you are doing. the FIA DQ’s him for lying about giving back the position, by lying they got given the 3rd place.
So, the FIA decide that Hamilton cannot get points for being confused in a situation THEY have allowed to arise by refusing calls to the race director.
May be the FIA just can’t stand having a black guy doing well with a dog of a car (how many on this forum alone – usually fairly balanced – would have clapped gleefully if Hamilton had had a bad race?). With a fascist like Mosley involved, we can’t expect him to tolerate equality.
Go on – lambast me for suggesting there’s rascism in F1. And I’ll laugh at you for believing this is “motorsport”. This is politics. Only a mug believes there’s a sporting element left in this organisation – maybe the teams can lay claim to sportsmanlike behaviour at times, but the FIA is about as sporting as UKIP. And about as relevant.
btw. If I’d suggested that the FIA are anti-McLaren/pro-Ferrari, while less controversial, it would no doubt spark just as much criticism, so I’m sticking my head above the parapet to make the link between fascism and rascism. Daring.
He didnt lose the place because of the confusion, he lost it for not admitting he slowed down to let Trulli back past – leading to Trulli getting unfairly penalised for overtaking under the saftey car when he was left with no choice – just like Hamilton overtkaing Trulli in the first place had no choice. If he had said to the stewards ‘look i slowed down – it was all a bit confusing, i didnt know whether to let him back past or not’ he would probably have fourth place right now – which whilst isnt third – is a lot better than a dsq!
Rachel, you are right. Don’t fear being lambasted. Of course racism is a factor in F1 politics and stewards’ decisions. Anyone who would deny that is someone who wants the status quo because it ties in with their own vile views, or is someone who is too stupid to acknowledge racism exists just because it has never happened to them.
The FIA just do not want a black man to come into a previously “white man’s sport” and show them how it’s done. It makes me feel physically sick.
What a shambolic situation! I’m no fan of Hamilton, but he did deserve a top five position. Likewise for Trulli. I’d say they are probably the best drives I’ve seen from both of them.
It seems that F1 is creating too many of its own ‘grey areas’, in which confusion reigns supreme. Are we going to end up with drivers all swopping positions because they think they might have made a mistake in overtaking someone who has fallen off the track (or someone missing a wheel)?
Max Mosely has done it again by not allowing communication with Charlie Whiting. Max is a pillock! End of.
What on earth is going on?
here we go again…..at least i can have a sleep in this weekend, ‘cos we won’t find out the result until next week…….farce.
I know the feeling….with every (insert explative of your choice here) decision like this, I am less and less motivated to alter my sleep schedule for races like Malaysia, which due to Bernie’s TV bias, starts at 4:30 AM in my local time zone.
I was expecting worse penalty. Well, does tht mean the used engine/gearbox doesn’t count too???
I disagreed Trulli’s penalty and I disagree now… well, in fact it seems that Lewis has been penalized for “being a liar” (I’m not telling him a liar, it’s just what it seems they’re accusing him off). However it’s fun to read the reactions to Trulli’s penalty (”ok, they’re the rules”) and current reactions
Anyways I thought that Trulli’s penalty couldn’t be waived because it was a race penalty ( which I’d hate if they do that because Alonso would get another point ^^ )
Yeah I cant understand how Trulli’s penalty was waived either :S Thats the whole reason why you cant appeal a 25s penalty :S
yeah toyota’s stance on the rules has been good all weekend, when they got hit for the rear wing they accepted it and didn’t fight, when they got the penalty they put in an appeal then withdrew it and accepted the result.
they agree, rules are rules and not to fight the people trying to enforce them at every step.
Yeah, they have accepted all thats been thrown at them havent they – and are now second in the title for it. I try not to like Toyota after they kept on Trulli and got rid of Ralf (not that I hold a grudge of owt!) – but i cant seem to help myself, i kinda like seeing them do well – any ‘midfield’ team do well to be honest. Especially Williams
Not that it couldn’t be waived…they just weren’t allowed to appeal. I think Toyota had a good suspicion that FIA was going to reconvene and that is why they pulled their appeal.
I’m no fan of the FIA, but I don’t see how you can blame them and get all worked up over inconsistence blah blah with this one.
Had Lewis told them the truth to begin with then he would be 4th and Trulli 3rd, no penalties and the race result stands… however he lied, and therefore Trulli received a 25sec penalty. Now that the truth is out it is only fair that Trulli’s penalty be removed and Lewis disqualified.
The FIA has acted correctly and fairly throughout this case. It is Lewis & VMM who are at fault here.
This is perfectly fair. Trulli broke no rules. I found this on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OohT1HbaEF0
It’s an extract of Toyota’s team radio. Towards the end you can hear Trulli explain that after Lewis slowed down he passed because he thought he had a problem, but when he realised Lewis didn’t have a problem, Trulli slowed to let him pass again but the McLaren didn’t pass. McLaren then went and protested, it’s their own ignorance of the rules that has cost them.
they (stewerds and FIA) should not have done anything – at least not until they were sure of what they were doing. it seems they meddle, then 2 days later meddle again then meddle a third time just to annoy everyone.
It should have been how it finished (Trulli 3rd, Hamilton 4th). If there were no investigations in the first place then Maclaren could not have got muddled up in their evidence in order to get disqualified.
its got nothing to do with racing. its all ‘off-track’ stuff thats ruining F1. the FIA are a total joke.
Also, Lewis got punished when it was Whitmarsh who lied. Ham told the truth and lost his points.
What lewser has done is blatant cheating simple as-doent matter about creed or colour,i believe this is worse than what schumacher did to hill yrs ago.
hes lied to mclaren and lied to stewards,no wonder other drivers dont like him!!
he brings all this on himself,ban him for the season!!
I look forward to finding out who wins this Sundays race in about two weeks Wednesday, it should be thrilling. Its just what Bernie and His special friends work so hard to entertain us with, Actually scrub that I will ask him next week when I see him in Asda I will let you all know then
If Hamilton / Mclaren has been less than truthful then of course I’m more than just a little disapprointed (gutted and I need to see the transcripts to know the truth). But really this is about FIA mis-management and a very mid-20th century attitude to crime and punishment. The whole organisation is a monstrosity and if we want to see fair decision-making to take the place of this “iron fist” approach we need to sweep away the old guard (a bit like Obama sweeping away that dreadful Bush administration). We need an end to the school master – pupil (dare I say Master & Slave) hierachy! WHAT A BUNCH OF DINOSAURS
So McLaren gives misleading information, gets caught and penalised? Sounds familiar.
But I do agree with Keith about instant communications with race officials. I know the FIA tries to be slow and deliberate, but you can hear this stuff going on real-time in American series. It is perhaps unnecessary to add that you don’t see controversy like this in those racing leagues.
If they can do it, why not in F1? The technology and organisation is there. They just have to use it.
Mansell for FIA president the bloke knew how to race
Bingo…no more ticky-tack penalties handed out for drivers pushing the envelope and giving us a quality show!!
Does anyone else enjoy these little spats? I’ve only gotten into formula one seriously in the last 2 years so maybe this didnt happen a while ago but I’ve found that this is part and parcel of the pure randomness of the sport! I mean I find these change ups by the FIA after the race give me an awful lot to talk about between races. Although they bring the sport into disrepute occasionally, they are also a large reason I can last the long waits between races! Speculation, speculation, speculation!!
In that case you are clearly not a motorsport fan. If you want and enjoy all this stupid back-stabbing and in-fighting, I suggest you tune into Eastenders or something to get your fix of drama. Sorry if I sound harsh, but our sport could really do without ‘fans’ such as yourself.
Jim I am a Formula one fan. I’ve watched every formula one race for the last 2 years and intend to keep watching them every year. The reason I got into F1 in the first place is because of the motorsport aspect. But apart I also keep up to date with the political side of the sport and enjoy it. I believe if every ‘fan’ was as commited to the sport as me then it would outrank every other sport in terms of popularity. Unfortunately fans (notice the lack of quotation marks Jim it means I’m talking about you and not a ‘fan’ like me) of the sport tend to be a tiny bit ‘harsh’ to people who actually like having a political side to the sport.
I do enjoy the politics of the sport. I would hardly call this case in hand (hamilton’s disqualification) as back-stabbing or in-fighting. In fact the FIA were wrong about Trulli’s penalty and Hamilton deserved punishment for giving contradictory evidence, although the punishment might be over the top. Perhaps the FIA have some sort of grudge against mclaren or hamilton but I wouldn’t call it back stabbing.
Sorry Jim, I missed the bit where it was announced that you get to decide who should be and F1 and who shouldn’t. A little self rightous, no?
*who should be an F1 fan and who shouldn’t…
keith, i hope this has nothing to do with your prediction comp have you been in talks with the FIA?? nothing will surprise me anymore.
I think it’s fair to say that Trulli’s 3rd should have been up kept from the get go. And a simple position swap would have sufficed.
but i think Disqualifying Hami is not cool. although i didn’t help me from liking the fact that Trulli’s 3rd stuck…
i think that when Hami retires in a few years, he will be known as the most bullied driver by the FIA.
hey Keith, that’s interesting, who was actually the driver most bullied by the FIA? i guess McLaren are the team…..
ll people saying this is crazy and unfair etc you really should be aware that Lewis’ story to the FIA was that he taking in information from his steering wheel when Trulli passed him, hence why he was slow and off line. Data proved his steering wheel to be blank and the team having told him to pull over and relinquish the place. In black&white context flagrant lying to the stewards is probably taken even more seriously than disqualification from one event. If you’ve read this and are still unsure, I suggest you read the rules provided by the FIA and then dash on down to dictionary.com to comprehend the definition of a rule!!
I agree with andy-no room for cheats in this sport,what hamilton has done is unforgiveable.
Same old, same old. Interesting that I’m wondering why I bother with F1 after just one race.
Farce.
Ditto…
The FIA is just one big joke, a bunch of cretins who are determined to transfer the race result from the track to their own petty little domain, guess it makes them feel important.
I’m not sure i want to watch another season of the fia’s manipulation of the results.
The FIA had the opportunity to clarify the confusion from Toyota and McLaren over the SC overtaking rules and declare Hamilton 3rd and Trulli 4th, but no, an opportunity to go round layin the boot in cant be missed.