08/09/2008
NEWS STORY
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There are times when F1 appears determined to commit suicide, and the events of Sunday 7 September 2008 appear to one of them.
Whatever team one supports, one has to agree that the closing stages of the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix were 'edge of the seat' stuff, what F1 should be all about.
We were already on tenterhooks anticipating the rain, not to mention the reliability of the Ferrari and the way Lewis Hamilton was reeling in his Finnish prey.
As the McLaren driver crossed the line, there will be few of us who didn't let out a huge gasp, having held our breath as we watched events unfold. Whatever team you support, you have to admit that those last couple of minutes as Hamilton and Raikkonen struggled in the wet and Heidfeld and Alonso took more than 30s off of their rivals, were wonderful.
Then, just as we sat back and started contemplating next week's race at Monza, came the ominous news that the race stewards were investigating. The rest, as they say, is history.
Whatever one's view of what happened, and everyone has an opinion, a great afternoon suddenly turned sour. McLaren were in the dock once again, and, yet again, the 'injured party, was Ferrari.
Now before you Ferrari supporters start sending in the abusive e-mails, please re-read what I've just written. I am not saying that Ferrari is the guilty party, or that Ferrari did anything wrong, what I am saying is that the whole situation looks that much worse today because it was Ferrari that benefited from the decision. Had Heidfeld or Alonso been handed the win there would have been outrage, but nothing like that we are witnessing following the decision to hand victory to Felipe Massa.
F1 is in the headlines yet again for all the wrong reasons. I have lost count of the number of e-mails and texts received in the past twelve hours from friends and fans totally disillusioned by the sport.
We've had the cheating saga, the sado-masochism saga and now we have the Belgium 2008 saga.
Whatever the powers that be tell you, F1 is losing its attraction, not only with the casual fan but with die-hards. TV viewing figures are down, internet stats are down, while many venues are struggling to sell all their race tickets.
On Friday, while editing the pictures for our practice gallery, I noticed something very strange. A shot of one of the cars passing the grandstand at Eau Rouge - one of the most legendary corners in F1 - revealed fewer than forty people in the stand. OK, this was a Friday, but I know from experience that this stand is usually pretty busy during the Friday sessions. So where were the fans?
F1 probably won't feel the affect of losing 'man down the pub', however, if the diehards start switching off CVC has a problem on its hands. Make no mistake, what happened yesterday will do far more serious and long-lasting damage to the sport than the spy saga and Max Mosley's antics combined. However, when placed alongside these other scandals it really does appear that F1 has a death-wish.
The cynic in me suggests that Max could score a superb PR coup next weekend. With the FIA President scheduled to attend the Italian GP, thereby ensuring maximum press coverage, what better time for him to gain some positive PR - for himself if not the sport - by hastily arranging an FIA hearing and sorting out yesterday's mess. From zero to hero in one fell swoop.
However, this isn't about Max, it's about a sport that yet again gets it totally wrong and further alienates its customers.
We want to hear your views. We want to know how you really feel about F1 after yesterday's events. This isn't about blaming Ferrari, Max or Bernie - because we know some of you blame them for everything - it's not even about the stewards' decision. It's about how that decision was reached and its impact on the sport, it's about you view F1 today, having had time to dwell on the situation.
Does the sport need a regular panel of stewards, a panel which includes drivers and maybe even a fan or two, should there be a fixed tariff for offences? Should the podium ceremony have been delayed while the stewards reached their decision, or do you simply feel that you've had enough?
We want your thoughts, because, rest assured, they will be seen. Whether they are acted upon we don't know, but they will be seen.
Chris Balfe
Editor
To send your thoughts, click here
Note: Please include your full name - without a full valid name we will not publish your entry.
Paul Kendrick
I cannot see (given the McLaren data) why Lewis was penalised, he clearly had nowhere to go and the escape road was the only option, he lifted off the throttle and gave the position back to Kimi, even though I don't believe he had to. he was 6Kph slower than Kimi over the line so had clearly not gained a speed/time advantage. I have been watching F1 for over 20 years and have stuck by it religiously, and this type of farce is the thanks I get for my loyalty. I don't know whether to be embarrassed for the FIA or to be disgusted by the decision of the FIA, and I guarantee not one of those stewards has ever raced anything other than a shopping trolley or a pram (maybe even a Ferrari one!)
If the Mclaren appeal isnt successful and LH's win restored, I'm not sure i can go on supporting F1 as a sport.
Gavin Anderson
F1 - you used to be a long standing good friend. I would never have missed an opportunity to see you, either in person or on television. Now, I don't feel I know you at all. Goodbye and farewell.
Clive Price - Perth, Scotland
So now the authorties are basically saying that overtaking is illegal - I hd already cut down my viewing of F1 and don't watch Qali sessions at all - I tape races and use the fast forward a lot. Yesterday was genuinely exciting and the scrap between Lewis and Kimi should have been what F1 is all about but no, the procession is the way to race apparently. I grew up with motor racing on the TV, the past 10years have seen me miss a handful of races and I went to Silverstone a couple of years back but now I'm switching off. I've had enough of boring races, politics and stweards decisions. Shame on the FIA and FOM..
Chris Wilson - Brough
I just knew as soon as we were told there was an investigation Hamilton would be penalized. I thought that he had given the position back so how could he have an advantage. Its one big con. To be honest I can't be bothered with F1 anymore. There is much better motor sport out there which tries hard for the fans.
Nigel Kirkpatrick
I started watching F1 in 88-89 and the sight of Mansell on a charge in a Ferrari 640 was what hooked me, a lunatic dancing with a beautiful scarlet devil, snorting flames and belching great clouds of sparks. Even typing this is bringing out the goose pimples. Then came Alesi in the 412 T2, man I used to love Ferrari.
That seems like a lifetime ago now.
These days every time a team is pulling away from or catching up to Ferrari this stuff starts to happen, brake pedals banned as "steering devices", 2 year old tyre shapes suddenly illegal, lumps of metal inside the car are "moveable aero devices", drivers disqualified for not lifting at a yellow, drivers penalised for "impeding a car" they are so far away from they are a dot on the screen, teams are dragged over the coals for an offence that every other guilty party is let off scot free for. The "guilty" party is always the thorn in Ferrari's side, the beneficiary is always Ferrari. The loser is always F1.
The days of heroes and gladiators has been replaced with backroom deals, bent officials and grubby little moves to hamstring your opponents. I want so badly to love this sport but all I ever feel is disappointment, frustration, outrage and revulsion.
John de Quincey
One of the problems with the steward approach, is they watch the race on TV the same as us. Yes they do have some input from the marshals on the course, but the incident can look different from different camera angles. There is also need to differentiate between a driver error and a deliberate action. This is not easy to do (unless you are at home in your armchair). But most of all there needs to be consistent punishment. Massa was fined for his pitstop release being dangerous, but Senna in GP2 was given a drive through for the same misdemeanour. This is what as a fan I cannot understand, no wonder there is a train of thought that the FIA is Ferrari biased.
One of the big complaints is there is no overtaking in F1, but if a driver attempts to overtake, and is then punished when he doesn't pull it off, why bother? Kovalianen was pushing hard, misjudged his overtake on Weber, drive through penalty issued, ends up at the back again.
There is no easy answer, ex drivers may be biased towards their old team, non drivers don't fully understand the racing, marshals are busy marshalling, drivers only see it from their seat. But what is easy is a consistent punishment system.
Ed Ford
Absolute farce. I am amazed that after such a fascinating race - quote ITV - possibly one of the greatest ever races - the result gets awarded after the podium ceremony. I cannot see what lewis did wrong. He gave the lead back to Kimi. This sets a precedent that if you cut a corner you will get penalised no-matter what. Hence potentially encouraging more crashes as no-one will want to go off and if they do they will not concede a place as they will get penalised anyway. Forget that this is Ferrari/Mclaren again. I can see this causing complete confusion on the racetrack if this decision does not get overturned.
Nigel Mathias
You know what; I don't just care any more. Because as an ex die hard FI fan that was the last straw, and the last nail in my Sunday afternoon viewing coffin. After all the rest of the controversy. Bye Bye FI.
Alain Fenn
Sheer madness. Lewis was closing in on Kimi at such a rate before the incident that the outcome was inevitable. He clearly gave back the lead to Kimi before putting his foot down and going on to do what he does best - overtaking. We've just witnessed the most boring race at Valencia ever with - apparently - only one overtaking manoeuvre for the whole race that wasn't shown on TV. Perhaps if the same stewards had seen it, a drive through penalty would have been imposed (as if this decision sticks, apparently racing is no longer to be allowed). Please can you tell us who these stewards are?
Chas Parker - Hooe, East Sussex
I feel utterly, utterly depressed at what happened yesterday. And what fuels that depression is the total lack of consistency in the way that rules are applied in F1, or indeed any of the top categories of motorsport.
At Valencia, Felipe Massa was investigated for 'an unsafe release from the pits'. He was fined, rather than given a drive-through penalty. I believe this was correct, although I think it should have been the team that was fined and not the driver. In the GP2 race at Spa on Saturday, Bruno Senna was also released from his pit in an unsafe manner. He was given a drive-through penalty. No consistency and therefore no way of a driver or team knowing which action is correct in any given situation.
Yesterday Lewis Hamilton appeared to correctly allow Kimi Raikkonen to re-pass him, having gained an advantage at the last chicane. He had had no choice in missing the chicane, having been forced wide on a slippery track in appalling conditions. In every other case of a driver gaining an advantage in this manner, no penalty has been given if he has then conceded the place back – in other words, no advantage gained. This is exactly what Hamilton did. I wonder if he would have been penalised if he hadn't re-passed the Ferrari so quickly, making it appear that he had still gained some sort of advantage from the manoeuvre?
It was also saddening to hear Raikkonen afterwards say that 'second place was not enough' and that it was 'all or nothing' as far as he was concerned. That is not the attitude of a world champion, and his 'go for broke' approach in those conditions could well have ended with others off the track and in the barriers as well. As it was, it was his own stupid fault. Massa, on the final lap, accepted that second place would be a good result and tip-toed his way to the line, as did Hamilton.
It seems so incongruous to me that the FIA stewards are people who have never driven a Formula One car in their life, and can have no conception of what it is like to be out on track under the sort of conditions that prevailed yesterday. Perhaps we need a professional 'judge of fact' appointed to make these decisions – someone with experience of competing in the sport at the highest level and who would be accepted by all teams and drivers as completely impartial.
As it is, we will continue with the inconsistent farce that is Formula One. No wonder so many people flock to historic meetings these days...
Jean de Chalain - S Africa
Ferrari fan I am through and through, but I still call it a horribly crap decision, Lewis deserved that win, just as much as Felipe' deserved the Valencia win. Makes you wonder if it's not a case of "their" money is on Felipe' to win the WDC this year. F1 is the main reason I subscribe to DSTv (our equivalent of cable networks etc) which let's me watch it live, but at a cost of around 1/4 months grocery shopping for a family of four in S/Africa, so I'm a bit in between if I should continue or not, especially in these difficult economic times, that kind of thing could tilt my decision into scrapping it and forgetting about F1 - until and if ever it becomes a fair sport again. If Felipe' wins the WDC by 4 points or less, unfortunately I will not feel anything but to congratulate Lewis instead for winning.
Andy Castledine
Well you've hit the nail right on the head ....
Personally I'm done, I've followed F1 for over 20yrs but I've had enough..
After the the much hyped Valencia street circuit turned into a processsion, Bernie's crusade to kill the UK GP, Cheating saga last year and Mosley's romps this year...
Even if the new aero changes planned for next year allow closer following, slip streaming and overtaking the FIA will find some way of engineering the results..
So, after only missing a handful of races in the last 20 odd years and attending circa 8 or 9 GP I cannot defend or support this sport anymore and in the words of the dragons den I'M OUT ...
Won't bother watching Monza or any more GP's, I'll still log in to Pitpass to see what the latest debarcle has been but other than that I'm finished....
I hope all the sponsers take note and if they've any sense they'll be deserting F1, if they haven't already..
R S Harve
Firstly i'm an avid F1 fan and have been for over 20 years. I fear the sport that we all love has hit the lowest and most disturbing point in it's history. Yesterdays post race decision against McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton was one of the worst and most blatant race rigging decisions ever witnessed. A truly shocking decision after one of the most exciting finishes to a face for years. Hamilton was forced to run wide, rejoined and correctly let Raikkenen back through to lead and gained no advantage. At the next corner Hamilton out braked the Ferrari and took the lead in and fair overtaking manouvre. How this can be deemed enough to gain an advantage and hence impose a 25 second penalty is totally beyond belief.
I fear there is dark times ahead for F1 unless something is done now.
Mic Comber
I have followed motor racing from the fifties. Lost interest a few years ago and then came back. I am now no longer going to follow F1, partly due to too many boring races but mainly due to what seem blatant actions that inevitably favour Ferrari And I speak as someone who had Ferraris at one time.
Who are these stewards? It would be useful to know their names and their actual racing experience. Are any of them ex racers? I doubt it. How they came to yesterday's conclusion I cannot imagine. Good grief, I could make a better decision than them and I only ever raced vintage! The FIA is a disgrace, led by someone who has lost all respect as a person and staffed by people who seem to be bent on driving away interest in F1. In that they are succeeding. Consider - what would your response be if you were asked to become a sponsor? They have opened themselves to accusations of being a bent organisation in many senses. The need to take action to at least attempt to refute such accusations but in an open way, not merely a bland statement. Doubt they could do that, though.
I recorded yesterday's race so that I could fast forward most of it later, suspecting that most of it would be boring anyway but mainly because there was World Super Bike racing on at the same time and next week more Moto GP where you can see real racing and get a superb commentary into the bargain. What these FIA stewards would make of some of the manoeuvres in bike racing I dread to think. No, perhaps not. I would like to know. Good for a laugh.
I doubt these stewards would have the guts to come out into the open, to explain the reasons for their decisions and open themselves to public questioning by motor racing journalists.
Having the race result often left open or changed after the awards are made simply adds to the farce although I have no real idea how one could avoid that. It would require decisions within ten minutes or the specatators would have long gone and TV unrigged and disappeared. I am not sure that FIA people are capable of making rapid decisions; we know they make the wrong ones anyway.
So no more F1 for me but I will still check Pitpass for interesting articles.
David Power
I will not be watching F1 any more.
I am supported wrestling now, it is less stage managed.
Gregor Veble - Slovenia
I will not go into debating possible guilt in the actual incident itself, that sort of a debate is better left to the excellent Pitpass forum.
What is far worse is the way that F1 is being governed on the sporting and technical side. Reading the sporting regulations as available on the FIA website, they are bound to cause a serious cognitive dissonance in any serious motorsports fan. What is written there has very little relation to the on-track rules that most race fans and the stewards agree upon and that are actually applied during the race.
In this sense, the FIA sporting regulations are virtually an obsolete document as far as on-track behaviour goes. The whole sport is governed by a bunch of agreed upon rules that are not written down anywhere. One might try and say that these are mere interpretations of existing rules, but these interpretations cover aspects of racing that aren't even touched upon in the published FIA sporting regulations and in some cases are even contradictory.
The FIA stewards say that Hamilton breached the articles "30.3(a) of the 2008 FIA Formula 1 sporting regulations and Appendix L chapter 4 Article 2 (g) of the International Sporting Code." Let us directly quote those articles:
"During practice and the race, drivers may use only the track and must at all times observe the provisions of the Code relating to driving behaviour on circuits."
"The race track alone shall be used by the drivers during the race."
It is very clear how the FIA can find Lewis in breach of these articles. What is also clear is that, to the letter of the regulations, virtually no driver in the Spa race should be left unpenalised as most of them left the track at one point or the other.
No part of the regulations says anything about gaining advantages and ceding positions in such cases. The sport seems content on ruling itself through informal rules, which then makes it open to all sorts of manipulations. The races are run in a way where most of the driving is illegal if the strict letter of the FIA regulations is followed. When a driver causes an infringement, it is therefore very easy to clamp down on him or her. Any appeals are virtually guaranteed to fail, seeing that the actual letter of the regulations needs to be followed in such cases. It makes the governing of the sport very arbitrary.
Unless the FIA actually writes down the accepted sporting regulations as pertaining to the on-track behaviour, the "sport" will be barely above the level of Calvinball.
Lefteris Skapetis - Greece
I wonder if it is your English identity that makes you so obsessive with Hamilton, that you just can see the truth. Hamilton did let Kimi pass after cutting the chicane and obtaining an illegal advantage, only to get back a few inches behind him just to get the slipstream and pass. If this is fair play for you than we certainly see things differently.
Anyone who cannot see that is just a fanatic. I'm sure Hamilton himself cannot see that because he is a young self centred egoist who does not have any respect for the sport, his teammates, co-drivers, not to mention the fans. Let me remind you, it is the second time that he gets an illegal advantage this year and the 3rd that he gets punished (i don?t remember him saying he was sorry when he fell on Kimi's behind, just making stupid excuses)
In any case I think that with Ferrari's problems in the wet he would have passed Kimi easily if he had just not been so self-absorbed and blinkered.
A well deserved punishment. I hope he finally learns something, and changes his attitude.
Frederico Pinheiro de Melo - Portugal
The short answer is I've long had enough of the way F1 is going. And yet I continue to follow it. In this I don't seem to be very different from people such as yourself. We know how it was, we think we know how it should be, but do we really believe it can ever go back to more simple, more sporting times?
It would seem that the suggestion of appointing a professional stewards' committee to follow every GP would be an obvious solution. It might at least ensure some consistency in their decisions. Problem is, who could its members be? I would exclude from it virtually any driver schooled in post-Ayrton Senna (never mind post-Michael Schumacher) days; same for fans weaned in the same era (even more if they happened to be football fans, too); same for most FIA delegates; same for most journalists ... See what I mean?
As for yesterday's decision, I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but, as you say, it's unfortunate that its main beneficiaries are Ferrari. Interestingly, a commentator on Portuguese TV (a racing driver himself) at some point in the Raikkonen-Hamilton tussle, when Hamilton was trying to stay in front, mentioned "oops, that's one change of direction too many". I confess I did not catch it, but when, later, I heard Hamilton had been penalized, thought it had been for that. Instead, the cutting-the-chicane incident seemed pretty harmless to me. Whether Hamilton ultimately derived any advantage from it I'm not qualified to judge, and I doubt the stewards are, but he certainly didn't go into the manoeuver in a premeditated way to extract advantage from it. He merely reacted in the only possible way to avoid an accident, then let Raikkonen by as the rules dictate. That should be the deciding factor.
One would like to think that, if Massa does come to be in a position to win the Championship because of this, he would refuse to take it (more or less in the spirit of Peter Collins stepping off his car to let Fangio take over because he felt the Old Man deserved to be Champion). Yeah, right.
Chris Roper - South Africa
Could Bernie Eccalston be working up to a F1 Spin Off (pun unavoidable) TV show to sell?
In the past few years despite the cameras being on the track, in the cars and in the Air, the real action has been behind closed doors.
If things continue like this they will have more Viewers watching the "Protest Room" footage than the action on the track, just look at the popularity of Reality TV and the 'Court Room Drama' Genre.
Our National carrier dropped F1 coverage a couple of years ago, so it now takes a concerted effort to actually watch a race, an effort that with decisions like this one being made, is becoming increasingly onerous.
Janssen Tan - Singapore
Yesterday's Belgian Grand Prix, was perhaps one of the most exciting race I've witnessed. Unfortunately, the decision by the stewards to penalise Hamilton completely spoils it all. Hamilton could have played it safe (like Massa), by sticking to his second place comfortably, instead of going head to head with Kimi. Afterall, he still gets 2 more points than Massa, and would put him in a comfortable lead going into the final few races.
Question is - is this what we want to see in F1? Is this what we want to see from the best professional race car drivers in the world? By playing safe all the time?
Personally, I did not think that Hamilton had gain any unfair advantage.
The best driver of the day deserves to win - and it's clearly Hamilton. I applaud him for his courage to challenge Kimi. That's the way F1 should be and what F1 is about. I am from Singapore, and for the first time, F1 will be brought into my country in few weeks time. I am very proud that my country is hosting such a huge event. After yesterday, my view of F1 has totally changed. I feel sorry for Hamilton but even more sorry for the sport.
Keith Van Wyk
I don't know what came over the stewards who made that decision on the penalty, if they wanted to penalize Lewis why not give him a penalty the next race on the grid.
Now where do we go from here in terms of decision making and penalties for teams and drivers. I don't want the sport to suffer because of bad decisions. There have been numerous McLaren and Ferrari incidences maybe it's part of the sport but we don't only have two teams in F1 there are others as well and all of them do their best to bring us this satisfying spectacle. What about the smaller teams that are trying to reach their objective for the season. They need the sport just as bad as the two big teams and maybe more. That is why I would like to see consistency and perhaps a fixed set of rules that will benefit everybody (teams and spectators).
Earlier years the sport allowed the drivers to be ruthless to achieve their objectives for a race, I am aware the sport is big on safety now and I'm all for that because I do not want to see drivers being fatally injured. On Sunday I saw a bit of that old school driving and I must admit I loved it, I believe the sport need more of this but with safety a priority.
I am not going to let a few idiots spoil my appetite for F1, the history is to rich to just let it go. All the best to the teams for the future.
Jay Smith - Hong Kong
I'm not a lifelong F1 fan, nor even a big motorsport fan. But I am a fan of fair competition between the world's best in any kind of sport. I've grown to enjoy F1, and the spirited competition between McClaren and Ferarri, over the past few years, though it has been disappointing that there is not more overtaking in the sport. So to see what happened after the race in Belgium makes me question whether there even is good fair competition in F1. To me it was an obviously fair overtaking. I don't know the exact rules, but I did see Lewis give back the position, pass behind Kimi, and then re-pass him. How much ground was he supposed to give back? 10 meters, 20 meters? He gave the position back fully, and then he was penalized for a great, exciting racing move, precisely what the sport needs more of !!
I can understand the need for track stewards to make decisions on site, during the race, which might affect the outcome. However, I can't see the point of them making decisions after the race, or after the podium awards, which change the point standings. These sort of decisions are going to be challenged anyway, so why don't they have a board of stewards that automatically review any situations of this sort?
I can't say I'll stop watching now, but every time one of these ridiculous decisions is made, it takes away a little bit more of my interest in watching the battle.
Anthony Currie
Firstly I must say I am and always have been a huge Ferrari fan. I cannot stand McLaren or Ron Dennis and I am sure he knew more about 'SpyGate' than he is letting on. However what happened yesterday was just plain wrong.
Like many I was reminded of the classic Villeneuve/Arnoux battle yesterday. I guess that if that race had been held in 2008 both drivers would have been penalised for going off the track occasionally and people would remember the race for the penalties incurred rather than the on-track action. That is what will happen with this race. People will be debating the penalty for years rather than celebrating an amazing and exciting race.
I sometimes feel like a battered wife with my love for F1. I know I should leave F1 as it has abused me for so many years, but I still come back for more as I 'lurve' it. My friends can't understand it and ask how I can love a sport that treats me with such contempt, but I keep telling them that I can see the good in it and one day it will change...
Maybe I should set up a refuge for battered F1 fans where we can try to support each other and escape from our abusive relationship with F1?
Pedro Almeida - Portugal
The steward's decision in Spa was appalling, and the system must be completely reviewed. There should be a fixed panel of judges, elected by the teams, and the penalties should be explicitly stated and standardized. Formula1 seems to be run by a group of young children, and even young children seem to have a better sense of management and sporting fairness.
Paul Sergeant
I am one of the die-hard fans that F1 has probably already lost and the events of yesterday merely make that closer to a certainty. For over 30 years, from the age of 10, I have watched nearly every GP that has been televised, I have attended races in Britain & across Europe and been a keen and non-partisan fan of F1. The events of last year finally turned me into too much of a cynic to care enough to spend my valuable time watching a 'sport' that has become increasingly manipulated and, sad to say, boring to watch.
This year I have watched just two GPs, both when I have been abroad on business and found myself with time on my hands, that this race was a good one, with a thrilling few laps at the end could have re-ignited my interest, yet F1 shoots itself in the foot once again.
I doubt I shall watch another race. I find myself watching MotoGP & World Superbikes where the racing is hard, but fair and the results are settled on the track; there is still misguided rule-making but at least the protaganists appear to have equal treatment.
Adam Zillin
What is F1 anyway...?
I dont think I am alone. Far from it - I'm as outraged as all of you. If you think clearly enough you will see the Ferrari supporter and the McLaren supporter are one and the same in this instance and ultimately the sport in its greater sense has suffered massively.
But at who's insistence?
We all lost something important today, not least of all Lewis Hamilton and McLaren.
The gall in my throat tells me to hate Max Mosely, to hate the FIA, to hate Bernie Ecclestone and the Frankenstein he has created, to hate the 3 men who passed down the judgement - not one of them possessing any solid motorsporting background, most notably the Kenyan, Surinder Thatthi, who was only ever a co-driver and achieved little more than regular dnf's in his competiton history but i stop and realise i was never interested in the sport because of these people to begin with.
I grew up only being interested in seeing my favorite men and rolemodels dancing the fine line between glory and defeat and those within the teams who supported their quest.
The older i get, the more i understand and learn of the sport, the more i have become disillusioned by what the sport embodies. Im not naive anymore...im not a child and i really wish i could go back to being so innocent and blissfully unaware of these terrible things because the frightening reality is, races are not decided on the track any more.
F1 is dying.
Going back to Mr. Thatthi, i beg the question as to whether or not a man with little to no experience should be allowed a commanding role in deciding the fates of the drivers teams and sponsors - people who invest massively in the sport, some obviously more than others - a role that affords them little to no backlash as they have the final say?
Where was the justification for this outrage?
The FIA are now as bad, if not worse, than FOCA.
There is a solution...
The house needs to be swept clean.
One single man, accredited and appointed by the teams via unanimous vote needs to be placed as the adjudicator for each and every single race from here on in. That man will have a team of people, all of whom possess strong backgrounds in motorsport and that team will also be appointed via a decision amongst the teams.
A man who is neutral and unbiased. Someone like Jackie Stewart who i believe to be one of the only honest people left in the sport.
The fact that this rediculous excuse for a decision was even allowed to see the light of day has lit the fuse for such a sweeping change.
Without it we will only see more of the same, we will only see more and more races and indeed championships decided after the race and F1 as we know it will continue to suffer a slow and painful death, as more and more people switch channels and focus their attention and passion toward something that wont be fruiltess and painful.
After the joy of witnessing a race beyond all my expectations, this vicious slap to the face that the FIA and the 3 muppets in the stewards box has delivered all of us continues to burn and sting.
Its all an absolute disgrace.
Kirsten Belin
I grow up watching this sport and have had a 20 years long love affair with F1. But seriously, I am loosing all interests in this sport. I can’t say that I support a particular team or anything, but this time the McLaren and their fans have all my sympathies. It seem like Ferrari is always the victim and that they are the favorite team of everyone important in business. That incident yesterday was exactly what the sport is supposed to be about in my opinion and I think that we see far too little of overtaking and battling now a days.
Yesterday was a sad day for this sport, and I am now actually considering giving up watching. It isn’t entertaining anymore.
Pat Jeal
I turned Valencia off. I was bored with the race and frustrated by ITV.
But Spa was worth another try. It's still a great circuit despite "improvements" and I can listen to the radio commentary whilst watching the TV in the short gaps between adverts. And there's always the weather factor, the only thing that seems to regularly give a good race.
And it was a good race. With some great and not so great driving. And then, after the podium and the winner's celebrations, the F1 self destruct button got pressed. A protest. Followed by the now traditional decision to back Ferrari and screw McLaren, by a panel, described so eloquently by the BBC's David Croft as "Three Idiots". They screwed it all up.
Don't get me wrong. I've not been a McLaren fan since they stopped being orange and I respect Ferrari as a historical entity. But F1 keeps falling into the damn great hole of Conspiracy Theory, and if there's one thing that really pisses off the fans it's when results get chosen by a panel, not on the track. Especially when it's chosen after the race is over and everyone's gone home.
We now have TV angles seemingly chosen in an attempt to avoid showing empty grandstands. Remember when Hockenheim was crowded? In a few years time this will change to show full grandstands, but they will be a computer generated backdrop. The fans are deserting and no-one inside F1 seems to care. F1 is on the edge. No fans eventually means no TV, no advertising, no money, no F1.
And F1 is important.
There are so many pressures on all motorsport, there's environment, housing, noise, traffic and expense and lots more. We need a financially important business background reason for it to exist politically. Without F1 there will be no club motorsport. And if the people in charge of F1 don't react to that responsibility then in future we won't be able to say, as I so often do now, that next weekend we'll go to a club meeting and ignore F1 on TV.
Leigh Wakeford
Where is the stewards consistency? Massa incurred a fine at the GP in Valencia for his pit lane infringement, Senna in the GP2 race received a drive through penalty for the same offence at Spa. In the GP2 sprint race on the first lap the driver of the car in second position (apologies for not knowing the team or driver) went to the escape road after trying to overtake at the end of the straight after Eau Rouge. While he did not gain a position for the lead he certainly maintained his second position from the cars behind, but with no penalty! Hamilton in a similar position relinquishes the advantage back to Kimi only to be penalised for obeying the rules! Go figure?
Now I have to admit to bias being a Mclaren fan, but most importantly I am firstly a fan of the sport, and that should be the fundamental view of any fan and this type of episode does nothing for the sports credibility. Had the the situation been reversed I can objectively say that Kimi deserved the win, no question! Whats needed is continuity from the stewards, I thought this branch of the sport had the title F1 CIRCUS not F1 PANTOMIME.
If the decision is not reversed then I will no longer watch, or be a fan of what should be the greatest motor racing spectacle in the world. Its a sad day in any sport when those observing cannot judge objectively or with continuity.
Dave Howard
What are the stewards on? Lewis gained an advantage did he? after the Bus stop Lewis was on the left hand side of Raikkonen, he lifted, went behind him and passed him on the right hand side at La source, how is that gaining an advantage?
Thank the gods that A1GP starts up in 2 weeks, even though it's now "powered by Ferrari"
Peter Mann
Who are these people? What racing experience do they have? Are they truly independent? Why didn't they publish their rationale for docking Hamilton 25 seconds? Why not share the proof they – presumably – had to show that Hamilton really did have an unfair advantage over Raikkonen?
And why have Ferrari/Raikkonen not done the sporting thing and jumped to the defence of Hamilton? One thinks back to the 1958 Portuguese GP when Moss (Vanwall) defended Hawthorn (Ferrari) in front of the stewards allowing Hawthorn to keep his points and, ultimately, beat Moss in the Championship.
And what happened to the (sensible) idea of ex-drivers being the stewards? Folks who know that driving an F1 car at any speed is difficult enough, never mind at 10/10s in the wet.
If F1, the business, is to survive, those who are responsible for the show – its owners and managers – have to make it possible for the racing to be close and exciting and the rules fair and transparent (and, as an added bonus, the TV spectacle worth watching).
Why is that so difficult? So come on Bernie, if you've enough grip on the business to challenge some poor bloke about his grid pass (as we saw yesterday), please pull your finger out and sort the mess.
Rob Briggs
I've been a fan of F1 for more years than I like to remember. When I was at school my chatter was about the antics of my motorsport heroes, Gilles driving around with his wheel hanging off, the Alain / Aryton demolition derby, James Hunt winning the title and almost without exception no-one knew who I was talking about. Now, go down the pub and mention almost any F1 driver from the last few years and you'll get someone spouting any opinion.
So F1 is now massively more popular, you'd conclude. No it isn't; the word I keep hearing amongst the casual fans and viewers is 'fix'. No incident if ever totally black or white yet, if a decision could impair a McLaren it be impaired and if it could benefit a Ferrari it will be benefited. I don't go for histrionics and conspiracy theories myself but even I am beginning to believe the old pit lane saying that FIA stands for Ferrari International Assistance.
Richard Barton
Lets all of us clean our tear-stained cheeks and consider the facts shall we? Had that escape road not been in place at the Bus Stop - would Hamilton have been able to get into a position to pass Raikonen into La Source? The answer must surely be no! Therefore the stewards made a correct decision that Hamilton was in the wrong.
Race results have been changed retrospectively on previous occasions - Brazil 2003 being most recent; the 1976 British GP and 1989 Japanese GP for those with longer memories and, last I checked the sport is still not dead.
I would say that, as usual, given the context - an exciting Grand Prix finish - the Stewards havve not conducted themselves in the best matter possible. Would a better course of action not have been to contact McLaren and order Hamilton to give the place back rather than a time penalty after the race finish. A decision was made on Kovalainen's penalty within one lap couldn't the same have been done for Hamilton? As for Hamilton and McLaren - one would have thought that they would have learned from Magny Cours this year and given the place back properly. Hamilton was visibly much faster than Raikkonen and could have had many more opportunities to pass him cleanly had he simply given the place back to him.
The main problem for me with the whole affair is that the logical punishment - giving the place back has not been applied - instead the Hamilton has been docked two places to drivers that were not involved. A fact made more absurd by the fact that the driver that he gained an unfair advantage over did not even finish the race.
It is the inconsistency in The Stewards' decisions that most rankles. Kovalainen's penalty for example - swiftly applied for a botched passing move on Mark Webber - seems sensible enough, but since when has a driver been penalised for a non-intentional collision during a race? This season alone I can think of multiple similar incidents that have gone unpunished - in fact not even investigated by the Steards. Hamilton vs Alonso in Bahrain; DC vs multiple cars in the opening rounds; Rosberg escaped punishment for colliding with Timo Glock in a very similar incident in Malaysia; did not Kovalainen himself crash into the back of a Honda in Monaco? Alonso on Heidfeld or the famous Raikkonen-Sutil crash on the same weekend? This is not to mention - how was Felipe Massa's pit-lane release at Valencia deemed more dangerous (and thus worthy of an investigation and fine) than Vettel's pit release into the path of Fernando Alonso at Hockenheim? Or how, if Hamilton is to be punished for cutting the chicane here in Belgium, is Vettel not punished for doing the same to defend his eighth place from Kovalainen in the closing tours at Montreal? I feel that this list could go on forever if I wanted it too but I shall end it here.
In my opinion two courses of action are necessary:
The establishment of a common panel of race stewards for each event. Inconsistency and lack of transparency is what leads to accusations of bias gaining root. With a consistent panel of judges that are forced to give accurate and objective evidence to back up each decision should prevent British, anti-Ferrari camps from moaning amd inventing amusing acronyms for FIA..
Stop replacing gravel and grass run-off with tarmac. As the brilliant Martin Brundle said during his French Grand Prix commentary I hate the "MotherCare nature" of these tarmac run-off areas allowing drivers to commit fundamental driving errors and get away with it. And now as we have seen they lead to grey areas with regards to whether an advantage is gained by using them. Why not just get rid of them and then see if an advantage really is gained?
I would love to take a moral stand at this point and say things like "I wont be coming back" or "F1 has lost me as a fan" but I think I need Bernie's circus more than it needs me - which is sad in a way but something I have come to terms with over the years. I wouldn't miss Monza over some nonsense like this.
Neville Grima
This is one of the most absurd decisions ever taken in F1. Max cenied the witch hunt on Ron last year, but the outcome of this year reveals nothing else than an upgrade of last year's witch hunt.I am listing below the incidents concerning Ferrari/McLaren in 2009.I shall let readers judge for themselves…
McLaren are stopped from developing their car in 3 development areas
McLaren are thrown back to the last pit after FIA went furious with Ron receiving Aussie GP win trophy
Raikkonen goes unpenalised for Sutil crash in Monaco
Lewis is handed a 10 places grid penalty for Raikkonen crash in Canada
A further 5 grid spots penalty is handed to both McLaren drivers for dangerous driving in French GP.
FIA begins engine inspection, with Lewis's engine being the only one inspected to date
Massa escapes Valencia penalty with fine
Bruno Senna (GP2) receives a drive through penalty for an action exactly similar to that one by Massa at Valencia
Lewis is demoted from first place in Spa after being pushed to cut chicane by the same Raikkonen and a few curves later the same Raikkonen takes advantage of Rosberg spin to overtake Lewis again(wasn't this overtaking under yellow flag regime??!)
I can still remember Schumi going out of the track to pass Coulthard in Hockenheim 03 with no investigation or penalties whatsoever.
If Lewis is not crowned champion this year, F1 shall compete with our town cart race in terms of popularity in 09.
Tony Vincent
There did not appear to be any rule broken. Telemetry data seems to support this. No driver, racing or commentating, raised any concerns over the move. Raikkonen threw the race away on his own, in the lead, after two attempts to physically barge Hamilton off the road and after overtaking Hamilton for the lead under waved yellow flags. Kovalainen was penalised for a very similar "barging" incident earlier in the race when he tangled with Webber. At Monaco, Raikkonen was not penalised for ending Sutil's Race, continuing to net WC points for himself and the team. Massa does not receive one of the mandated punishments for his pit lane infringement at Valencia, although found guilty.
The governance of the sport I love appears to be geared toward removing any excitement, uncertainty or (heaven forbid) real racing in favour of precessional parades where the qualifying performance determines the winner.
It's difficult to see how this can be construed as anything other than systematic bias either against McLaren and it's Drivers, or for Ferrari and it's team. The general public are outraged at this decision, the congnoscenti are deserting the sport in droves, and many teams must wonder on a daily basis why they even bother to turn up. As one petitioner put it "Dear FIA, next year please let us know who you specify as the 2009 championship winner at the start of the season, so we can enjoy the racing". Tragic, farcical and above all sad.
Nilesh Sane - India
What we witnesed on Sunday was an excellent example of "race fixing". McLaren have appealed, but liike all their appeals this one will fall on deaf ears. Is this a part of a major plan to drive away audiences from F1, and then launch a rival series (similar to A1) boasting of "technology" and "patriotism". I feel that there is more than what meets the eye. Max has had a fallout with Bernie, and make no mistakes he is a guy who will get back at Bernie (who himself is no angel), and the best way to get back is to inflict maximum damage to the sport which Bernie has nurtured.
This is no stewards decision(or the lack of it), this is more than that, its a conspiracy for demoting F1 and an attempt to lay down grounds for a rival series. Sounds too far fetched, well I hope so too.
Magesh Mudaly - South Africa
I can't tell you how disappointed I am with the penalty Lewis has been given in the last race.
I finally understand what FIA stands for "Ferrari Infringement Approval" association. I mean Massa broke the rules in the previous race, as confirmed by the FIA, they issue him a fine!!!
Come on, the FIA should say to Mclaren to stop spending all those hundreds of millions of dollars in improving the speed of your car, cos even if you win the championship on the track we will find a way of penalising you so that Ferrari wins the championship instead. Sorry, that was me venting some of my anger and frustration on the decision taken yesterday.
Ok back to the facts, I watched the race again, in particular the so called "infringement", and this is my view on it. Lewis, firstly was 3/4 a car ahead in the breaking zone of the "old" bus chicane. Kimi had the inside line, and as they took the bend they were side by side, and as racing goes one knew Kimi would force Lewis out, but that is fair cos its racing. These drivers don't get paid insane amounts of money, so that they let "Miss Daisy" overtake them. Any driver of Kimi's calibre would do the same. Kimi squeezed Lewis, and Lewis had no choice but to go off track to avoid the collision......Now imagine if Lewis didn't do that and there was contact and both drivers retired...The lynch mob would certainly have been out on Lewis for reckless driving!!!
So when Lewis rejoined the track he did the right thing by letting Kimi go by as he would have got a penalty if he didn't, but this is what I don't understand by the FIA decision. They said he had gained an advantage by going off track???? Now just to recap, Lewis was 3/4 ahead into the braking zone for the chicane, then side by side as they took chicane, and he then allowed Kimi to get pass him with a full car length. Yet they deemed him to have gained an advantage. What advantage??? Now some may argue that he slip streamed Kimi, and thats the advatange Lewis got, but this was start finish of the lap, no significant straight at all. Infact after La source, they have the entire strecth to Le combes to slip stream and over take, and even that length of track (several Km in length) a modern F1 cars finds it very difficult to slip stream another car. But amazingly Lewis could do that in his Mclaren on the start finish straight. Wow....he must have opened the Nitros bottle to achieve that, or maybe better still, Mclaren have already installed the KERS system in their cars!!!
Now this is my view on why Lewis managed to overtake Kimi immediatley at La Source. What Kimi didn't do, was block the inside line for La source, instead Kimi took the normal racing line by going wide to cut back in, and he also seemed too nervous of the rain and broke way too early for La source. Therefore leaving the door wide open for Lewis to re-pass him. Why would Lewis not try to overtake Kimi at that point. How can that be illegal!!! This penalty has really left a sour taste in my mouth, and has ruined what has undoubtedly been the Best race in F1 this year. I would appreciate your point of view on this penalty. I hope there is some petition that is sent to the FIA to overturn this insane decision. I spoke to some off my friends who are avid Ferrari Fans, and even they dont agree with the penalty that was given to Lewis.
I have been a die hard supporter of F1 from the early 90's. I absolutely love everything about it, and view your website every day to get the leatest news, but after what has happened yesterday, I am rapidly falling out of Love with F1 !!!
On a seperate note: I also found it very strange why the stewards didnt penalise the Williams car (I think it was Nakajima) for re-joining the race track at a very dangerous point (apex of Fagnes) where Lewis and Kimi almost collided into him. That was extremely dangerous to rejoined the track at such a high speed corner at such a low speed. He could have caused a very serious accident indeed.
Richard Phillips
A Spa solution
1. Decide on Mclaren's penalty prior to the race so that Ron and his team can plan a suitable race strategy.
2. Hire some professional script writers so that the run up to the final race is at least more convincing.
Patrick Early
It's been difficult being an American F1 fan over the years, particularly given the USGP/tire farce of years' past. That tarnished my experience of the sport pretty badly. I stopped watching that season and didn't follow the sport again until after the launch of the next year. Since then, I've slowly become the rabid Formula 1 fan I once was again.
Then came today.
I'm done with F1. Completely and totally. I love the technology, the quality of driving and the heritage of the great Grand Prixs. But this ridiculous race-fixing and favoritism by the officials for one team (or against another) shows how deeply infected and diseased the sport has become. As a proponent of sportsmanship above all else, it's truly impossible for me to even watch this theatre of the absurd without feeling dirty. It's just not credible as a sport anymore.
I wish F1 would now just go away -- die a quick death -- so we could replace it with something else that's real.
Lee Morton
This decision is a joke of biblical proportions... I give up my weekends to watch the F1 on TV and now feel that its all about the politics and keeping the championship going to the last race.... pure and simple.
Why was Massa not penalised for the pitlane near miss when a GP2 racer doing exactly the same thing was.... had it been another team other than Ferrari I fear there would have been a penalty.
F1 is the loser in all of this as I will no longer give up my weekend time to watch a FIX.
Chris Carrington
In the context of the race, Hamilton overtaking Kimi made no difference to the result. If Hamilton had not passed him before La Source, he would've probably passed Kimi going up the hill after Eau Rouge as he was much faster in the damp conditions and has less downforce than Kimi.
It has now reached a stage where everyone but the most fanatical Ferrari supporter is of the opinion that the FIA and F1 are biased toward Ferrari. The race stewards that make the decisions are employed by the FIA where Ferrari have the majority membership of the board. The FIA is headed by Max Mosley who despises Ron Dennis and wishes to see him fail.
It has gone beyond a joke but when The FIA and Ferrari have such a tight grip on power and have the confidence and arrogance to throw their weight around like we have seen in the past few weeks, how can anybody save this sport?
Tai Fen Kee - Malaysia
F1 is not only about speed. On/off/behind track events/issues are equally entertaining. There is a defined set of rules for the sport, and you are to play with these rules and if you cross the boundaries and get CAUGHT, you LOSE. The spy saga - Maclaren got caught - too bad - trusted but obviously or probably underpaying the right guys. And what has Max's under the basement little venture got to do with F1 ? though caught with his pants down, he survived the no-confidence vote. (it is possible that Max got someone to film it and then started all this no ?) Now, the Belgium saga, the chicanes are entrapments - Lewis has made a wrong judgement under pressure and jumped it, and to establish 'fairness' of the sport under certain circumstances, he got 25 seconds penalty from the race stewards (and no we don't want ONLY racing drivers in this panel as we can get jumped judgements sometimes) - of course Ferrari wanted nothing to do with this investigation, welcoming and benefiting from it will be just fine thank you very much. In the meantime, I hope Felipe will continue to win races - winning a championship or seven is a plus though and I am thinking of getting a car soon and guess what ? - red is not my colour, a silver one may be, mm..... mm definitely.
Lee Brindley
I actually think given Massa's generally good natured approach - he himself (and prob Stefano Domenicali) will be horrified by this. Drivers surely want to win on the track. FM and LH seem to get on well from what we see in the media / TV feed, and I cannot see anyone - drivers, teams and that includes Ferrari being comfortable with this decision. There is established precedent on driver etiquette if one is passed by an illegal or unfair manoeuvre (i.e cutting corner or chicane), so why is this any different? Was it handed out because LH did the actual overtaking manoeuvre so soon after letter KR re-take the lead - was the punishment because KR hadn't had enough time to acclimatise to the situation? This is 200mph F1 where everything happens in a milli-second, not crown green bowls !
I didn't watch the Valencia GP as im so disillusioned with the whole F1 thing - and ive been a dyed-in-the-wool enthusiast for 25 years. F1 has cost me many things in life - including a marriage - so trust me, i know the meaning of the expression "committed fan" but now i just want to do cold turkey and be rid of this addiction.
What a shame!
Roger Walter
Very concerned about the actions of the stewards. Did they not consider excluding McLaren from the entire 2008 World Championship and handing them another $100m fine?
This Belgian decision is the worst I've seen in 30 years of watching F1 - and that's against some pretty stiff competition! Not sure what rules the stewards themselves adhere to, but surely with a racing incident like this, if no-one protests (sorry 'seeks clarification') then there should be no stewards' enquiry.
They've taken a result that everyone had accepted and turned it on its head. Wallon wallies!
Jordan Senter - United States
What we've been reminded of here is that the powers that be in F1 still aren't afraid to manipulate the racing in order to maintain a close championship. The real problem is the regulations. The sporting regulations are purposely vague so that the FIA can "interpret" them however they wish. What is needed is more clarity in the regulations. Hamilton and the McLaren team should know exactly what they must do after cutting a chicane/taking the escape route so as to be complying with the rules of the sport. Whether or not Hamilton still gained an advantage by cutting the corner (even after letting Raikkonen by) I cannot say because I don't have all the data. From my television, though, Hamilton seemed to do enough by letting Raikkonen repass.
Morgan Brown - Fife
What a farce! After one of the best races we've seen for a long time, the well deserved winner gets demoted after what Charlie Whiting deemed to be appropriately handing back the lead to Kimi!
As a long standing Ferrari fan, who has a bet on for Massa to win the World Championship (placed when odds were extremely good on Massa due to some bad performances last year) I have good reason to favour the decision, but more importantly, as a fan of F1 I find myself in disgust at the sport for penalising someone for racing!
As Lewis handed back the lead to Kimi, and the fact that McLaren checked the protocol with Charlie Whiting, I am at a loss as to why the stewards deemed that Lewis gained an advantage from the situation. Why aren't the stewards forced to justify their decisions in a press conference, with opportunities for teams and journalists to question the detail of the decisions, like any team or driver would have to under similar circumstances?
I thought that the whole idea of having stewards make these decisions was to promote consistency and fairness through impartial analysis? Evidently not, they seem to be employed to tear apart F1 and it's die hard fans! Favouritism? Ferrari biased? Maybe, maybe not. But one things clear for sure, on several occasions this year we've seen that the process is not fair, is not impartial and is certainly not consistent.
I for one believe that the stewards need to consist of ex-drivers/ex-team members, and their decisions need to be transparent and open in order for fans and teams alike to see why the decisions were made, in order that should a similar set of circumstances arise in the future, they will know exactly what the outcomes should be!
I agree with one of your reader's views that being an F1 fan is like being a battered wife... I know I should leave, but maybe one day it'll change!
If Lewis loses the championship by the margin lost through Spa's updated results, then the biggest loser will be the 'sport' and the fans!
Jose Blas
Hamilton well deserves this penalty and I am sure there are more to come. He has not respected the other drivers in dangerous conditions, as it happened before with rain he has been a liability in the circuit and he should paid a penalty for these actions. We all watched on television how he was taking the escape roads corner after corner and not thinking about the other drivers.
I loved when he said that he wasn't going to be overtaken again and in the first lap he got it, hahaha...
He is a stupid arrogant and some days he should not be allowed in the circuit to ensure the well being of the drivers and the spectators, what an a**!
Neil Sheffield
All I can say about this race.
FARCE.
The FIA and it's management, have again shown their true colours. I believe that they are RED.
It the FIA are following the rule book properly, then why was Maclaren penalised, and Massa was not, for his pit lane near accident, 2 weeks ago!
I believe the FIA have only done this, to try and make the championship a tighter race, as the next few Grand Prixs should be in Maclarens favour.
Lets hope they over ride this decision, as it will reflect badly on the FIA, as it does show biased opinions for Ferrari.
Agoney Z. García-Déniz
I think the stewards were right in penalizing LH. He cut the chicane and was immediately on KR's back, had he not been able to cut the chicane, say there was a wall preventing anybody from cutting it, LH would have had to spin the car around and take the chicane the "right way", which would have meant a large enough deficit for Raikkonnen to win.
I seem to recall Fernando Alonso got penalized (he actually had to let him pass again) in Japan 2005 for overtaking Christian Klein too quickly after straight lining a chicane, one would feel that had he not done so a drive through would have been forthcoming. In essence LH should have been given a drive through penalty, which is where I'm guessing the 25 seconds come from.
Having said all that, the way the stewards went about imposing the penalty could not have been more idiotic, the win should have stood and LH should have been given a 5 or 10 place grid demotion for the next grand prix.
Alex Gache
I've been a F1 fan for 16 years and regally attend Grand Prix, the last one being Valencia. There seams to me that there is no consistency in the policing of a Grand Prix weekend and penalties are given out with no basis or foundation. In Valencia for example a drive through penalty was given in the GP2 race for an almost identical incident in which Massa only got a 10'000 Euro fine in the same weekend with the same stewards how can this be? I am also not the only person to think that if it had been Mclaren causing a dangerous incident in the pit lane a drive through penalty would have been given without hesitation and this is the problem the fans are starting to feel cheated.
As for yesterdays complete sham I feel totally disillusioned with the sport I love an actually thought at one point I don't want to watch anymore as it appears to be fixed in the favour of Ferrari. What I don't understand is that Hamilton let Raikonen back passed, they then both went off and as Hamilton was the better of the two drivers in those conditions he won the race fair and square, Raikeon didn't even finish and that had nothing to do with Hamilton. This was a real race with real drama and real over taking, Ferrari didn't complain so why should these so called stewards who we know nothing about decide they can impose a penalty that could change the course of this world championship.
That diabolical decision from yesterday needs to be overturned immediately as it was given without foundation and just makes the sport look badly run and fixed.
Start a petition, we want the sport run fairly, openly & with consistency because without the fans there will be no sponsors and with out the sponsors there will be no racing.
Mikael Serret - Mauritius
Yesterday i watched one of the best GP yet. Sure Im a McLaren Fan but all the drivers drove superbly well. Kimi was awesome and the fight between hamilton and kimi was breath takin. i have rarely held my breath like this at the end of a race. waht the FIA and stewards have done is completely ruin one of the most beatiful races ever! it seems that nowadays in F1 u cannot commit a small error or even be aggressive without being penalised. Hamilton's move was legendary!! even if he cut the chicane he DID let kimi back in front and yes he got back straight behind him for the next attack but thats totally normal.. Did the FIA expect Hamilton to give Kimi a candy bar also?? i mean this is top notch racing!! u have to fight for the win. I really hope F1 crashes down so that the FIA realises that what happens on the track HAS to stay on the track! i read the news this morning and felt disgusted for the sport. and sorry for hamilton because its point like these that will make him loose the championship to Ferrari!! It's like a conspiracy! and even if Ferrari had not much to do with it they are in the middle of it all. Formula one is a FARCE!! So the Fans now are to decide if they will keep watching the sport they love get ruined by some money and powerplay maniacs. Why didnt hamilton get a fine? like massa did?? the fine did not ruin his race!!! but the 25s penalty for hamilton did. It is sad i live in a far away quiet country like Mauritius. Otherwise i would gladly go find some of those stewards and dent their cars..in a polite way!!
John Chetcuti - Malta
After what has happened yesterday I have sadly came to the inevitable conclusion that I have had enough of F1. F1 is no longer about racing cars, a way of life that centers around man and machine, but a political playground for the sick and twisted of minds.
I have been around fast cars since I could walk, courtesy of my father, his brothers and friends. Back then they used to race cars (quarter mile distance) on an abandoned airstrip that used to be used by the RAF during WWII. Nothing will keep me away from the TV on race day. I have followed F1 through various channels of information from motoring news papers, magazines, TV, and lately of course the Internet. i log on everyday to read the latest news.
F1 is dying right in front of the eyes of millions of fans, because of a terminal cancer that is eating it's major organs (punishing overtaking maneuvers, scandals, two weights-two measures decisions), called the FIA. The stewards are chosen by the FIA. The people that are taking decisions that effect the outcome of a world championship and the lets face it, the well being and future of the sport, have no experience in motor racing that is a must in order to make the right call under pressure and in the shortest time possible. Instead the decisions taken so far have been inconsistent, ambiguous, shocking, and downright insulting to the intelligence to all concerned.
It is truly a very sad day for F1 when, instead of the talking point being the fantastic racing that we witnessed taking place on one of the best race circuits, it is about yet another controversial decision.
Philip Baker
In 1981 I saw Gilles Villeneuve in what might have been the Ferrari transporter hold off five other cars to win the Spanish GP. I was mesmerized. I have continued to be mezmerized since, not all of the time admittedly, but most of the time. I love the technology, I love the racing, I loved the ingenuity of the designers and engineers, especially when they had the latitide to design really different cars. The Lotus 88, the Ligier JS19, the Ferrari 639, the Brabham BT55, all very different cars, different times.
Even in more recent years we have had some great seasons, but increasingly marred by strange decisions both technical and sporting, all by the FIA. Many times in the last two or three seasons I have thought, "Why do I continue to bother with this?" Many of my friends have already given up, mystified as to why I continue.
I think that now maybe the time, time for me to give up, but I feel resentment, why should I give up this sport, why should I be forced to give up something by others inept actions?
After the fiasco yesterday, I watched the Indycar race from Chicagoland, it was great, alas Indycar is a pale shadow of what it once was, but the racing is generally good and the series is fighting back.
Formula 1 seems to be self-destructing, and I am now not sure that I want to stick around and see that happen.... perhaps a breakaway series, unthinkable to me previously, is now the only way.
Peter Rowan
The recent debacle at Spa, and also to an extent the one at Valencia given Massa's 'unsafe release', surely calls for consistency amongst the race stewards. The fact that the decision as to whether a penalty is applied, and also the strength of any subsequent punishment, varies from race to race is at odds with the so-called professional nature of the sport. The stewards at each race should consist of the same personnel throughout the entire season and the punishments for each offence should be pre-determined before the start of the season. That way, it's all down in black and white and not subject to 'interpretation'.
With specific regards to Spa, I can support the argument that Hamilton did have an unfair advantage by cutting the final chicane. Although he let Kimi back past on the straight, he then tucked himself into the tow which enabled him to pass into the first corner – he would not have been in a position to do this if he had taken the normal route through the final chicane. I may be slightly bias because I'm a Ferrari fan, but I also feel that Massa should have been penalised at Valencia – these are the inconsistencies that are driving people away from the sport. That said, horse racing has Steward's Enquiries and I have no issue with this being applied to other sports.
The overwhelming feeling amongst people I discuss F1 with is that, whilst Ferrari seem to be getting the rub of the green, there seems to be more of a dislike for McLaren and the rules aren't so much being bent in Ferrari's favour but more to the detriment of McLaren, irrespective of the benefactor. Then again, when your favourite colour is grey it's hard to feel sorry for Ron!
Peter Ward - West Wales
I fully accept your strictures about this 'Talking Point' not being another episode of the F1 "Blame game", but it is hard not to criticise the sport's Governing Body when its "rules" are so flexible, and the outcomes of their application so controversial. Having go that off my chest, let's try to be positive.
It seems to me that the problems are (in no particular order):
Rules which although expressed in complex "legalese" are open to almost unlimited interpretation by those responsible for applying them.
Different Race Stewards at every circuit, whose provenance as arbiters of the above rules is, to put it kindly, dubious.
A range of penalties which seems completely arbitrary.
Penalties applied to "offences" seem to have little regard to the 'punishment fitting the crime'
So to fix or at least ameliorate these problems:
Re-write the rules leaving less room for interpretation. In plain English (French, German, Italian etc.) rather than legal jargon.
Remove the application of dubious phrases such as "gain an advantage" unless this is made VERY specific and tied to particular 'advantage' in particular circumstances.
Have a travelling panel of judges who go from race to race - Select this panel from various of the sport's various interested parties: The teams, Ex drivers, Fans. If it is impossible to get agreement this way, then outsource selection to an external impartial body (international jurors, the UN, whatever).
Have a set of fixed penalties for the various offences so offenders know what will happen when they are naughty.
Appeals to be heard by an external agreed independent jurisprudence.
I appreciate that its far easier to say "make it so" than actually to gain agreement and implementation of such a framework. But current arrangements in F1 would not be accepted in any other Sport apart from perhaps horse racing (UK), which is also beset with nasty rumours of corruption and race-fixing.
I am amazed that some of the world's largest companies are prepared to accept this situation. I for one wonder how long they will continue to see Mr Ecclestone & others profiting hugely literally at their expense.
Andrzej Slazak - Warszawa, Poland
I did not watch the race, despite that this is my favorite track. I learned about penalty from Pitpass in the evening.
It sounds silly. I am not going to judge the incident, I think problem is far more complicated: it's F1 itself. I follow F1 from 1968 (which was not easy task behind Iron Curtain) and in my opinion F1 lost the sport in itself. What's left is: money and fame. Ridicules affairs of last year or Maxgate are just prime examples what we are dealing here with. What I want is racing, drivers being able to fight each other on track, not in the pits. This is not new idea to reverse or rather simplify aero packages of the cars that some action can happen. Interestingly, I was watching recording of one of the races from 1987 to my surprise commentator said about Monaco: "overtaking here is difficult”, today's commentators are saying it is impossible so the driver have to get good starting position in qualifying.
What I am saying is: if racing will be back on track we will have best guys in the best cars on podium. This will exclude any off track decisions from in F1.
Sam Wood
Over the last few years I've been enjoying MotoGP more and more, and F1 less and less. Yesterday's nonsense has only confirmed it: MotoGP is real motorsport, F1 is most certainly not.
I've been watching F1 for over 20 years, and have seen the bias towards Ferrari getting worse and worse. Well done FIA(T). Pathetic.
CJ Swartz
The action by those three stewards at Spa against Hamilton pretty much heralds the Death Knell of Formula 1. Yip, melodramatic I know.
I think Bernie Eccelstone has got himself a situation.
I'm disillusioned. From complete and utter elation - what a desperately exciting last few laps - to feeling sickened at the outcome? Somethings not right.
Let's wait to see what happens. The fact remains that it's a sad day for all of us racing fans. Let's cross fingers for a successful appeal by McLaren.
Nick Burgess - Buckingham, England
For years and years I've had to justify to my friends why this sport I love so much is so good.
Yesterday at Spa, F1 lost any justification I had.
Why oh why do the teams allow this multi-billion dollar industry to be controlled by half-wits?
Gavin Douse - UK
Everyone seems to be missing the point. It is not about bias, conspiracy or fairness. It is about criminal fraud that goes unpunished.
A Formula One race is defined as an automobile race organized according to a specific set of rules. If those rules are not applied (Ferrari at Valencia, for example), by definition, it is not a Formula One race. When people are charged money to see a Formula One race, but that is not what they get due to the deliberate actions of the stewards responsible for applying the rules, it becomes fraud. Which is a criminal offense.
People are not stupid. They don't like ripoff artists. That is why F1 is losing.popularity and will eventually destroy itself: hit me once, shame on you; hit me twice, shame on me.
Rules exist for a reason: If two-car incidents were treated as they are in open-wheeler racing in the USA, drivers like Raikkonen and Massa would probably not be in contention due to race bans. Hazardously incompetent drivers tend to be weeded out. Raikkonen, as example: if it rains, you know he'll fall off the track. At Silverstone he was lucky enough to do it all on his own; at Spa he could have taken out someone else; at Monaco he did. Any driver who so evidently can not drive powerful cars in slippery conditions should not be allowed to race. That such an incompetent was gifted the position of World Champion by selective and fraudulent application of the rules, is beyond insult to paying fans.
At the Belgian GP, add his (unpenalized) hazardous blocking of team-mate Massa (almost resulting in Massa being pushed off) on the opening lap and later Hamilton (jinking several times in both directions), and it is doubtful he would have received less than a three-race ban or even have lost his racing license. Drivers only do this if they can get away with it, and in the case of Ferrari they are so confident of non-censure that it has become the norm - and hazardous or even dangerous to others.
Only when this ends in serious tears will the authorities act against those who have applied (or mis-applied) the rules for fraudulent ends.
Bryan Knowles
Reference the Spa administrative shambles.
Again, the fans of F1 – diehards and casual alike, - are becoming the injured party in what seems to be some either accidental or orchestrated personal vendetta against any car not painted red.
I started going to F1 (or GP races then) since the early 1960's, over the decades have passionately supported Williams, Lotus, McLaren and Ferrari – usually by virtue of the driver at the time.
I love Ferrari, I love Italy – I holiday there, have worked there, and am learning the language, but something is happening in F1 which makes me question the ethics within either the red team or the FIA.
I don't understand what's happening, and frankly I don't care, all I know is that we, the fans – the people who pays the wages of the whole circus – are being treated with contempt, and I for one is tired of these games.
After nearly 50 years of passionate involvement, I reflected today that I've not been to a live GP for 2 years. There are many reasons, but the overriding one is that the sport has forgotten about me – the fan. I'm the man that for many years on many continents has paid to stand in all weathers to watch my heroes over the years do battle on the track.
I'm not interested in battles in the steward's room, and I now think it will be some time before I can really look the sport in the eye again.
The FIA could restore some credibility, and give the appearance of some impartiality by reversing this silly decision immediately. I don't think it will do this, but in 2 years time the FIA will be having an investigation into why the sport seems to be losing out in attendance and viewing figures. It needs to look at the events of recent times to figure out why.
RIP F1
Bob Dubery - Johannesburg, South Africa
F1 has long been a litigious affair with results being determined off of the track. Have we all forgotten the shenanigans of 1994? Or the end to the 1989 title duel between Senna and Prost?
The way I saw it is that Hamilton would not have come out of that corner ahead if both cars had tried to stick to the race track. At least one of them would have gone off. And then Hamilton DID lift off, but he was in a better position relative to Raikkonen to attack - the nose of the McLaren was behind the nose of the Ferrari, but he was not a carlength behind. As I saw it I exclaimed "he's in trouble!". And so he was.
McLaren might be able to produce figures to show that they adhered to the letter of the law - but it will be arguable. And, of course, the law is not exact in this case and it would probably be impossible to make it exact. I don't believe that what happened immediately after that corner resulted in what that law intends to achieve.
The ironic thing, of course, is that Lewis could have given Kimi 3 or 4 car lengths immediately out of that corner and would still have won, but nobody could have known that at the time, and neither the stewards nor FIA should take that into account in their deliberations.
Dennis Bosco - Ontario, Canada
If one looks at the situation in a analytical manner, I believe the stewards decision MAY have merit.
The question is 'Did Lewis Hamilton gain an advantage by cutting the corner?' OR, worded in another fashion - 'Could he have been in that position to pass Kimi if he had followed him through the corner?
As I'm not a race car driver I can't answer that question with certainty. But I can envision that by Lewis cutting the corner and letting Kimi back in front momentarily, he was able to put himself in a more favourable position than the alternative option of following him through the corner. So I can see the logic of the stewards decision.
Hence, one could argue that the 'corner cutting' manoeuvre did give Lewis an advantage (despite Lewis briefly letting Kimi physically pass him again) because it put him in a position he could not have achieved by following Kimi through the corner. One could potentially imagine a driver, who not being able to put himself into a passing position due to lack of aerodynamic grip, purposely cutting the chicane, allowing the other car to briefly go in front, and then fall into the slipstream and repass at the next corner.
The fact that Lewis had nowhere else to go is irrelevant I believe.
Questions of more significance would be: Did Kimi 'have' the corner? Did Kimi push him wide purposely? Was he on the normal line of the corner? Did Kimi perform an infraction? These would be more relevant questions and should be considered as mitigating factors in the terms of the severity of the penalty administered. If it could be shown that Kimi purposely forced him off the track then one might argue 'tit for tat'.
That is how this event should be analyzed.
Perhaps the rule should be changed so that it specifies that the offending car cannot repass the 'offended' car until the next corner?
My feeling is that Lewis did find himself into a more advantageous position and did in fact gain an advantage to pass Kimi by cutting the corner. Kimi was correct to be in the corner on his line and Lewis should have slowed further and followed the corner. Hence, I believe he would have been further behind Kimi and not have been able to accomplish the pass.
However, and I believe this was the main point in your request for comments; it was a shame that the decision came down after the celebratory ceremonies. I don't know how long it took for the stewards to come to their decision.
Chris Mabey
I agree with your commentary that F1 is likely to become the laughing stock of the sporting world. Just imagine the FA Cup or World Cup finals being decided after the game has finished and the crowds are on their way home.
Irrespective of the teams involved, I am saddened that the 'interpretation' of the rules is undertaken in such a way without any regard to the damage to the sport that poor judgement may cause. We've been told that the rules say that there must be no advantaged gained by a driver using the run-off area, but there are no rules stating for how long the driver, having given back the gained position, should stay behind the leader and not attempt to regain the lead. If Lewis had waited until the next corner, would this have been acceptable? If so, then the rules are deficient in not stating this and it is clearly unfair to deal out such hard punishment on a matter of individual (in this case three individuals) opinion.
It's worth noting that McLaren sought immediate guidance (from Charlie Whiting, FIA Formula One Race Director) to confirm that their response was adequate, and Charlie gave his view that it was. This reveals the heat of the problem Clearly rules cannot accommodate every situation, but we have here a fundamental shortcoming and the FIA response, rather to acknowledge the need for clarification (i.e. their failing), is to hand out unjust punishment and bring the sport into disrepute. The FIA have actually breached their own rules in doing so!
Formula One seems intent on self-destruction, it's a crying shame.
Ken Chevis
I am a long-suffering race fan who did not think the sport could sink any lower. CART kept going around in circles until it drove up it's own arse, the IRL is populated by a bunch of Formula Ford drivers and there is NASCAR.. the epitome of pure red-neck racing. Soon they will be locating tracks next to trailer parks in an attempt to expand their fan base. And even though Hitler and Napolean were at the controls of F1, I maintained my interest... until yesterday. Follow the rules, get penalized and, perhaps, lose the world championship. F1 stewards should not be allowed to oversee kangaroo races in Australia. What a bunch of incompetents!
Fernando Horta
I've had enough. Simple as that.
After following F1 since 1991, this is yet another Ferrari-biased decision. Never mind talking about Hamilton or anti-McLaren penalties, or giving Bruno Senna a drive through penalty instead of a fine, there's one situation I don't recall being remembered by any folk before me on this Talking Point: Massa x Kubica at Japan last year.
That rain-soaked race was superb, incredible, and last lap battle between those two guys was just terrific. BUT one can recall that Massa did beat Kubica to the line because he went wide on the last lap, completely out of the track, and thus benefited from that. What would have happened if it were Kubica doing that? No penalties were imposed, yet both were clashing wheels and pushing each other out of the race track...
That's it, I've had enough. I'll get my PC racing wheel, GP4 and GTR2. At least the rules are the same for everyone no matter what team you are racing for.
Tim Goodchild
What happened to the notion that Formula 1 drivers actually go racing? Far too much of F1 relies on a pathetically huge list of rules and regulations that when instigated sap away any emotion and excitement that is portrayed in the "sport". On Sunday we saw two of the best drivers go wheel-to-wheel in the dying laps on the best circuit in the world. We saw drivers on dry tyres coasting around to finish a race on a damp circuit, and we saw a driver win a race through hard work and skill. Only for that all to be wiped out and the best race of 2008, becomes a farce.
It amuses me that for 2009, F1 cars are supposed to be able to run closer to each other to encourage nose-to-tail racing and more overtaking. What is the point if after all this trouble to get cars changed; it may just come down to a decision by a Steward?
Even more annoying though is that this will now hang over F1 until after the Singapore GP, and we may be in a position where the Championship gets decided in a court room. Good one FIA! Just what you needed for F1 in 2008, after the crap of the past 12 months!!
Peter Barnett
I still have on tape the 2006 GP from Hungary where Michael Schumacher went over a chicane 3 times did not give back the position at all and was not even investigated (and was even awarded a point despite failing to finish) so it is understandable that we think there is a huge bias towards Ferrari. It's probably time for Ferrari to field all 10 teams and then the stewards can award points for who they like without running a single race.
Then we can have a second group where there are real competitors and impartial rules. There have been too many occasions over the past few years of perceived bias, for any other opinion on F1.
What was once an enjoyable spectacle and the pinnacle of motor racing is now a complete farce.
Paul Gammidge-Jefferson
Wrong, wrong, wrong!
On the anniversary of the Spygate fine, the last thing that F1 needed was a race to be decided by lawyers. I am not a Lewis fan, but the decision to penalise him for conforming to the regulation makes F1 look like the pantomime that I sometimes think its administrators try to turn it into. If Kimi had taken a defensive line into the corner instead of moving over, Lewis would not have been able to out-brake him. There is no doubt that at that stage of the race Lewis had a much faster car and it would not have mattered if the pass had not been made after the chicane. It would have happened very soon. Instead of looking at the pattern of the race, the stewards have taken a spurious view on a snapshot of the race and have handed the final decision to a bunch of lawyers. Unbelievable.
Adrian Huybregts - Adelaide, South Australia
I think what's needed is the stewards reasoning behind any decision be made public within say 4 hours after the completion of the race with the reason/s why the investigation/plenty was imposed. How did the stewards see the incident?, what are the reason for claiming that LH had made an advantage?, This would spare us F1 fans from having to wait days or even weeks to find out why.
Strange thing is that no team lodged a complaint.
Pete Thurlow
The farcical outcome of the Belgian GP has led me to question whether I will ever enjoy an F1 race again.
Surely the fact that Hamilton backed off indicates compliance with the rules. Is the steward's decision that he had not backed off enough? In which case, what is enough? Is there an acceptable distance that, given the condition of the track surface, the slipstream of the car in front and the momentum of his own car a driver should be able to calculate in a split second? I don't think so.
For me, this decision casts doubts on the ability of F1 to work as a sport. Irrespective of the decision, the stewards must decide virtually instantly- the outcome cannot be delayed as that makes a mockery of all the post race activity. And the fans (remember them?) don't get an outcome. Not only is the delay appalling, but the consistency of decision making and application of the rules is sadly lacking.
What is worse is that the Italian GP will now be blighted as it's result will have no significance until the result of the appeal is known, and all F1 fans throughout the world have until then no idea of the championship stands. Can you imagine this in any other sport?
An exciting race (and by God we needed it after the last one) ruined. A sport's credibility with it's own fans ruined.
Scott Johnson
I think now is the time to have permanent race stewards, who have had racing experience. How can someone who hasn't had racing experience deem what is and isn't a racing incident?
Also if any of the 1st 3 finishers are 'under investigation' at the end of the race (as in the last 2 races), how can you proceed with the podium ceremony when in a few hours the result could change but every one on the circuit and on TV as seen AN other stand on the podium and receive a trophy.
Zvonimir Mahecic - Zagreb, Croatia
This is just continuation of the previous season with another means! It was obvious than, it is obvious today too that FIA is more then biased towards some teams! Valencia, GP2, trigger happy punishments of some teams and protection of some others prove this beyond any reasonable doubt. If the punishment was about the security there were many others security issues during the race that went unpunished. If it was about going out of the track, all the other drivers did the same. If it was about advantage gained, it is really hard to see what advantage after backing off behind competitor and passing on the other side, etc.
Pay attention, this is happening at the same time of the season as the last year. It is not only about one race, it is about bringing distraction to one team and driver hampering them focusing on remaining decisive races of the season. It worked last year; I suspect it will work again. If for anything else, there are more punishments in the FIA's sleeve!
All the F1 fans should find a way to express their outrage somehow, should flood FIA with protest messages, despite they protected themselves as bears in the woods from any expression of the public opinion and outcry, and than quit watching and taking care of F1 for good. I enjoy watching races from 1970's to 1990's but not this any more, thank you.
Let's face it: Lewis is only in his second season, he is black, he did not bow last year in front of FIA, even defended the team, and worst of all driving for Ron Dennis. My prediction: he will not be allowed to become the champion in million years and no team, especially McLaren, will be allowed to develop faster and better car than Ferrari, because FIA will find a way to prevent it! For winning the championship he should not only be able to defy competition, but FIA too, and this seems to me the mission impossible.
Massa should be a man enough, despite his contractual obligations, to refuse to accept the victory and, if so happens, the title won this way. Other teams and drivers should show solidarity and at least some spine and organize any kind of protest deemed necessary. After all, are they in the sport for racing or for what?! It is silly and childish to read about reactions in the paddocks if they don't have guts to stand up. They are the sport, not the FIA! But I am quite disillusioned about any prospect of sorting things out in F1.
What's the point in racing if racing is being penalized?! What's the point in penalizing if it's being applied according to the preferences?! All of this is utterly useless and preferential treatment of the red "cavalino rampante" is disgusting!
Nick Conti
I could never imagine that I would consider not watching Formula One.
Yet this is where the outcome of the Belgian Grand Prix leaves me.
Like most sports fans, following a competition means I experience joy, disappointment, exhilaration and frustration. However, I am sick of these emotions being a result of off-track events rather than genuine sporting competition. Commentators can analyse Sunday's events over and over but this does not alter my view that the rules are applied inconsistently and in a manner that is not transparent. And this is the key problem for Formula One. Indeed, it has been for many years now and nothing has changed. As a result, I cannot be certain that I will continue to follow the sport.
Ben Kritz
The only problem I have with the whole thing is the timing of the decision, and this is a consistent problem. Too often, post-qualifying press conferences, podium ceremonies, etc. are allowed to proceed, and only later are the results adjusted. It's unprofessional, and kind of looks silly. Consider horse racing -- results are withheld in case of controversy, and only released when a final decision is made. Why can't F1 do the same? I'm not going to argue with the decision -- what I saw could have gone either way -- but I think the whole process is handled very poorly.
Dennis Phillips
I can only agree that the Belgium GP was absolutely riveting for the last few minutes of the race. As I saw it Lewis Hamilton did the right thing and allowed Kimi to come by after the short cut through the chicane, so for one I am very annoyed that the stewards used this as the reason to alter the result. It appeared to me that Kimi lost his cool in the prevailing conditions which resulted in his crash.
I think I might start to watch NASCAR or IRL in the future, as it appears that they do not have the control problems that Formula 1 has.
Robert Mawhinney - USA
It is typical of the FIA 'Stewards of the meet' to destroy the best F1 race in decades. Ferrari certainly is getting their moneys worth from whoever they paid in the FIA. The "Stewards" sent the clear message of "How dare you pass a Ferrari for the win"... makes F1 look like club racing. (and a poorly run club at that) Lewis is a racer, period, end of sentence. He and McLaren soundly trounced all opposition at Spa and earned the win. If Ferrari has any class left at all, something I'm doubting these days, they will appeal the stewards decision along side McLaren.
Michael Vlcek - London, UK
in my view, Lewis decided to take to run-off area when it was completely possible to back off and stand on the track right behind Kimi. But, had he chosen this, he wouldn't be able to try an overtaking in turn 1. Having that said, after cutting the chicane deliberately, Lewis simply didn't slow down enough. He lifted just a bit and then got into kimi's back to apply the X in turn 1.
He was smart, but he did take an advantage by cutting the chicane. Again, he chose to do it deliberately, if you, english, look at the video without emotions, you will figure that out. I don't like, too, race results to be changed after the checkered flag, but there was no time left for a drive-through during the race. So, in my point of view, the punish was inevitable.
I think Lewis should rethink his manners. It's not the first time he tries to be smarter than the others. The japanese incident with the safety-car is a proof. Sometimes he even reminds me of Schumacher's worst moments, that's the truth.
Simon Dart
I was simply disgusted at the whole episode, Lewis did what was required by the regulations, Kimi was finished and gave him no room at the chicane as would have been sporting, he was not travelling faster than Kimi over the line, Kimi then moved twice to defend his line into La Source which is not allowed. Where is the sporting justice in all this? Would this happen in the BTCC? That's what I'm watching from now on where I can actually watch some racing!
Derek Law
I'm surprised at the people who have "been watching for 20 years" and are now "giving up". What have they been watching? I've been watching since Jim Clark drove for Lotus, and ever since I was old enough to understand what was going on it has always been a sport which has as much interest off the track as on. If there were no personalities, if the cars went round on their own, it would just be glorified slot car racing.
As for Lewis Hamilton, I can only say that he did gain an advantage - he has done it before and does not seem to have learned his lesson. If he had properly waited to discount his gain from cutting the chicane, he would have had another chance, but it is typical of his youthful arrogance that he just dived back in again. Much more outrageous was Massa only being fined for almost driving into another car in the pit lane last race - but if this kind of thing didn't happen how dull would it all be?
That was a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon, with the added bonus of at least one wrong being righted.
Dennis Cardona - USA
Although Lewis did give back the position, he clearly had gained an advantage by cutting the chicane by being closer than before. That said, the penalty was absolutely ridicoulous. 25 seconds? I am not a Lewis Hamilton fan, but this is outrageous. Don't forget, Kimi retook the lead back briefly before his wreck. He also spun after Hamiltons mistake. The stewards involved should be relieved of their duties. Former drivers should be made full time stewards. Then, whenever an event like this happens, whatever is decided, the drivers would have clarity on the situation. Stewards at each race from the host country lacks consistency. It makes the race a joke, and gives those who decide punishment autonomy. This is NOT the F1 I love. This is a farce. If this continues Bernies only problem will be not where F1 is racing, but if F1 is racing.
Ryan Chua - Philippines
Right after I heard from the tv that Lewis Hamilton is being investigated, I immediately got the feeling that he will be handed a penalty. Having learned that Mclaren has intended to appeal, I know for certain this will just lead to nowhere judging from the penalties being handed by the FIA to McLaren. I feel robbed knowing the result handed by the stewards. Rightly said by Niki Lauda – "The most perverted judgment I have ever seen." Somebody should do something about purging the FIA and replacing them with people without bias who would give fair judgments!
Michael Shields - United States
I have been a avid F1 fan for almost 40 years, and have been loyal throughout even though there are no US races. After last years saga I began to wonder if it was worth it. Spa was the last straw though and I have sadly removed my F1 bookmarks from my browser and won't be getting up at o'dark thirty anymore to watch on the telly. F1 has become another "sport" manipulated by a governing body. F1 might want to pull their head out and have a group of stewards that are at EVERY EVENT, and apply the rules evenly. Don't put me in either the red or silver camp, I just love watching good racing. However, If you look at the decisions made the past few years on "infractions" the outcomes don't seem to equal to those involved, or the viewers. One has to wonder when sponsors are going to start backing away from a clearly manipulated sport. Hopefully some day MAX and Bernie will be gone and F1 will still be standing. With great sadness I am pulling the plug, I've seen enough. —Goodbye f1
David Lynn
Shock is the only word I have for it and having watched one of few great battles that we crave in F1 be turned into a joke what can I say? Mate, 25 years I've watched this but I am not wasting any more Sundays watching this tripe.
I just hope the BBC haven't wasted too much of my hard earned licence fee on it.
Frank Henry - San Francisco
I too am rather disillusioned by the latest example of arbitrariness on the part of F1 race stewards. As an ardent fan of F1 for 40+ years (starting at age 12, am now 59), the steady series of biased pro- Ferrari decisions on the part of the FIA (including race stewards) and Max Mosley has become too much for me. The number of such cases are too numerous to recount here. Yesterday's decision to hand the race win to Felipe Massa is the last straw for me. The pleasure I had in viewing an exciting race at a legendary circuit was dashed once again by an indefensible post-race penalty to a non-Ferrari driver.
Thomas Strittmatter - Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
I live on the west coast of America & work weekends, so I usually have to catch the races via live timing only.... but this weekend was different because it was SPA!!
I stayed away from all my favorite websites & my wife & I settled down to watch the taped race because we BOTH know what SPA means.
And "our" driver Won!!
Then we watched the racing recap show on Speed TV to see all the latest updates from all of the other racing from the weekend & found out about the penalty. I couldn't wait to get logged on this morning & see what Pitpass had to say & when I saw the forum I dug in & started reading to see how the wind blew and could only come up with... WOW!
24 pages (as of 7:00AM PT in the USA) of fire & brimstone! Vitriol & angst.
Liars... every one of you who said you are going away & not watching any longer.
The siren song will call you back.
You'll "check in @ Pitpass"... then you'll tape a race & watch it later... then the season will start to wind down & you'll ALL be sucked back in.
Heroin addicts get a bad binge now & again & say "enough!".... only to saw through the 2x4's nailed onto their door so they can head out for another hit... even if it is a suppository. (Admittedly stolen from Trainspotting)
And next year with less Aero, slick tires & no tire warmers...... you might say you're not coming back... but look in the mirror & see the lie... good or bad, its still heroin & you all are still addicts.
Richard Spooner
It is difficult to comprehend what I saw when I looked at my PC yesterday evening and read what I did.
I started punching the air and suddenly felt a massive dose of pride in the sport I love during the last 10 laps of Spa witnessing the stunning battle, skill and utter determination of Raikonnen and Hamilton. My only regret was that Kimi crashed and the action slowed as a result. Regardless though, this was F1 at its pinnacle and what it sorely needed. I couldn"t stand the man, but Schumacher and Alonso provided us with some real entertainment in 05 and 06, which most in the know will admit has been missing for much of this season. Those closing laps though yesterday were classic motor racing. What fan couldn"t have felt at least happy, if not slightly moved watching that battle?
The stewards decision has left me with a huge hole and I am genuinely struggling to comprehend what is either their gall, arrogance, incompetence or blatant favouritism. These people are the FIA for all intents and purposes and as such I can"t divorce the words gall, incompetence or blatant favouritism from the FIA as an organisation. Why am I left with a hole? Well F1 is a sport I have loved and followed substantially for 20 years. I"m the core fan who watches every race. I am the man who assures CVC their TV revenues. I"m the geek who watches live timing feeds during races. I am the man who attends races and planned to take his child to races in a few years.
I was a fan and a loyal, passionate one at that. "Was" is the key word there.
The hole is there because I cannot bring myself to watch another F1 race. It might love to gaze at its own naval too much the last few years, but F1 was a glorious sport and I loved to watch it as a result. I never thought I"d hear myself agreeing with a comment Fernando Alonso made, but when he was penalised for "holding up a Ferrari" in qualifying in Canada 06 he had the balls to say "F1 is no longer a sport to me". I agree.
The FIA as a governing body has the power to redeem itself easily and quickly, and restore its already tattered reputation. Max, intervene NOW, do the right thing morally, emotionally and technically in regard to this stewards decision, and then appoint a full time steward again. Only this time give them the power, authority and professional integrity to do the job fairly and properly.
Love and regards, A former F1 fan.
Mark Kedrowski
Regardless of all the other comments on the dynamics of why the ruling was fair or unfair, the one thing that was clear to anyone watching: Lewis had Kimi by the short hairs. Kimi was like a cornered animal trying to defend. Lewis had him.... Kimi forced the issues leading to the penalty.
Sidenote: What about Kimi's potentially/likely illegal block? He made more than one move trying to impede Lewis on the straight. I suppose it's moot since he crashed.
Andreas Hackbarth - Munich, Germany
as paying spectators yesterday in Spa - Francorchamps we left the circuit in high spirit because we saw an amazing finish and we thought both drivers were brilliant.
On our grandstand in Eau Rouge emotions were at maximum peak and it was beyond comparison to see Hamilton / McLaren fans cheering and in the next moment the same behaviour from Raikkonen / Ferrari addicts.
Like a penalty shoot - out in a soccer final.
Three hours later in Cologne airport we learned about the punishment and it was cheer frustation.
The plain fact that you watched something very special this afternoon and the discrepance of the result that will go into the history book of Formula 1 is unbearable!
If even the audience feels cheated how must the winner feel?
Massa, for once, was rather pale during the whole weekend and does not deserve to win the Belgium GP - never mind how much he was the moral winner in Hungary.
Gavin Johns
If it was massa squeezing down hamilton on the chicane and it might just be a Euro10,000 fine rather than a 15sec penalty... Such is the scam of FIA, with Mosley scandal and FIA stewards series of questionable penalties for the past gp... Duh now they will impose next year to enable drivers to overtake and when they overtake each other they'll going to issue a penalty or whatever!!!
I think FIA should draw a line on every penalty they make and not just on their own discretion... weather they gain or not gain but made a move that is dangerous to his fellow racer then hand them down a 25 sec penalty or a drive thru penalty only and no other options such thing would make clear to every one that no bias would be made instead of cashing them because of bad demeanor in the race proper... A cash penalty would be good if its done during a practice but not on qualifying and race proper... such is the big grey area and once and for all should be look into so spectators like us wouldn't ponder that something fishy and slimy is going on at the track side...
Ian Perry
After giving up waiting for something to happen in Valencia and turning off, we now get a stunning display of what skill and bravery is all about if it is put on a proper circuit, only for a decision so appalling I feel completely betrayed and have no desire to let "that lot" treat me like that again. I have plenty to do and wont have to justify staying in next Sunday.
Mark Law
What happened yesterday was a disgrace to the sport. The FIA is pushing teams to spend Millions on making the sport more enjoyable to watch by increasing the chances of overtaking and in one day they ruined what was probably the best race of the season. This is embarassing to loyal fans who spend tima and money following their sport only to have it destroyed by a group of part-time stewards who obviously don't have the fans interests at heart. The time has come for the FIA to be clensed of the people who make bad calls, inconsistant penalties and bias or favouratism to certain teams. We need to have full time stewards that travel to all of the races and are consistant with their decisions and penatlies handed out. My opinion is that each team should have their own steward as well as an indepentant group made up of staff qualified to fullfil their role as FIA officials with the good of the sport their priority. Also it should not take weeks or months to get appeals heard. A multi Billion Dollar industry and it takes forever to get an appeal heard. Give me a break. PLEASE SAVE F1.
Kevin Tinson - Aylesbury, UK
Belgium 2008 – one word springs to mind with what happened yesterday – TRAVESTY. Yes, Hamilton cut the chicane, but it was that or have an accident…which also would have caused a penalty I feel. So Lewis was punished for avoiding an accident!
We've seen moves like that go unpunished in the past, especially as Lewis let Raikkonen repass him…. maybe he shouldn't have then overtaken Raikkonen at the first corner but the passed him later in the lap but he was going to overtake him that was certain. Raikkonen also used run off areas at various times of the race and gained an advantage, on the last few laps having watched it again I would say he used one of them deliberately having thought that that was the quickest way round the track in the conditions, but there is no punishment for him.
Then if we go back to Valencia, Massa only suffered a financial penalty for the pit lane incident, one in the GP2 race which was almost exactly the same meant the released driver getting a drive through penalty… and again Raikkonen, who clearly caused dangerous situation was not punished for leaving before his pit signals said it was safe.
So, the inconsistencies of decisions are bringing me down, the sport I love, both on TV but more especially live (been at most British GP's since 1971 and am usually at Spa to watch at this magnificent track)…but I want decisions that are fair, consistent, plus if there is an appeal these should be heard as soon as possible, even in the following week so that the incident doesn't cloud following GP's. This decision could push Lewis into trying overhard next week to compensate thus ruining his championship…after what was a masterful display of car control.
Let's have traveling stewards, consistent decisions and quicker appeals…. and then lets get back to concentrating on the racing!
Glenn Morton - Nottinghamshire
I stopped watching F1 in 2000 after numerous shenanigans highlighted the fact that a lot of races weren't won on the track but in the boardroom, and the favoritism (in my opinion) towards Ferrari was blatant and conspicuous. I started to watch it again in 2007 purely down to Lewis Hamilton, and although the boardroom tactics were still present I tried to overlook them and just watch the racing.
What happened at Spa yesterday was incredible and disgusting. The way it was done and even the reasons why it was done were all wrong. I really felt sad for the sport if it's come to this. I've looked at the so called incident over and over again and I honestly can't see where Lewis went wrong. The fact that McLaren have the data to back up Lewis and this was still ignored just shows how deep the corruption within the FIA goes. I for one will not watch another F1 race again until all this debacle is sorted. It it ever will be.
Staffan Hermansson - Sweden
As I write this, there are already 24 pages in the talking point. I can't say I read all the posts and I assume most of what needs to be said, have already been said, alas I can't contribute anything new, I can at the least add some more fire to the funeral pyre.
It seems the rulings the last two races, including GP2 have been all over the place. Not only are they very different to similar situations, but they also seem to take different amount of time to comply. Why don't F1 simply put a camera in the stewards booth all the time, allow the commentators to interview them during the race, like I've saw in Champcar. (Very few things were good in Champcar but this was one of the better things)
I could go on forever, but let's stop here.
Darren Birtchnell
The whole situation is a complete joke. Do the FIA care about the sport or that F1 is losing popularity and credibility? Do they not care that they might be blowing the chance to increase fan interest in the UK and take advantage of Lewis Hamilton's popularity, therefore potentially increasing their own revenues? Or is it more important to simply keep their favourite team happy and sod everyone else?
I first started watching F1 back in the mid 80's, when Mansell used to do battle with Prost and Senna in his 'Red 5' Williams. I followed the sport for probably 10 years before other things started to take priority, although I still tried to watch the races if possible. Then came the Schumacher years and while you cannot doubt his brilliance, I found it extremely boring with him winning week in and week out and so I stopped watching.
That was until last year, when my new girlfriend (a massive Alonso fan) got me back into the sport. I never really liked McLaren back in the 80's and early 90's, but I found myself supporting Hamilton as the best British driver. We went to Silverstone last year and the whole weekend was fantastic, even if Hamilton (or Alonso) didn't win. The whole championship was fantastic (if you ignore the spying scandal) and my interest in F1 was back with a vengeance. I found myself reading various web pages for more info on the drivers, cars and racetracks. I even found myself correcting my girlfriend on some info, and she was supposed to be the F1 expert in our relationship!
Now as she is still a massive Alonso fan, she doesn't really like Hamilton at all after what happened between them last year (despite the fact she is English), although to be fair she does admit he is a very good driver. She even cheers whenever he goes off or gets overtaken, so that probably shows her level of hatred for him!
She wasn't able to watch the race live yesterday as she had to work, so I watched it live and also recorded it and we both watched it back in the evening. I did let on there had been an incident, but didn't say who was involved or what happened.
So we're watching the race and the incident at the chicane happens, I look over to her and there's no reaction. After Hamilton overtook Raikkonen at the hairpin I even said something along the lines of "did all of that look OK to you?" to which she said she didn't see a problem with it, as Lewis had let Kimi re-take the lead and then passed him fairly by out-braking him. After the race finished I told her what happened afterwards and she couldn't believe it.
Had it been Massa or Raikkonen that overtook Hamilton in these circumstances, would they have been penalised? I very much doubt it. Is it a coincidence that Hamilton has been penalised 5 times so far this season for various 'offences'? Again, I doubt it. As numerous people have already pointed out, Massa didn't get punished for his unsafe pit lane exit in Valencia, yet in GP2 at Spa at the weekend, Bruno Senna did exactly the same thing and got a drive-through penalty. Where is the consistency?
I expect there are a number of new fans (or returning 'new' fans like myself) in the UK thanks to the emergence of Lewis Hamilton, who are only just realising that F1 is as corrupt a sport as there is. I appreciate that F1 is a business and therefore the ultimate aim is to make money, but if the FIA continue to be bullied by Ferrari it is inevitable that people will start switching off and stop going to races, therefore reducing their income. Can't they see that? Unless something is done to ensure a fairer competition, incidents like these will continue to contribute to the downfall of Formula One.
Tony Adamson
I must admit, I only watch F1 on Pitpass these days... The commentary is much better and watching the race only costs 10mins of my life. There was a time that come Sunday, we'd have our Sunday roast away from the dining room and in front of the TV. We'd all watch it as a family together and that was Sunday afternoons. Doing something else? What do you mean "do something else"? The Grand Prix's on...
There's so many aspects to the "complete product" that makes up F1 that it's unfair to criticise one element. In my view, issues like this latest controversy should be handled there and then, or not at all... But it's just another part of a flawed product. In fact, I'm starting to conclude that it's only the controversy that keeps the interest in F1 alive. It sells the most newspapers and keeps the hits coming onto the website, which sell advertising... Maybe that's what F1 has become these days and maybe that's what it needs to survive...?
The F1 product is the racing and overtaking, the speed (which is being cont= inually slowed because it's "dangerous"... Yeah, and???), technical differ= entiation in the cars, the eye candy, the TV presentation, the on-track fan access (compare Le Mans, where fans can walk up to the cars and snap away happily), the gossip... it's unfair to only highlight one part that's wrong. There's a lot of areas in which F1 has to improve and have a better consumer focus. The question is though - is man down the pub the consumer? Or is it the Ferrari's & Mercedes of the world?
When I look to what works, I look to the American series of Indy, NASCAR and the ALMS. What impresses me about them is the deep permeation of the "for the fans" attitude, which is reinforced time and again. The racers themselves in the American series are seen joking around before the race, having little stupid jokes, interviewing each other, etc. They're presented as nice people, relaxed, family people. The TV coverage of Indy and NASCAR especially both present up to date timing information, multiple simultaneous views, overlays of maps, etc... (ok so the map's generally oval...) But even when the cars only turn one way and spend a lot of time going slowly behind a pace car, the racing is just more interesting. They even have a guy with a cutout car, who points at the different bits on the car they're talking about when they get technical. How cool is that? Now having one of those in F1 is not going to save the day, but it's just another area where America is streets ahead.
I never watched as far as the exciting showdown, but I'm not even that gutted... I went mountain biking instead, which was much more fun and healthier. Sadly, and it is with deep regret I say this, there is just more to do on a Sunday afternoon than F1.
Kristian Pedersen - Denmark
I watch and follow the world of Formula One Championship with great interest. The past 2 years have turned it somewhat more of a political game, than a fight between drivers on the track. This off course is absurd, but also inevitalbe thanks to the money/power involved. If they could just keep it of the track and perhaps use their zillion dollar motorhomes for it instead.
I have my favorite colours when it comes to cars, but I would never want one of them to win, if the win was not theirs. This weekends verdict brings out the creatures and stories are being re-told. For instance, how does the stewards work?
There is 3 stewards, one of them local. As I understand it, they do not make up the cases themselves. Their job is to work with whatever is brought to them by Charlie Whiting. Their reference is what is shown on tv. According to Mr. Dennis, Charlie was quite confident that nothing would happen as regards to the last chicane incident, prior to the race.
Who is responsible for the outcome then? 1 steward in particular? Who are they anyway and who is paying their salaries? Could make up for some interesting reading.
For the incident it self, Lewis was on the outside of Kimi going in to the chicane. His front wheel was on the side of Kimi's left rear wheel. The stunt didn't work out for him and he uses the run-off area.
Re-entering the track he is being told by his team to lift his foot from the throttle and let Kimi pass, which he does. Subsequently the verdict is that the tail wind from Kimi's car was used to gain the advantage. However, when crossing the finishline, Lewis is first of all further behind Kimi, than he was going into the chicane, in which he had to back of. Also - this will probably be the key argument in court, if it ever goes that far - Lewis was going 6 kmt slower than Kimi when they cross the finishline. Ergo, he was further behind than before AND going slower.
I have equal respect for both Kimi and Lewis, whatever color of the car. The pass in the first corner was very much Lewis outracing Kimi and nothing else.
Hopefully something good will come from this.
Keith Robson - Sydney Australia
It is hard to believe what tunnel vision does to your view of F1. When the incident occured I was sickened by Hamilton's antics & I wondered why he was not given a stop/go penalty on the spot. He was so clearly in the wrong by gaining an advantage over Kimi I personally think he got off very lightly. He deliberately charged into that corner fully aware that he could not take it at such speed by staying on the track & washed off enough speed by taking the course he did. I am so pleased the stewards are a wake up to his antics & it is not the first time he has done this but got away with it previously. At least the Ferrari drivers are sportsmen unlike Hamilton who tries to win by any means.
If justice had not prevailed I would have turned off F1 after not missing a GP for 32 years. I am also pleased that having purchased tickets for the Singapore GP they are not going to be wasted because, let me assure you, had this blatant cheating not been stopped I would never attend another GP.
You are right about attendances dropping off lately because true F1 fans are sick to death of the Hamilton hype together with the retirement of a true superstar-Schumi. We tifosi were also disillusioned last year when Mclaren lost all their points for cheating yet the drivers were allowed to keep theirs. How can that be fair? No wonder there is a drop off in interest when there has so clearly been a bias against Ferrari in the recent past & i am so pleased the stewards on this occasion acted fairly.
Tim Marshall - Lancaster PA, USA
Simple observation here: The alleged advantage Hamilton gained over Kimi seems moot since Raikonnen didn't finish the race. In any case he gave up the position to Kimi and would have lost if Raikonnen hadn't crashed out.
Miroslav Piskulic
This is sad , very very sad, when it happened i really couldn't believe it . Judges took the victory, and what a victory, what a drive, (that battle was one of the finest moments in last few years), and Hamilton did nothing wrong, when he did go off chicane, he let Raikkonen go past him and went attacking again. This is another example of what really is the organization known as FIA.
You just need to add two extra letters MAFIA.
Dissapointed fan of formula one racing.
Matt Bennett - Derby, UK
As a long time F1 fan this is yet another kick in the nuts. Over the years they've come from all directions -- from the obvious favouritism given to the undoubted 'flawed genuis', to the complete disregard for us Silverstone visitors that were left parked on a dual carraigeway for 10 hours because the track organisors couldn't organise a p155 up in a brewery.
I hated the Ferrari domination years yet someone (I wish I could remember who - Ross Brawn, Ron Dennis, Sir Frank, maybe even Max) entirely changed my view on their performance by saying "it's not their fault, it's everyone else's for not taking the race to them". That's the spirit of competition - strive to be the best and if the others can't keep up that's their loss. The fight was well and truly on, or so I thought.
But now for the last few years others have been taking the race to the red cars it's becoming more and more clear that, for whatever reason, no one is allowed to consistently beat them.
Winning with a system they don't have or need - the system is banned.
Winning with a superior driver - have him tamed with penalties.
Winning with curious mix of yours and their feck'd employees - removed from the championship. However, their infringements always seem to be viewed lightly, even - most alarmingly - when other precedents exist.
On sunday the world got to watch two world-class drivers fight tooth and nail for position - what a great spectacle! One of them was always going to come out on top unless they both lost by taking each other out. That thankfully didn't happen and the race moved on. And it moved on in style with the sort of exitement that reminds me why I watch (but mostly suffer) every race live. The jubilation, the relief and the skill of every driver that managed to bring it home - tactically, or tippy toed - is what has always made F1 so special.
But yet again the result didn't go the way of the powers that be, so even after the podium celebration and the press conference they were happy to interfere - how can that be seen as anything other than sheer manipulation, no matter who's to gain or suffer. So, how does this make F1 a sport?
For a long time now I've spent my hard earned money on this 'show-pretending-to-be-a-sport' - visiting GPs every year, and now it's apparently coming to my local track in 2010. Sadly by then it might be too late to woo my pound notes. I want to switch off now but that isn't going to help the other 8 teams that have nowhere else to go.
Let this be a lesson to the Honda's, BMW's and Toyota's of this world - if you have any pretentious ideas of winning races and championships with any regularity, you'd better drop them now. Take that message to your stakeholders and sponsors and then see how your millions spent participating in this 'show' is viewed upon.
T.C. Collins
If the recent issues with F1 are big in Europe and around the world, imagine the situation for those of us living in the United States. After attending every USGP from 2001 to 2007, I have been on the viewing end of some fantastic races, as well as some that were not good the sport (Ferrari's "team orders" wins, Ferrari's "accidental" win, and the famous Michelin tire debacle race).
Now the situation is this: We don't even have a race and those that we can watch on TV are a farce.
Spa was an amazing race to watch on TV. The SpeedTV commentators are amzingly good, the new camera angle looking backward on Eau Rouge was amazing, and the action on the track, particularly the last 5 laps or so, was some of the best I've seen in years. I was literally at the edge of my bed (the races are on at 7:30am here) with the heartrate of a hummingbird. What amazing action! The duel between Kimi and Lewis, the amazing running of the STRs, Heidfeld and Alonso making an amazing charge on the last two laps - was all awesome to watch.
Then later in the day I received a text message from a friend about Hamilton's demotion. I was truly deflated. It was one of the most exciting races in years, at one of my favorite tracks, and it was now tainted. Like others, I now question my allegiance to F1. Like many outside of the 'tifosi', while I respect Ferrari's achievements over the years, I have grown tired of the FIA seemingly making questionable rulings in their favor. It's been too many times to be a coincidence. As the cliche goes - where there's smoke, there's fire. I'm a Red Bull / Toro Rosso fan, but the seemingly incessant spate of rulings against McLaren and/or for Ferrari are too much for even the most hardcore fans
Andrew Macpherson
This is a sad and pathetic joke, F1 is really going down the drain.
That was the most exciting and dramatic race of the year, a welcome return to form after some really dull races, and then the stewards come up with a non sensical decision like this!
There was nothing at all wrong with what Lewis did, if anything Kimi should be penalized for pushing him wide. There was no gain made, and the race was won fairly.
Chris Porozny - Canada
Well, first off, i was right at the beginning of the season. Lewis is leading the championship, BMW have their maiden win, Vettel and Bourdais have begun to shine and Raikkonen is nowhere near repeating his lucky season. I'm batting 1000. Seriously. You really need to hire me to travel the globe and cover the races.
But I digress. Having watched F1 since it has been available on TV, I may never watch it again, pending the appeal by McLaren on Lewis' penalty at Spa. To be honest, I think there is no alternative but to reverse the decision in the appeal. There is absolutely no justification for it in the first place. I witnessed, on TV and complete with multi-view replays, the near accident Lewis had with a Williams where he goes left to avoid the collision, Raikkonen's on-board showing his avoidance of the same Williams, which also clearly shows Lewis being 'pushed' onto the escape road. I witnessed Lewis allowing Raikkonen to regain the lead and then closing on Raikkonen's tail as he deked left and right. Raikkonen was outfoxed by Lewis, plain and simple. If this penalty holds, it is proof that F1 has begun a terrminal decline, the disease being Ferrari favouritism (and even Domenicalli has avoided public comment, evidencing even his surprise at the bias of the stewards).
So then, you may not need to hire me for my perfect prophesies. I may or may not be interested, depending ....
Alan Cook
I've had enough! I've followed F1 and other FIA motor sport for over 50 years. I won't be going to any more GPs etc. or watching them on TV. Enough is enough!
I'll be watching US motor sport from now on. Get rid of the FIA and start again from scratch - then I MIGHT get back into it - but I'll probably be dead by the time that happens!
Csongor Kuti - Marosvasarhely, Romania
Oh, I have quitted caring about F1 long years ago, when F1 ceased to be a sport, and turned into a kind of wrestling for Europeans. If we were talking about a sporting event, then the stewards' decision would have qualified of course, as scandalous. After that magnificent battle between Kimi and Lewis, all who attempt to alter later the outcome should be tared and feathered and sent to performe some other types of bureaucratic activities, that hopefully may never intersect with motor racing. If it were a race - and not a PR gig / media show / whatever - than it should have been remembered for the magic on-track battle (the likes of which F1 pretty much misses since the mid-90's), and not for the stupidity of some anonimous bureaucrats.
But then, all we have is a reality show, ironically labeled the pinnacle of motor sports (gosh, have these guys ever seen a nascar event for e.g.?), in which there is no room for stupidity, but instead we have professional script writers. And they'll make sure that the amused spectators will have enough off-track to chew on and to jitter about for a whole season's length. They'll build and demolish heroes and villains for us and ensure all those dramatic twists. They are making sure since a good while that most of the excitement takes place outside of the track - hell, this environment is far more easier to control - and who cares about the race, the sport and fans, since the product sells even better this way? Just like wrestling.
Bill Ship - USA
This is hard to stomach! I have finally given up on F1! FIA stands for Ferrari is all! Finally a race with true excitement and as you sead edge of your seat drama and they take away the first well earned victory in years?!! I am appalled and just can't watch as either Massa or Raikkonen win the championship neither has earned or deserved! Pure Shit! Even NASCAR, looking a lot like professional wrestling is more realistic! No wonder they can't lure American fans!!
John Tasker - Queensland, Australia
Thats it
Ive sat on the fence long enough, never complained, never voiced an opinion publicly.
Now after watching the best race that I have had the privilege to view for many a year, with real racing and real passing, I am fully convinced that the FIA are not particularly enamoured with McLaren (did I say that without leaving myself open to a libel action). Ah heck lets go for broke FIA surely must be the "Ferrari Indulgence Association"
Great race, real racing, podium ceremony, press conference, clear winner, but hey lets ignore the fans lets see if we can manipulate the result again this year.
Hamilton is doing a great job (And lets get something on record here I am a motor racing fan first, but team wise have always leant towards Ferrari, they have a magnificent history, but no more). He (Hamilton) is racing and in this instance when he clearly knew that he had passed Raikkonen incorrectly, backed off and let Raikkonen retake the position. There is no rule that says he must take himself to the rear of the pack or 5 seconds back, He was only a fraction behind when he commenced his overtaking move and rightly so went back to that when it went wrong.
It was the correct and gentlemanly and sporting thing to do and he did it well. He then readdressed the situation and reclaimed the lead.
The fact that Raikkonen lost his cool, or concentration is beside the point. it is Raikkonens job to hang in and control his vehicle and not Hamiltons responsibility if he cannot.
Hamilton did the job, Raikkonen didnt, and we the fans were given a taste of racing long forgotten, Real racing, real passing, real passion. real result.
And then, unfortunatly it is decided by some clown, that here again is an opportunity to manipulate the result and ensure a win for the reds.
What shame, we hear is a lot when fans spit the dummy because they are not happy with the result and I suppose I now must join them.
I am 63 years old and attended my first motor race when I was 14. I have been a fan of F1 and followed the heroes and villains of the sport for 49 years, last night I was rejuvinated and from the great race in Belgium looked forward again to more action from Hamilton, and Massa and Raikkonen and surely soon from Webber and others, but its not to be, Racing has died when the result of such an exciting race can be determined two hours after the event and only in favour of the reds
Not for me, time to switch off, goodbye FI, time to take up lawn bowls the result may be more honest.
Mike Jacobson - Sydney, Australia
Put aside for a moment Sunday's latest example of the FIA's administrative incompetence, and focus instead on the cause of this sorry situation.
The crux of the issue is that the participants have no influence on their sport's regulations.
The FIA is a democratic member-based organisation, so its office-bearers tend to be appointed on the basis of their regular attendance at meetings rather than their competence.
Where the system comes unstuck is that most members of FIA-affiliated clubs have little or no interest in professional motorsport.
The FIA only controls F1's sporting regulations because the participants have allowed this situation to continue.
The teams' only real initiative, back in the FOCA days, was to hand over the lucrative commercial rights to a sharp operator who takes a healthy slice of the pie and gives back a few crumbs to the performers.
The teams are so disparate and disunited that they haven't even been able to respond to the FIA's invitation to provide guidelines for future technical regulations!
Until they get their own house in order, NASCAR-style, they have no-one but themselves to blame for ridiculous decisions like Sunday's.
Stephen Asbury
Paul Kendrick sums up the physical in-race situation at the 'bus stop' on Sunday pretty well - Lewis had nowhere else to go except across the inside of the chicane. My call at the time was "Concede the place, Lewis - you have to" and Lewis did. He was in line behind Kimi just before the chicane and in line behind Kimi after conceeding the place. That is the end of the matter - no advantage gained. Kimi crashed out, Lewis did not, and went on to win the race between the two Championship contenders. Epic stuff. All of us who saw it were truly moved by the spectacle.
I'm not sure why we need stewards to decide the outcome of the race when the outcome is so clear as it was on Sunday. Such unnecessary interference cannot be good for any sport. Suppose Chelsea were awarded the FA Cup after it had been presented to Manchester United because a corner was later revealed to have been taken outside the white line. This will never happen - football is settled on the pitch, and should be.
Back to Spa, I have read about 6km/h speed differences at this point and that point on the circuit. However, the main point remains - Lewis Hamilton correctly conceded the place he had gained by missing the corner. There should be no penalty if there was no gain. That Lewis passed Kimi later, and that Kazuki Nakajima could have taken either of these two out later as he rejoined the track in appaling conditions, and that Kimi crashed later still is beyond this particular point.
I want to be able to talk to friends in the office, go to the pub, spend time with my family without being told "F1 mess up again, eh?".
The Belgian race was an epic, but my memory of it destroyed in the aftermath. I want the race settled on the circuit, under clear rules which I can read (really - where can I get a copy?). And who are these "Stewards" that decide the outcome of events on the circuit?
Eric Scott Williams
I think one component to this particular incident is that Lewis complied with the letter of the law, but not the spirit. As I watched the event unfold I immediately thought to myself 'hmm, he shouldn't have passed the curb dividing the runoff area from the track without letting Kimi get past'. Of course he's a racer and losing the revs in such a maneuver would be anathema to him, so he elected to maintain momentum and get behind Kimi at his earliest convenience – which seemed an eternity from the perspective of my sofa here in Los Angeles. I knew immediately that the move would be called into question. Had it been earlier in the race I think a drive-through penalty would have been assessed, which certainly would have been a great deal more palatable than a post checkered flag ruling.
Now I don't know if the FIA rulebook prescribes a fixed penalty in such a situation. If it doesn't, 25s seems arbitrary and spurious, with a pre-meditated outcome. Ultimately there is enough F1 history from which to draw a set of comprehensive rules for penalties covering most imaginable contingencies. This would at least give the appearance of absence of prejudice. In American football, the rules are clear. The referees are trained professionals. The penalties are fixed and verdicts are to be rendered before the next play. There are rules regarding the use of instant replay to render these verdicts. As with any human endeavor, the system isn't perfect, but it is confidence inspiring.
I love Formula One. I love the technology, the sheer over-the-top indulgence of every engineering whim at any cost. The circus. The celebrity of everybody on the team from the drivers to the principals to the engineering directors. I love the mad competitiveness. I love it all. I won't be leaving the sport because I have nowhere else to go. American open-wheel racing lost that with the creation of the IRL and the devolving of every form of motorsport into a spec series.
If I were to succeed Max Mosely, the technical regs would simply read: Four wheels, three litres displacement. Gas, ethanol, diesel, steam, nuclear, whatever you think you need to do to win. I'd change these every few years, so that no team would have years of advantage in one particular technology (how can any new manufacturers enter the sport with an engine freeze in place???). Everybody would have to start from a clean sheet of paper. Yeah, it would cost a bit, but guess what, the teams are going to spend the money anyway. And there'd be enough flexibility to allow for some real innovation from the best and brightest that invariably find their way to F1. We'd have an endless parade of strange new aerodynamics, the occasional turbine engine and all the cars would be distinctly different. Color schemes wouldn't be duplicated under my regs. There'd be safety and crash test regs of course (the safety of the modern era makes the sport lets me enjoy it with a clear conscience), and refueling would be banned. Paying lip service to green considerations would be purely the prerogative of the individual teams and not the result of the FIA being bullied into political correctness by national governments, activist groups or media influences.
Hamilton should have known from previous experience that the FIA would not deal with McLaren sympathetically. An early stab of the brakes to put him behind Kimi would have worked in his favor. If he was still called into question, McLaren could have produced a more convincing telemetry sheet. If no joy could be derived from that, if I were Ron Dennis, I'd be tempted to withdraw from the rest of the season. The potential commercial damage to F1 would be at least as damning as it would be to McLaren themselves, and maybe the FIA might feel compelled to mete out justice a little more blindly.
Nick Dawson - Essex
What happened after the race on Sunday was nothing short of embarassing to anyone who enjoys the sport. The Belgian GP was quite an enjoyable race for 41 laps, and fantastic for the final 3!! What unfolded was what every race fan wants and what the sport needs, an unexpected twist in the tail and a fight to the finish. No disrespect to Raikkonen, but he only has himself to blame for putting it in the wall. Massa kept it on track perfectly well, and Hamilton hung on brilliantly to finish the race.
The point is this; What should Lewis have done? He was ahead of Kimi into the chicane and was then pushed wide. This left Lewis with a choice - ride the kerb and clash with the Ferrari or take the escape road. If there was any advantage gained by doing this it was immediately relinquished, in accordance with the rules, and Kimi was allowed through.
More importantly the sport needs to abolish post-race amendments to the result, imagine if the World Cup were decided in this way! No wonder so many people ridicule F1, for it is not run as a sport.
I'm not in a position to suggest a perfect system, but Charlie Whiting should head an unbiased team of referees and linesmen who monitor all of the races and make judgment calls, before the podium ceremony is held. Thereafter, the result should stick.
Should there be any further investigation then monetary fines, grid penalties or subsequent race bans should be incurred.
Mark Litherland - Atlanta, GA, USA
I'm one of the few, the proud, the American F1 fans, and a regular reader of Pitpass. I'm also a dyed-in-the-wool Ferrari fan and love to see Kimi and Felipe do well, and the final few laps of yesterday's race were among the most exciting I've seen. That said I cheered Lewis on the win, well-fought and hard-won, and showed exactly the combination of grit and sportsmanship F1 has been sadly lacking. And now this happens. Lewis got screwed.
Ian Anderson
I cannot understand how LH benefited from any advantage during the race when KR did not finish the race???
GP2 B Senna got a drive though in Spa for exactly the same incident as PM perpetrated in Valencia, the Team was fined after the race?
I thought there was going to be a dedicated set of officials to oversee decisions of this nature to be consistent?
Viewers wait for an exciting race to have it ruined by the FIA who have total control over any decision let's not believe otherwise, F1 will not change because the FIA do not care what the public thinks, anyone who thinks they do are deluded!
David Strauss - Johannesburg, South Africa
When administrators (or stewards) have to make a ruling, there is a better than 50% chance that at least 50% of supporters will feel aggrieved. That is how life is, we have to accept it and deal with it. (Pity that the head of those administrators have gone and did his best to make Joe Public lose all respect for him, but that's not my point.)
The importance of aerodynamic grip over mechanical grip (due to all the fins and thingies, causing but not working in 'dirty air', grooved tyres, etc.) has for me done much more to alienate the average fan from his favourite motor sport than any administrative indiscretions. The romping of Max and the bumbling of stewards did not kill the spectacle of passing.
I almost forgot: there's one more serious liability. The adoration of Saint Lewis by one James Allen. He should get the boot by year end.
So here's to 2009! Slicks, prospects of more passing and no more James Allen.
Dave Holmes - Lincoln, England
At the tender age of 57 I thought I had seen most things but this is the first time I have seen the circus run by the clowns!
Randall Owen
If this incident had occured at Monte Carlo then Lewis just wouldn't have got passed Kimi. But it was Spa and the nature of the circuit allowed him to pressurize Kimi into defending the wrong side into La Source and he got passed. How can this penalty possibly be justified!!!
I am ashamed of how our beautiful sport is being run by the FIA and others.... "neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians" comes to mind.
I am at a loss, truly, I am so dissapointed at the absence of common sense by those in stewardship of my wonderful Formula One....
You have asked us for comments... well I pray that next week Lewis kicks their arses at home!!
How dare it rain upon a Ferrari!
save our sport
Jan-Peter Onstwedder London, UK
Disclaimer upfront: I'm a Ferrari fan, have been since watching Lauda and Regazzoni at Zandvoort in 1974. So many things have happened in Formula 1, from the 1976 season which introduced the concept of settling races in the courts instead of on the track, to the FISA-FOCA war of 1982, bans on innovative technology (remember the Brabham suction car, or the Lotus twin chassis?) and the many, many silly penalties for supposed and real technical and sporting infringements.
Yesterday's appalling stewards' decision is nothing new. Forget the conspiracy theories, please; this is random decision making by human beings. Just the same kind of error that makes drivers miss gearshifts (oops, I mean, set the appropriate computer programming for the next corner's engine mapping), mechanics miss the third check on that little widget, etc. Of course team bosses are without such weaknesses, nor could the FIA stand accused of any...
Truth is, Formula 1 has been more interesting off-track than on-track for the past 25 years...
Greg Cunneen - Tokyo
When it comes down to it, this was the decision of 3 anonymous officials who have overstepped the mark. All the commentators discussing the post-race hearing were wondering what the hearing was about, so it was hardly obvious. Three individuals have just made their 15 minutes of fame for themselves. The decision should be quickly reversed and the matter relegated to history. I am neither for nor against McLaren or Ferrari, just an F1 fan, and this decision is too crazy to let stand.
Andrew Webb
I think ITV will be the ones suffering.
What's looking like a good season has saw a kick in the teeth.
I saw the race and there was nothing wrong with what Lewis did.
With TV audiences dwindling, I think ITV must be thanking their lucky stars that the BBC will have it from next season.
But if mclaren get penalised and Ferrari get the best out of something that they don't deserve, well its die-hard's like me that will switch off should the Championship get taken away from Hamilton over the stupid decision like this...F1 needs Max and Bernie to go now...if they both stay...I cant see F1 having a future
John Hammerland - Colorado, USA
My wife and 2 teenage sons say I need to let go and maybe this will help in that process...
I have been a motor racing fan for over 40 years precisely because of what we witnessed during the final 3 laps of the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix. What an amazing performance by Lewis Hamilton and what a tragedy that history will record he finished in third place.
As those final laps played out, I was surprised to find myself standing in front of the TV with my heart beating wildly wondering who would make it across the finish line first. I will not deny that I was delighted that Lewis prevailed in another virtuoso wet-weather outing. Had he cut the chicane to avoid colliding with Raikkonen? - of course. Did he surrender the advantage he had gained? - it seemed he did by pulling in behind Kimi. Did he concede the victory to the Ferrari? - not in a million years! The rest was one of the most incredible finishes of any race, anywhere at any time. I have to admit that I'm confused by the condemnation aimed at Lewis for trying to win the race. Isn't that what he's paid to do? Given the way he was able to close in on Kimi to that point, it would seem only a matter of time before he was going to get by. But it all doesn't matter now, thanks to the stewards. The appeal will go nowhere, undoubtedly, and is probably best forgotten lest some harsher penalty be imposed.
But for me, despite what the record books will say, Lewis Hamilton will always be the winner of the Grand Prix of Belgium on September 7, 2008. I have the video tape to prove it...
Rod Van Koughnet - Wellington, New Zealand
So disappointing. Spa is my favourite track on the F1 schedule, so I made an extra effort to watch it live. In New Zealand, that means qualifying at midnight Saturday and the race at midnight on Sunday. Usually, the appeals to such official decisions are pure whinging, but I expect McLaren to win this appeal. This official tampering with the race is like when a pedantic rugby ref steals the show instead of letting the game flow naturally. I'm no McLaren fan, but I am a fan of fair play. I've got a real beef with the media here as well. I rarely stay up to watch qualifying and Sky Sports (with ITV feed) gave me little reason to do it again. They followed all the racers through qualifying with plenty of justified attention on the Sebastiens right up until the end. After showing the four fastest finishers, they then just followed Hamilton around on his cool down lap and then into the paddock, and then it just ended. So, what was grid order after slot four? Did no one else contest the remaining positions in the final shoot-out? All that hype about how well Toro Rosso was doing, and no indication of how they finished! What about BMW? Heidfeld was looking promising for a change. I had look up the results on the internet. The race was almost as bad. Actually, the race itself was brilliant and with good coverage. Sky/ITV lost the plot at the end though. It simply stopped in the middle of the interviews after Hamilton said his bit. What about Massa? What about Heidfeld? Do they not matter? I was wanting to hear Massa explain why he was so conservative. The ITV boys thought he was having an off day, but I was expecting him to say he was worried about his engine that could have still been from the bad batch. My wife thought they might have run out of time. Not so, as Sky Sport switched to 10 minutes of old F1 footage set to music to kill time until the next program! Actually that's par for the course, as it is always about Louis Hamilton to the exclusion of anyone else (unless off-track S&M is involved). When Louis gets second place, it is in the headlines in the papers here and without exception, the papers do not print who actually won the race. That crap angers me even more than the inconsistent ruling that made a travesty of my favourite race on the calendar.
Walter Willmott
At long last we had a really entertaining race and as I was watching it down in Inveercargill New Zealand, I switched off the moment that the race was over and the results anounced. When I heard of the rearrangement of the results on this mornings news I was shattered. I know you don't want to refer back to Max and Bernie, but where does the buck stop. To see McLaren posted in the last pits, listed as the last team, and yet see them compete for the lead every race with Ferrari seems farcical. Just give Ferrari the championship and let the whole scene disappear up Maxs bum, I'm swithcing off.
Rob Gasson - Aldershot, Hants
Perhaps Mclaren Ought to paint their car red!! Seems to get better treatment in stewards enquiries. Or am I just being cynical??
It Seems that Formula 1 is strangling itself with it's own politics!! I used to enjoy it when it was a proper sport, But it seems that those days are long gone. It's now quite clear that that those who administer the sport do not want to see any RACING, which, I thought that it was supposed to be!!!
Will the last person to leave the paddock, Please turn the lights off!! I for one, do not care much anymore, F1 R.I.P.
Mike Currie
I firmly believe that F1 does need some permanent stewards. Preferably people with race experience at the top levels. These folks should be completely divorced (or as much as possible) from the FIA operation. They must be transparent and independent. I think a panel of five permanent, non-aligned stewards would be a good move.
I was very disappointed with the outcome of Sunday's race at Spa. I'm not particularly a fan of either team, but more interested in the F1 race as a whole. In other words, neutral towards either party. To my eyes, from what I could see on my TV (we get the ITV coverage here in Canada), Hamilton did a superlative job of surviving the last few laps. To have a brilliant win like that removed by the stewards really does seem unfair.
David Callow
The stewards making the decisions on these Grand Prix are like accountants running a company. They don't have the passion of the entrepreneur who originally set up the company. They're only interested in saying what you can't do - not what you can do. They can't comprehend the damage they're doing. When the last grandstand has emptied and the last sponsor walked away - do you think they'll accept responsibility for their insane actions.
How dare these faceless individuals take away the whole spirit of our sport.
We've all been crying out for more passing and more real action and they have the audacity to say we can't have it.
Don't just walk away from F1 - let's get some change going and appoint some real motor racing enthusiasts to safeguard our sport. Someone suggested Sir Jackie. Excellent. Someone who knows about racing, is passionate, fair and will have the fans best interest at the top of his agenda.
John Holzhey
This is such a stupid thing for so called "professional" stewards to be even thinking about. Yes Hamilton did overshoot the chicane. He did, however, fall back behind Raikonan, thus giving back the spot. He then passed him again to take the lead. The video doesn't lie. The primary reason he overshot the chicane was due to being pushed off. If he'd tried to stay on the racing line, both would have collided.
Chris Allen
What about penalties for all the other drivers who cut the chicane.
Some benefited and some did not and I guess all made errors because of the conditions.
Should to Stewards be consistent, I think so unless it really is Ferrari International Assistance.
As a fan for very many years this is getting so tedious that I question whether I will keep following the sport.
happy days
David Allen Hutson
A regular panel of stewards is a great idea. Maybe retired driver or two, perhaps a former team owner or retired mechanic? Seems rules are haphazardly applied and perhaps the organizers of all the different events have different knowledge or agendas.
Jose Ramon Cedeno - Mexico City
As a Ferrari diehard fan I'm delighted that Massa won, as a F1 spectator/follower, after such fine race I was both glad for watching an outstanding old-styled race with many overtaking and thrill from start to end and I was also frustrated for looking how Kimmi lost the race in the final laps. I think the Race result was fair, and I pay respect for what Hamilton did, that is one good racer and a tough one. If Ferrari is behind this maneuver my pity to them, the most successful team in F1 history should only win races putting their cars in front of any other. If the FOM is behind this I think we should do something as spectators and raise our complaints in some way, maybe making them know that we are not going to take this dropping their TV Ratings (damn... I love Monza... we can always watch the repetitions, or read Pitpass anyways)... If FIA is the mastermind of this well, you know who to blame... I think Hamilton's move was just in the edge of illegal, but as I was watching the race I didn't notice anything too wrong to be investigated. Remember FOM is all about selling their product, and if this means to close the gap in points to ensure an audience for the next races we are being fooled and this is a marketing strategy that should be banned, neither by the FIA nor any other ruling body, but by us, their costumers and target. The brands advertising on F1 cars should notice a drop in TV ratings after this move and should ask the teams to push harder to stop this.
As a Ferrari fan I ask my team to be honest, as an F1 fan, I ask Bernie to shoot his foot with a Magnum .45 for converting the sport into a poorly written soap opera and let the guys do the racing without putting his dirty hands on results and I also ask the stewards to do their jobs fairly and justice-full. Anyways...I stick to the sport, the race was magnificent and the best driver/car won the race, the final result is just a selling strategy.
A Ferrari fan that thinks that a winner always gets first to the checkered flag...
PS. And as long as I don't stand Lewis I don't want Ferrari to win in the desktop of a bunch of old men signing FOM letter-headed pre-printed results.
Phil Edwards
An absolute disgrace and a grave disservice to a wonderful race and a wonderful sport. We finally get an all time classic with everything we all crave to have the outcome of the championship tainted through crass stupidity. I've followed the sport for 30 years and witnessed some ridiculous decisions; this is a SCANDAL that needs to be urgently resolved in favour of lewis if the sport is salvage any credibility in it's decision making process. It's an outrage that drives a hardened fan to question why bother!
Kevin O'Neil - Quebec, Canada
The Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday was the best motor racing I have watched in years.. The last few laps had me out of my seat and shouting several times and left me with the feeling that the sport was finally coming around, we were finally seeing real wheel to wheel road racing as it was meant to be and as it used to be. It is however a symptom of the rot that lies beneath the surface, that I was not surprised to turn on the computer today to find that the "Stewards" had ruined the whole day and thrown the sport into further disrepute. I don't believe I will bother to watch the rest of the season as it will be decided by a group of functionairs who have never driven a race car and have a hidden agenda. How this group of faceless nobodies got this power is beyond me, but if this is the way Bernie wants it he can have it. We saw real motor racing and "they" don't like it. %^&* them.
Francis Newman - Berkshire, UK
I've been reading the many many comments in this talking point, on the Pitpass forum. and also discussing it with my mates down the pub. I have to say that a sense of foreboding came over me when the stewards' investigation was announced as when I watched the incident live I just had that feeling that Lewis had been a bit naughty in the way he handed back the lead. Much as I am well known to be a lifelong Ferraristi I didn't want the fantastic end to this terrific race to be mired in a controversy that does no good for F1 or Ferrari and once again opens the floodgates for those that love to bash my beloved Ferrari. I was very unhappy to read of the decision, but only because of that.
My personal viewpoint on the incident:
The thing that is important to me is that having come back onto the track Hamilton still went at speed, Kimi only eventually getting past him half way down the pit straight, so having gained the position advantage he didn't immediately give it back. This is not specifically mentioned in the rules (which I have avidly read and checked) the relevant section under which the stewards penalised Lewis reading "During practice and the race, drivers may use only the track and must at all times observe the provisions of the Code relating to driving behaviour on circuits".
However here are Felipe's comments "What Lewis did is the sort of thing that can happen, but I think he was maybe a bit too optimistic in thinking he could just hand back the position, albeit only partially to Kimi and then immediately try and pass him again.
Incidents like this have often been discussed in the official driver briefings when it has been made absolutely clear that anyone cutting a chicane has to fully restore the position and also any other eventual advantage gained.
If Lewis had taken the chicane correctly, he would never have been able to pass Kimi on the very short straight that follows it. That was my immediate opinion after seeing the replay. Maybe if Lewis had waited and tried to pass on the next straight, that would have been a different matter."
In the end it is a purely subjective decision by the stewards but I think Felipe's comments on what the drivers are told at briefing is important and relevant. Most of the reaction has been emotionally charged because the end of the race was so exciting and everyone feels let down by the decision. If everyone took the time to look at it objectively, they might still come to the same decision, but maybe they might understand why the stewards took the decision they did, rather than just blaming them for a fix.
There have also been comments about the penalty and the fact they waited till after the race to decide.
If you read the rules, the only penalty stipulated in the rules for an incident such as this in the last five laps, is a 25 second penalty in lieu of a drive through. The rules also state that unless completely clear, any incident that involves more than one car should normally be investigated after the race.
So - the only thing in question is whether Lewis was guilty or not of "not fully restoring the position and also any other eventual advantage gained". The fact that Kimi subsequently crashed out is irrelevant
I don't think any sensible person can defend the current stewards system. We have on occasion had permanent stewards (I remember Ron Dennis having a spat with Max in 2000 when the FIA appointed Robert Causo, an Italian, as a permanent steward). In theory having permanent professional stewards is the way to do it, but actually choosing them to satisfy everyone, when we are told that the team principals can't even agree to what bottled water to have at meetings, is probably easier said than done - but it must be done. And the stewards decision making process should be open and transparent and subject to a press conference similar to that of the drivers, so that everyone, particularly the viewing public, can understand what is happening. A bland statement quoting the subsection of the rule infringed,. and not even the wording of that subsection is just not adequate in a sport that is so media reliant for its attachment to those that view it.
On another point. One of the reasons this incident happened at all is the very generous tarmac run off area at the chicane (and at many corners these days). Once can understand the safer nature of these tarmac areas against gravel traps, but would Lewis have even tried the move if it had been gravel? The first chicane at Monza has tyres, or some sort of barrier to make any driver cutting the chicane go through their "own" chicane to make sure there is no advantage. Maybe that should be a standard feature at all tracks.
Has this harmed F1 long term? Well probably not IMHO. If all those who say that they are finished with F1 do actually leave, well they must have been pretty close to doing so anyway. I think the problems with
F1 are far deeper seated than what the stewards decided this weekend.
It certainly provided a lot of talk in my pub tonight.
Paul Fauth
I am struggling to remember when an FIA decision has gone against Ferrari. From barge boards being within manufacturing tolerances to inappropriate pit box releases Ferrari always appears to be in the right. Maclaren on the other hand always appears to be standing outside the FIA headmasters door.
Does this have anything to do with Bernie's offer earlier this year that if all teams signed a letter demanding Mosley's resignation and this wish was not complied with, F1 would move out from under the FIA umbrella. Only Ferrari and Force India , a Ferrari customer did not sign.
Flavio recently stated that F1 was in the entertainment business. Never a truer word has been spoken by an F1 principal. However after the Spa fiasco it is not even entertaining any more.
I have endured from the shrill scream of Matras, the deep throated roar of Lamborginis, the throb of DFVs to the nose bleed making scream of 19000 rpm of the current generation
I have attended hot, wet, cold, splendid, mediocre and thoroughly entertaining Grand Prix, I have sat up late at night in Australia to watch and listen to Murray Walker mangle the english language and Brundle and company's chauvinism ( Alonso brake tests Hamilton!) but enough is enough.
Au revoir Formula One
Tony Geran - Sydney
What I am surprised at is that any one is surprised at this decision.
As local TV here no longer broadcast F1 live other than through High definition channel, but replay it at 11:30 pm so it’s too late for me to watch a race other than by video.
I watched the first five laps up to the first add break and as it was close to midnight I called it a day.
Before going to bed I logged on to the net and found Hamilton had won but there was to be a Stewards’ inquiry. At that point of time I knew they’d find a way to take it away from him given that a red car was second.
Let’s face it, FIA is biased towards Ferrari and always have been given Mosley’s position is to bend over backwards to help them against the majority of "English" teams.
Perhaps last week’s talking point about entertainment in F1 piqued the FIA’s interest.
By manipulating the results of Belgium they have artificially closed up the championship race, in the name of "entertainment"?
Michael A. Snow - Germany
All I can say about F1 now is; whatever. Max has the power to do the right thing, but unfortunately he doesn't know how to do that. The stewards, the FIA, and the powers that be have zero integrity and have ruined the sport by blatantly supporting or going against certain teams.
After last year and then this cherry on the 2008 bad calls sundae I am done. I've been watching F1 since the '70s and have been to numerous races and have spent a lot of money on the sport, but no more. A very sad day for me as F1 died on Sunday.
Jonathan Gurd - London
I've tried to keep a level head about this, had a dig about in the rules and still come back to the conclusion that the penalty handed to Hamilton is utter b*ll****. If Hamilton is to be penalised for going off track (no word about gaining an advantage, as far as I can see this isn't actually in the rules referred to in the judgement, which insist that a competitor must only use the track in the course of the race), why does Massa get no penalty for using the run-off during Hamilton's spin at La Source? Or Raikkonen for going off-road when he and Lewis encountered Rosberg's spin at Fagnes? Or when he went inside the kerb at the top of Eau Rouge? Or indeed everyone who hopped the chicane while Kovalainen and Webber had their little contretemps, itself duly (and correctly) punished? How about Heidfeld using a bit of grass on the way into Turn 9 as he took Bourdais?
Unless the TV pictures I was watching were broaching some hitherto unknown realm of perspective, Hamilton let off the gas and was behind Raikkonen as they crossed the line. Had he not taken the shortcut, he would have been into Kimi's side and caused an avoidable accident! Isn't that what run-off is for?
Understandably there are grey areas not covered in the rules themselves, and we've seen in the past that these are subsequently covered with a hotch-potch of ad-hoc understandings on the part of the teams, drivers and race director, which are then communicated to the fans through the media and are, in general, reasonable compromises in the face of the tricky circumstances that arise amid the heat of battle. That is what we love F1 for, and those final three laps at Spa Francorchamps were electrifying, the epitome of the best drivers in the world demonstrating their skill in the toughest conditions. We hesitate to use the word entertainment in the context of the sport, but this was the sport itself being entertaining and to have that sullied in an over-literal and short-sighted interpretation of the rules brings nothing but crashing disappointment.
Am I any less in love with F1 after this weekend? No, that thrilling battle between two of its finest drivers, and nail-biting tension as they tried to keep their cars on the road is enough to keep me hooked (particularly after the Valencia snoozefest), but I'm saddened, as I imagine Lewis must be, to have that joy deprecated after the fact.
Mark J. Chavous - USA
I get up around 8AM North American time to prepare to watch F1 at that most classic of F1 roadcourses, Spa, and lo and behold, we get a great race (due in large part to Spa itself, do doubt) with anexciting finish. Good grief, passing in F1, and lot of it? No wonder Jackie Stewart and Michael Schumacher loved the rain so much, it is the great equalizer. A truly great battle between Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen, won by Hamilton on some last few laps heroics.
So I come to read the papers today and check the racing websites, and now I see that the win has been taken from Lewis Hamilton? For what? The consensus seems to be the move at the bus stop chicane where Raikkonen cut off Hamilton hard, forcing Hamilton to get onto the access portion and get back on track ahead of Raikkonen. He then lifted off the throttle as is customary to give the spot back to Raikkonen, and then he got on the attack right away and outbreaked the Ferrari into the next corner, and went on to an exciting win. This has been the first real excitment on track in some time, and now the stewards took it away? Unreal. No wonder you're getting so much negative mail from disgruntled fans.
F1 continues to stub its toe when on the verge of making some real competitive progress. This time it nearly broke its foot. F1 needs to keep its audience in mind when weighing decisions that affect the outcome of a race. The fans would have spoke loud and clear if they thought any wrong was done late in the race. Most people saw that battle between Hamilton and Raikkonen as pure racing. The stewards should have recognized it as such too.
Issam Kabbani - Lausanne
You can say I am an F1 die hard since the 70's. Hopefully you will all agree that back then, literally 'men were men' and the races kept the F1 legend going, it had overtaking, the drivers took risks. Infact, just like Raikkonen this week end. With an increasingly steeper curve of decreasing enthusiasm, since the last couple of years, F1 (R.I.P the glorious F1 that stirred my passion) is no longer a mistress of mine.
Not only because the recent and less recent (but still very frequent) various disheartening events you know so well.
But also for other, perhaps less obvious reasons: it seems today there should be podiums for engineers instead of drivers. Then, the drivers today seem spineless…during my years as an F1 maniac, I had a chance to meet quite a few drivers. If today 'GI Joe' has become the benchmark for being a character…... .where has the 'right stuff' gone ??? for a while Kubica, Raikkonen, and Hamilton seemed like they could be men of colorful characters... it turns out one puts the pope in his helmet, while the other trails his father, and the other only starts to talk to thank his mechanics and repeat his corporate message... A girl who has been around the block 'when were men', could probably cry you a river now.
All who complain say it is the 'money'……It is not only a question of money in F1..it seems a cascade of converging elements..technology elements (no pun), politically right sponsors, super-safe racing cars and super-safe corners have – to me at least - contributed to making F1 a strong sleeping pills alternative.
why is it, that if it does not rain, the race is a procession... .you have supposedly opinion leaders like Mr. Whitmarsh and Mr. Brawn who say overtaking should remain an exception ..Pit stops should be decisive factors in victory… is this how F1 became and can return to being a legend, stirring passion, emotions ?
and then you have Mr. Tilke... .'Jack the ripper' of historic tarmacs, gone by now. Because one day 'a few good men' or perhaps 'a few bad men', decided that nobody should be killed driving an F1... .why should that be the case ? what is the legend of F1 made of then ? I am not saying that it should be a deadly sport..but why take the authentic suspense and risk element out ? what is the difference between an F1 and a family car ? the rooftop ?
Perhaps Eau Rouge still requires b... as Vettel said this week end, but out of how many other colorless and relatively safe and easy corners that pepper F1 venues?
Where is the old 'nouveau monde' ? this 'nouveau F1 monde' is boring, more like a big play station where the worst that can happen is a re-start.
As Briatore said ; who cares what gearbox, electronics, tires they are using ? where has the overtaking gone ?
Let's move on ( grow up ?) and find some 'right stuff' to enjoy... like polo, like motorbike racing. I never thought I would say this: I just don't like what they call F1 anymore, I don t like the personalities there (or in fact the lack of… and don't mistake 'naughty' with 'pervert', very decent to hang to some seat like it were dear life).
No more Autosport subscription, AutoHebdo or l'Equipe for me…no more going to the F1 websites everyday several times... astalabista baby.
David Baston
Having watched the f1 on sunday 7-09-2008 The penalty Hamilton and Maclaren got was unjust you could see on the tv that Lewis was weaving about at the back of the ferrari just after Lewis stepped off the gas a bit to allow Kimi through before overtaking him properly.Now when Ron Dennis was interviewd after the event had finnished he did say that he asked the race director if that move was okay and he said it was.So who is telling porkies here.
I think after last years events with the spy buisness and a fine been brought onto Maclaren was unjust it takes two to tango. errari was just as much to blame here as it was one of there employees who gave the documents in the first place and i do not see them getting punished.
Robert Walton - Sugar Land, TX
Compared to most people here I am a F1 rookie. I've only been watching for five years or so. During that time I have been spouting the virtues of F1. How can NASCAR, CART, or IRL compare? I'll get flamed here but I will still keep watching. I love the cars and the variety of tracks. But I will be watching it like I watch professional wrestling, it's fun to watch but it's just a show. If there was ever any realism to F1 the FIA just took the last shred of it away. Shame on you FIA.
Francisco Cabrera - Ontario, Canada
Japan 2005: Alonso passes Klien at the end of the first lap, but cannot hold the car into the chicane. He misses it, and waits for Klien to pass him. As soon as Klien is through, Alonso gets on his gearbox and re-passes him before turn 1. The stewards tell Renault, that this is not a fair pass, because, had Alonso tried following through the chicane, he would not have been under Klien's gearbox and pass him at the next braking point. So, Alonso let him pass, and a couple laps later, he re-passed Klien.
Hamilton's manoeuver was identical, and he did get an advantage from tucking into Raikkonen's gearbox after electing to miss the chicane.
Hamilton had 3 options:
1) brake at the second part of the chicane and follow Raikkonen through (Raikkonen was ahead, so he is entitled to choose his racing line, including squeezing Hamilton onto the grass).
2) follow Raikkonen on the left, and try keeping the car onto the road. Raikkonnen left him space for the right hand tires to touch the track. This was the most dangerous option, because it would have been too easy for Hamilton to lose control of the car on the wet grass, and could have ended up hitting Raikkonen and leave them both out of the race.
3) miss the chicane, and give the position back to Raikkonen. This would have been accomplished, by letting Raikkonen go by, and follow 3-4 car lengths behind, not tucking under his gearbox.
With current regulations, I've never seen anybody been able to exit a chicane tucked under the gearbox of the car ahead. It is naive from Hamilton to believe that letting Raikkonen through and getting under the gearbox can be considered as re-storing the position.
Hamilton gained an advantage by placing himself under Raikkonen's gearbox, in position for a subsequent pass. I believe the penalty was correctly given to him.
If Hamilton's penalty is not upheld. then this will allow all drivers to do a similar manoeuver:
If you can't pass a slower car by following through the track, then miss a chicane, wait for him to barely pass you, and then ambush the slower driver by tucking yourself under the gearbox and out-braking him at the next turn. Something that currently, is too difficult to do by using the actual track, but can be done.
It is possible that Hamilton would have won the race, but he changed the whole situation by gaining an advantage. Perhaps Raikkonen would have been able to keep him at bay. We'll never know, because Hamilton was too arrogant to understand this. Apparently, he didn't learn his lesson from France, so here's another reminder.
I do agree with other fans that the penalties given in each track are inconsistent and this needs to be fixed. I also agree that some of the most absurd penalties have favored Ferrari (Renault's mass dampers and Alonso's penalty in Italy 2006). However, on this one, I'm backing the stewards 100%.
Simon Cohen
Over the weekend I was luck enough to watch some footage of the 1976 season with Hunt (McLaren) and Lauda (Ferrari) and was reminded of the many dubious anti McLaren decisions from back them. Hunt's fuel in Monza, his disqualification for restarting and beating Lauda at Brands Hatch, the whole Spanish GP fiasco (although McLaren did eventually win that one on appeal several months later.) It's been going on for decades now, the powers that be love Ferrari.
I was also reminded of full grids due to private entries (F1 was almost affordable) and customer cars (such as Max Mosley selling his March cars to other competitors). I had also forgotten how much good, clean close racing there was. Other than improvements in safety F1's been going downhill ever since. If only F1 was run by racing enthusiasts, but not to worry there is a lot of great motor racing out there.
Christopher Vitek - NSW, Australia
I have been an avid F1 fan & viewer for decades, however, I really struggle to keep up my interest these days. I still do watch every race but still end up dissatisfied at the end of each one. If it is not the procession of cars unable to overtake (unless in the pits), it is the interference from the stewards & FIA. There are 2 ways this can be possibly resolved:
1. Simply, each year, declare Ferrari as the Constructors Champions & one of their drivers as the Drivers Champion & leave them in Maranello. This would let the other teams race for the remaining places & the biased stewards & FIA officials might have to recognise the presence & participation of the other teams.
2. Remove all aero add-ons - winglettes, bargeboards, dumbo ears,air shapers, the lot - piss them off! Ban refuelling. If you need to have a tyre change, then allow only one. Why do you need 3 sets of tyres to drive 200 miles! Put the overtaking back on the track where it belongs. There is some great talent in the F1 driver line-up - it is a pity that it can't truly be on show.
Bernie, Max & the FIA appear to hold the fans in contempt. F1 for years has become a boring procession. But I still watch it in the hope that things will change. But they won't change while the old, biased school is still running the circus. If Bernie is so great, where is Brabham? Let's hope the new generation that will succeed will learn & not be tainted by this era.
Thanks for letting me have my say. I feel a lot better now. I look forward to the future. (& if Ferrari win this year because of the latest "stewards findings", then it will be a travesty.)
João Santos - Portugal
1994, 1997, 2006, all over again.
Nevermind the actual punishment. What's disgraceful is the inconsistency. Usually nothing is done, but Sunday, with the chance of Massa getting close to Hamilton, suddenly, out of nowhere, the stewards do their job, and behold, it's an exciting championship all of a sudden!! With the regulations being so ambiguous, a fixed panel of stewards wouldn't be of much use anyway I think, because with those regulations the way they are, on purpose by the way, instructions always will come from above.
I hate to say this, but until BCE and MM get out of the sport, there's no indication to my eyes that anything will ever be done.
As for me, I'll continue watching because I'm completely hopeless. Most of my friends have since last year's shameful conduction of the spy saga stopped caring. I wish I could be like them
Martin Brownson - Hong Kong
I know that I'm repeating what has already been said by many, but along with countless others I want to register my utter disgust with the stewards decision on Sunday. How can ANYONE, even the most passionate Ferrari fan, now claim that there is no bias in the stewards decision making? In Valencia Ferrari were fined just 10,000 Euros with no penalty for a clearly dangerous pitlane infringement which put pit crew, photographers and others at risk, and this despite there being a 25 second penalty handed out for a similar incident 24 hours before in the GP2 race (presumably with the same stewards?). One race on and Hamilton is handed a 25 second penalty for allegedly gaining an advantage by cutting a chicane, whilst endangering no-one?
I do not claim to be an expert when it comes to the rulebook but I do know that if a driver gains an advantage by cutting a corner then they should relinquish the place(s) gained at the earliest opportunity, which is exactly what Hamilton did. Furthermore McLaren say they confirmed with Race Director Charlie Whiting that they had done the correct thing.
Hamilton had no choice but to cut the chicane as Raikkonen moved over on him and he had nowhere else to go. Call me cynical if you wish but had Hamilton stuck to his line on the track they would have made contact and I would not be surprised if he would then have been penalised for "causing an avoidable collision".
It is reported that the stewards think Hamilton did not give back enough of an advantage. What complete nonsense. Where does it say in the rules how much advantage has to be given back other than giving back any places gained? He clearly and deliberately gave back the place and when they crossed the start/finish line he was clearly behind Raikkonen and 6kph slower. What was he supposed to do, come to a complete halt and park it for a while? Some have said that he retained the upper hand because the shortcut gave him an advantageous racing line but again that can be seen to be complete nonsense if one watches the footage. Even IF he gained a better racing line as a result of the incident the point is that he had to cut the corner to avoid hitting Raikkonen - who squeezed him out - and he then abided by the rules by immediately handing the place back.
Quite by chance I happened to meet an official FIA steward the other night and for him there was absolutely no doubt that this was a non-incident and a ridiculous decision by the stewards in Belgium.
I sincerely hope this is resolved quickly and that this totally unjustified penalty is withdrawn. To have such great, exciting racing end on a such a sour note as this is a huge disappointment. Once again the FIA has seriously damaged Formula 1. When will they learn? Or is it intentional? GP1 anybody???
John Mak - Auckland, New Zealand
I have been a fan since 1967 and clearly remember Bruce McLarens victory at Spa 40 years ago even thought all I could do at the time is read it in print
I cannot remember the last time I have not seen a GP live on TV even though I have to get up at midnight New Zealand time.
Soon Bernie will be denying the pleasure of watching a few grand prixs that coincide well with local time by insisting on night races and deferring the starts of other races so Europe doesn't have to get up at unsocial hours to watch what one of the world greatest sports was or should I say businesses.
But worse still Ferrari runs the FIA. No wonder Max was set up!!!
I for one am not a Hamilton fan but as soon as Ferrari are up against it in the drivers or constructors out come the stewards. What a hollow constructor's championship 2007 was?
I wonder how much Ferrari is paying them.
Now the 25seconds is interesting as Heidfield was 24secs behind at the finish
Looks like I will be sleeping well from now on
Max, Bernie, even though you weren't involved at his level 41 years ago
So long. Been nice knowing you!!!!
Mick Symes
Hamilton gained the advantage through no fault of his own, ceeded it back, then made a move, the world saw that for what it was great driving, if michael had done that every one would have said what a great driver, massa could take an example from the maestro, refuse to exchage trophies with lewis.
That said the stewards have seriously brought the sport into disrepute, quite frankly watch the pits on any racedays, the spies are openly outside each others pits, libido, we would only worry if somebody hadnt got it, the pit lane (and other)popsies etc are part and parcel of the sport.
Bad marshalling and/or bad steward decisions are serious problems that affect the sport, in this case the stewards have made decision that for incredulity ranks along side rubens being told to step on the brake and be passed, in that event the maestro knew what to do with the trophy, I believe it cost him $50.000 dollars in an FIA fine, fillipe stood on the correct step on the podium.
Rob O'Connor
There's a constant drip drip of events that suggest this so called sport is rigged. This is a particularly large drip! I love F1 and have done since the 70s, but over the last 8 years or so my patience has been tested to the limit. I'll persist until the end of the season but I don't really see myself continuing to watch after that. Life goes on and F1 is just becoming a waste of a weekend.
Rob Selby - Buckinghamshire
I watch very few Grand Prix these days for obvious reasons but my dying enthusiasm for F1 was rekindled after Sundays race, absolutely mind blowing, real racers giving 110 % proper stuff. Raikonen used all the road at the bus stop to ensure Hamilton had to take evasive action. Hard but that's racing, so Hamilton just made the best recovery he could keeping in mind that as he 'cut' the corner to avoid a collision with the red car, he knew he had to make sure the he was behind it as he crossed the line simple. Gutsy and superb outbraking at the hairpin, fantastic stuff. Then a few officials turn the F1 circus sour.
You cannot have the same stewards at every race that would create its own problems; it's the selection of the stewards that needs to be investigated. Who are they, what's their history how long were their racing careers how many races did they win, at what level did they race, and did they race themselves? You need stewards with a mindset like Niki Lauda, he sees things as they are and says so regardless of politics.
There is another way to ensure fairness for all, repaint all the cars red!
Phil Edwards
An absolute disgrace and a grave disservice to a wonderful race and a wonderful sport.
We finally get an all time classic with everything we all crave to have, the outcome of the championship tainted through crass stupidity. I've followed the sport for 30 years and witnessed some ridiculous decisions; this is a SCANDAL that needs to be urgently resolved in favour of lewis if the sport is to salvage any credibility in it's decision making process.
It's an outrage that drives a hardened fan to question why bother!
Matt Green
1 - Yes, there should be a panel that includes recent drivers, managers and maybe journalists
2- Yes, of course offences should carry a fixed tariff unless somebody is suggesting that traffic Police Offices also make up the punishment depending on the colour of your car.
3 - Yes, of course the podium ceremony should have been delayed, it need only have taken 30 minutes tops.
4 - Who are they kiding with this decision. The same FIA who allowed Schumacher to win a race in the pitlane on a drive through, the same FIA who allowed Hakkinen to drive at full throttle passed waived yellows in qualifying because he waived back and yet the punish Hamilton for NOT breaking any rule. These are not referees who have to decide in a split second, these unbiased, sports minded individuals have the benefit of hindsight (when they are allowed to use it)
Jack Griggs
Like most followers of F1, I still find it hard to believe that the Stewards (so called Experts?!!) found Hamilton guilty of any offence let alone punish him. No one will convince me now that the FIA and all the hangers on are not in the pay of Ferrari. You can be sure that had the boot been on the other foot then nothing would have been said. Now we here that McLaren will probably not be able to appeal because of yet another "article". This is crazy and unfair. In any other situation in law you are allowed to appeal. This may be the time to take the rule book to the European Court to check it´s validity. I have followed F1 since 1960 and never before have I seen such biased decisions. The time has come to leave F1 to it´s own almost certain demise, I would suggest that Hamilton would also be better off leaving as well and giong to the USA where he would get a fair crack of the whip. I speak to F1 followers all round the world, some are ardent Ferrari followers, and not one of them can believe what is happening. I am afraid that the rot starts at the top, and the top is a man who seems to be on a mission to destroy the sport for whatever reason, namely Max Mosely.
Dan Turville
I have just finished reading the many pages of responses on this and feel that most people are missing the point, POLITICS. One must remember that the officials are essentially politicians and as such their decisions are mainly based on self interest and ambition. This seems to apply to many teams too, thinking that referring to opposition as "our main competitors" will gain some sort of competitive advantage as one example. It can only be down to the obscene amounts of money involved.
Whether there is bias for one team or against the other is difficult to judge as there seems to be no consistency in personnel or application of the vague rules. At least if there were a team of stewards that attended each race you would hope the rules would be applied in a consistent manner, though whether they were applied with bias or not could only be seen retrospectively.
Corrine Giffin
I'm a fairly new F1 devotee (about 5 years) and have learnt an awful lot since the days when I thought drivers just drove round and round in circles.
I've also learnt that if you drive a red car or are a member of a red team you can do what you like, however, if you dont, or aren't, then woe betide you. If Ferrari win this year, then they won unfairly. Massa fined for dangerous pit release, Senna penalised. Raikkonen gets away scott free for shunting Sutil, Lewis penalised for giving him the place back and then rightfully regaining it?
I was at Spa last year - waving my McLaren flag and cheering Alonso and Lewis (despite the boos from the crowd) and will continue to support you. Although I have to say that even on race day it looked a lot quieter people wise than last year.... The fans are turning away in droves - do the FIA not care? Please - do the decent thing and overturn this ridiculous penalty. Get a team of advisors with at least some knowledge and experience of motorsport that know the ropes - that can make sensible, unbiased decisions.
McLaren - I implore you - don't drop the appeal. I cant help thinking that this is what the FIA expect, for you to put up and shut up. This is one of the most ridiculous penalties I have ever seen, please don't let it lie.
Jennie Crosier
Hamilton received a 25s penalty because he gained an advantage from cutting the chicane. He is not the only driver to receive this particular penalty after a race. Fisichella was awarded a 25s penalty after the German GP this year for unlapping himself, while Liuzzi had a 25s penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag at Japan in 2007. This is not unusual and F1 is not the only sport to change results after an event, though due to the complicated and inherently complex nature of F1 there are more occasions when it is needed. In the Olympics for instance results were overturned for drug infringements and in the Taekwondo because the judges had not seen a point scoring kick.
F1 has at least, since I have been watch used post race penalties for many infringements, be it fuel irregularities, crashes, illegal overtaking, weight irregularities to name but a few. If it could not do this than drivers and teams would go unpunished. The 25s penalties are usually used when a drivethough could not be given as the incident happened too close to the end of the race or was not noticed until after.
I have never had a problem with penalties and result changes happening after a race and generally do not count a result until I have checked the news and results on a Monday morning.
As for the accusations that McLaren and Lewis in particular are being unduly punished this year, there does not appear to be the evidence to back that up.
The 10 grid slot penalty he received for the France GP due to jumping the red light and coursing and accident at Canada this year, was not unjustified. Rosberg was also awarded the penalty for the same offence, yet he acknowledged he was in the wrong and accepted the penalty. It was not the first time a penalty for ignoring the red light in the pitlane had been handed out. Barrichello was disqualified for jumping the red light in Australia this year. They could not disqualify Hamilton or Rosberg as they had removed themselves from the race, therefore a 10 grid slot penalty was not overly harsh.
In addition, there is the fact that Lewis and Heikki only got given a 5 grid slot penalty for holding other drives up during the end of qualifying in Malaysia.
While last year in Hungary Alonso was awarded a 10 grid slot penalty for holding his team mate up in the pits during qualifying. Though neither of these is anything when compared to the penalty awarded to one Michael Schumacher at Monaco in 2006. He was sent to the back of the grid for crashing at the end of qualifying.
Then there are the comments that Ferrari gets away with violations. Specifically the pitlane incident at Valencia. Massa was awarded a 10,000 Euro fine.
Pitlane incidents seem to be dealt with using fines, so there was nothing unusual in this. For example Trulli driving down the pitlane with his rear jack still attached in Australia during qualifying received a 2,000 Euro fine.
Heikki breaching the fuel rules during qualifying at Hockenheim received a 5,000 Euro fine. Then there was Raikkonen, while at McLaren fined $10,000 for refusing to give way to Montoya in the pitlane during Brazil GP in 2004. This was a similar amount for a similar offence to Massa's, therefore nothing for anyone to question about Ferrari's penalty.
I do however think it would be good to have standard penalties so everyone knows what's what. Also using the same stewards at each race would eliminate the possibilities of the mass media getting their knickers in a twist and inadvertently misinforming there audience.
Jon Yard
I think we should just get over it.
I agree with Massa's reflections that although Lewis did hand back the lead and lift he still gained an advantage from being close enough to slipstream and overtake rather than fully give up the place and go for it again later on when it was clear his advantage was growing corner by corner due to the changing weather conditions.
It is like on of those "hand of god" footballing moments that the eventual loser (whichever way the decision goes) will always complain about and the winner will always breathe a sigh of relief over.
Why is it so often Ferrari who are in this position. I'm not a Ferrari fan but they are at the front. If it was Force India racing against Mclaren at the front the row would be the same only the teams would be changed (think Benetton (Schumacher) versus Williams (Hill) a few years ago).
Alhussein El-Shennawy
I do think that Lewis Hamilton drove in Belgium one of his best races to date.But I do however disagree with all opinions that Hamilton's penalty was not legitimate...
When Hamilton cut the chicane he did not slow down, but on the contrary he pushed very hard out of the Chicane and drove parallel to Kimi almost till the start-fininsh line before he lift off the throttle. And he did not even leave a remarkable margine... to finally outpace the Ferrari before La Source. All this shows the definite advantage Hamilton got through cutting the chicane. Kimi on the other hand was not smart enough to brake a little more to underline the advantage Hamitlon got! I saw the video of the last 2 laps 10 times and what I am saying is very obvious.And the FIA rules are very clear,too.
"The only exception is when the penalty is awarded during the final five laps of the race. In this case the driver may continue and complete the race. However, 25 seconds will be added to his total race time, which may drop him considerably in the final race standings."
As a matter of fact,I also do not think that Kimi's title struggle is over. With 5 races to go and 50 points ready to be taken,the championship is still a triple fight and far from being over!
Marc Leigh – Essex
We have seen in the past in races that drivers have done the same even worse and got no penalty.
Hungry 2006 Pedro was passing MS, MS cut the chicane to keep his place no penalty.
Italy 2005 Kimi cut the chicane gave the place back to Alonso and then passed again at the next corner again no penalty.
Japan 2005 Alonso passed Klien after cutting the chicane, gave the place back and passed straight away. He gave the place back again but was later informed he did not need to.
Yes Lewis cut the corner Kimi was driving like a man who did not care if he took Lewis out, had Lewis broke on the wet track he could have locked his brakes. He gave the place back and was going slower than Kimi. Its is not Lewis fault that Kimi went in front then broke way to early for the 1st corner, it was like he tricked him.
Did the pass change the outcome of the race no! kimi got the lead back and spun it away again.
As soon as they said investigation it was clear Lewis would get a penalty.
If any penalty should be given it should be a 5 place grid drop at the next race.
Paul Sheather - Sydney Australia
I haven't actually watched the full race yet. Heard about it and wondered if I would be bothered to watch it. Checked out the part of the race where Lewis takes Kimi and the end of the race. Fabulous racing. What a true F1 fan wants to see. Yes, I'm a McLaren fan - a Lewis fan as well. I also happen to be a Kimi Raikkonen fan as well. He was a McLaren driver after all. I'd say the same thing if it was Kimi given the penalty - it's a dumb decision. I wouldn't expect a real champion to have handled it any differently. Let the guy pass and then pass him straight back. Don't know if I will end up watching the whole race to be honest. Might do if McLaren go ahead with and win the appeal. (Yeah, I know - I'm not going to see the race...) Will I watch the rest of the season? Yeah, I will. I want to see Lewis win the WDC and would not be able to stand it if I stopped watching and missed that. Do I believe that F1 is much of a sport anymore? Could I argue it to anyone? Not really. Too much intrigue, too little genuine competition. I for one am very sad to say it...
Scott Newth
What an awesome race! Great overtaking, excellent injection of rain towards the end, some great driving, some awful driving, and some controversy to boot. Everything you would expect of F1 and the reason I watch religiously every sunday night at midnight till 2 am monday morning. Sure, all the Lewis fans might be crying boo hoo, but this is the reason the stands are packed and the tv's are on and why your website is probably getting more hits than usual right about now.
I love F1!
Herman Nicolai
In regards the whole affair in Spa, I would like to share you my thoughts about this...
I believe that a big part of the outrage comes from the feeling that a wonderful race has been ruined. I fully agree. I am a Ferrari fan so I was obviously disappointed after the race. But nevertheless I witnessed a stunning finale of a race. Wonderful. And also as a Ferrari fan, I'm not happy with the decision to give a penalty to Hamilton. Nobody wants to win like this. But.... should it matter at all how a race can be ruined ? If a penalty IS just, shouldn't it be given anyway, regardless of whether it FEELS just or not?
Now let's look at the incident. In my opinion, Kimi was defending his position hard (but legal) in the chicane. He had the inside of the corner so he could defend his position. Lewis had 2 options: lift or take the shortcut. If he would have lifted he would have lost some time and would have been unable to overtake Kimi at La Source. (Of course, he would then have overtaken him within half a lap, no doubt about that.) Since he took the shortcut Lewis didn't loose any time. In my opinion he did not fully give up the advantage that he gained by taking the shortcut. He drove for seconds along side Kimi, briefly lifted, and slotted very close behind him. Something that he would not have been able to do if he would have lifted in the chicane. Therefore he used the advantage that he gained by taking the shortcut.
Now the reason that the penalty feels so unjust is because in the end it didn't matter. Lewis would have overtaken Kimi anyway, and in the end Kimi even retired. But I think that this should not matter for the penalty. The fact that a beautiful race with lots of overtaking is ruined is (although true) not relevant.
Now I do agree that we need a regular panel of stewards and that McLaren should have been informed correctly during the race that the stewards did not think that Lewis gave up the advantage enough.
Mark Didcott
The FIA constantly appears to shoot itself in the foot. I have attended every FIA WTCC race for the past three years and they are worse there. Just look at the mid season WTCC rule changes and the utterly stupid way they dealt with Tarquini after he punted off Priaulx the weekend before F1 at Spa.
After we all saw Hamilton win at Spa fair and square we are then led to understand that there was an infringement resulting in a 25 second penalty for Hamilton! Why is it that this was such a surprise to the viewing public? Why is it that pretty much everybody at Spa acknowledged Hamilton's win after the race? It appears that the stewards and organisers "see" things regularly. This normally results in the championship race being much closer and more exciting at the end. Were they watching the same race as the rest of us or do they see it in a different light? Could this be an effort to keep the ratings up by making it a closer race for the championship? This is most definitely their intention at the WTCC races where they want the competition to be open until the end. This is why they change the technical rules regularly at WTCC. They are quite open about it. Why would they view the premier event (F1) any differently? They might not state it publicly and they can't change the rules like they do at WTCC or give weight breaks but they can change the race outcome by "seeing" an infringement! How much would the viewing figures suffer if it looked like one driver was running away with the championship? Notice that no matter how boring the racing is, though it is better now, the championship race usually goes to the line each year.
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.... What if the stewards and race officials were in some way independent of the FIA and actually impartial?
Paul Cajka - Sarasota, FL
I think I know another meaning for the FIA acronym - Fools & Idiots Anonymous. Lewis and Kimi were racing in the wet conditions on dry tires. Lewis took the best course of action. What else could he do? Stuff his car into the Ferrari & Williams causing a three or more car pileup? Go darting off to the right with possibly a crash into the Armco over there as a result? Both moves would have given the race to Massa, too, and even a podium for Alonso.
After this bit of review of results, is it any wonder that NASCAR mostly ignores the FIA, not to mention other series? ONLY the FIA could turn a classic F1 race finish into an administrative muddle.
Edward Granado - Los Angeles
How do I feel… What do I think…
I am sickened by what these people have done to the sport I have loved for 30 years… I have committed much time and energy into supporting and sharing the wonder that is F1 racing with every one I know... & again I am left with a hollow sad realization that it is all BullShit as apparently race results are basically null untill the FIA issues its approval. What destroys my faith in this sport is the way these issues are largely accepted FIA behavior the FIA's poerformance would have the entire lot at the FIA tossed out if it was a proper company Vs a cabal of Ferarri minded biased self serving lemmings
WHAT kind of 'sport' is this where The Result is not The Result until.. when??? how many days after a race do we have to wait until we know the FIA are satisfied with the result and the result will stand??
Most people felt that the Massa penalty was very conveniently light last race as are most ferrari penalties, but we understood the value of not leaving it to the decision of a post race inquiry…better to have a result we can all sleep on & live with Vs change it later and leave every one hanging. Still, very conveneient for Massa how it all worked out... Then, in the VERY NEXT RACE Mclaren are robbed of one of the best race victories of the year with a ridiculous, contrived and highly suspect investigation & decision, much less a penalty conveniently large enough to impact Mclaren/Lewis heavily as well as benefit Ferraris main title contender spectacularly.
NO ONE believes Lewis was in error, NO One believes Lewis won due to any advantage. NO ONE believes the FIA is fair and unbiased when the penalties for offenses by Ferrari get slaps on the wrist or less & the slightest mistake by Mclaren even when they ad dress the obvious infraction immediately, is cause for draconian post race Championship impacting action as only the FIA can dish out.
Here's a question the Sponsors might like to hear. WHY should fans bother watching the races when we won't actually know how it ends by watching.? We might as well just catch the eve. sports shows or just check in on line for hte hilights & results ... a few days after the race of course to be sure it is actually finished. Thus, I have no need for BS racing series OR their sponsors do i??.
What do I think?… I think F1 has taken the top rung in totally worthless sports that used to be amazing to follow and watch but now means NOTHING given the situation with this governing body. The winner of the race is NOT the best. The Champion is not the BEST, they are merely the ones who were allowed to win this year while the FIA screws over every one else they compete with.
The FIA World Championship for Drivers and Constructors is literally WORTHLESS thanks to the FIA . It is all a shoddy made for TV show for entertainmentonly since the result can change any time the FIA want in what ever way they want. They did it last year with Mcaren & Ferrari & the constructors world Championship & they did it again yesterday again favoring Ferrari Vs Mclaren.
I AM the very epitome of a Formula ONE Freak… I get up at 4 am here in Los angeles to watch PRACTICE … much less Quali & the races…. i have bene doing it for 20+ years... but I AM OUT Unless the FIA make it known that:
1. they are going to OVERTURN this BULLSh*t Stewards ruling immediately
2. they are going to implement PROPERLY TRAINED Stewards with MOTORSPORT experience or involvement, A small group of consistent people with the experience to UNDERSTAND RACING Vs being over-privileged & biased FANS
chris woodger
Im a williams fan and thus, even though im english, i have no bias towards Hamilton at all, nor any for Kimi.
im in the minority who think the penalty is just, if he got a drive through for the same offence 10 laps into the race the fuss wouldnt even be half of this. He had to skip the chicane to aviod t-boning kimi, (but shud he have got himself in the situation to t-bone him anyway..... could he have left it and lived to overtake later on which seemed highly likley given his speed) but he should have lifted more. Skipping the apex may not have gained him a place but it DEFINATLEY helped him get in an area to overtake.
Had kimi skipped the chicane to defend his position all of britain (well f1 educated or not) would be going mental, a partisan crowd if u would.
People want consistansy with the rules then maybe you should try remembering the past before crucifying the stewards.
Japan 2005 alonso overtakes klien by skipping chicane, gives place back only to duck straight back into slipstream and get palce back: result a drive through.
The stewards had to do what they did otherwise they would be penalising alonso unfairly. But no tabloid would dedicate 3 pages to that would they... Its cruel to hamilton but surely he knows the rules??? sillyboy
Brian Furzer
I already sent you my views - straight after Sunday. By asking for fixed tariffs etc., etc. you're inferring that Lewis was (or could have been) offending. We all saw that he used his head in view of earlier "transgressions" and backed off to allow Raikkonen through. The fact that Raikkonen then crashed out meant that there was absolutely no advantage that could possibly have been gained by Hamilton. This is in spite of the fact that he took the lead fair and square! The whole affair is disgraceful and disgusting.
Do you really think that Mosley will overturn that decision and then go to Italy and face Ferrari fans!?
Come off the grass, Hamilton will have to continue heading into the headwind to progress whilst Ferrari have a tailwind. We all know who the real F1 champion was last year. If Ferrari hadn't operated their pit stop strategy in the last race to the advantage of Raikkonen then Massa would have won the race and Hamilton would have been World Champion. I honestly don't know why I watched it this year after that fiasco and I'm thinking that it isn't worth the effort (certainly not all the bloody adverts!).
Another point, Mosley is a trained barrister and has spent most of his life in motor racing so if he hasn't influenced anything up to now - what do you think he'll do?
Ainslie Ensor - Somerset, England
It's a difficult one – it was certainly one of the best races in recent times and the last 5 laps were truly electrifying. Despite the early glitch I believe Hamilton deserved to win.
However, as I watched the action at the chicane I felt that when Hamilton let Raikkonen back into the lead and then overtook him almost immediately it looked a little too much like one flowing move which suggests that he had not lost momentum which in turn suggests that the "advantage gained" from cutting the chicane remained. If this is the case the penalty is correct. If the telemetry shows otherwise it is incorrect.
The problem is that if this had been earlier in the race Hamilton would have had to serve the drive through (or be black flagged) and the result on the road would have stood – it is only because it was the last lap that we have got into this situation.
The irony I that if Hamilton had waited a few more second s, he would have overtaken the Ferrari and won with no dispute. If he had remained second he would have ended up with more points for the championship.
Best possible outcome – the 2008 championship is decided by a greater margin that the points now in dispute – worst possible outcome – championship is decided in a court of appeal.
Once again FI hits the headlines for all the wrong reasons. If they are not careful they will wake up one day and find no one any long cares and show is over!!!
Mark Hilton
Oh why do we bother to spend 2 or 3 Hours in front of the TV when we can watch the Highlights in the evening and find out the FIA's DECIDED result of the race we all so enjoyed watching.
In Valencia we saw Ferrari's Felipe Massa being investigated for an unsafe release in the pits on lap 37, normally you would expect him to get a drive through penalty however, presumably the Stewards were in the bar or having dinner so they couldn't decide until after the 57 lap race????? After considerable deliberation it seems they found him not guilty and therefore fined him 10,000 Euros????
A serious accident and maybe deaths in the pit lane will happen soon.
Hamilton's move in the race at Belgium seems totally legitamate and was supposedly officially confirmed by the FIA as okay at the time, so why change the result?
If the Stewards do change results after a race they should provide a fully detailed statement through the media explaining their reasons so we get a better understanding of what they mean and to stop the conspiracy theories.
Francisco Tamayo - USA
I can say 10,000 things about what happened, but, I guess the main point is asking, why on earth are we surprised about what happened?
We have an individual (if he can even be called that way) that is the perfect image of corruption heading this association that "rules" F1 and doing as he pleases, ALWAYS (well, not always, sometimes he gets the orders from the red phone). Yes, you Ferrari fans, before you start crying and pointing your team's "greatness", you should remember how your mafia team has won ALL of his championships in the last 10 years. There has not been ONE SINGLE season where they haven't pulled one of their indecencies to the sport (either by monopolizing a tyre that gave them 5 titles - yes, it was the tyre, not the engine, not their diva driver Schumacher, and not their apparent reliability, which has gone to the trash when they have really been pushed to race), asking the FIA to disqualify drivers or teams, cheating (oh, countless, countless occasions), etc. etc. etc. (and don't even ask to prove... if you want prove, just watch the last 10 seasons race by race and read on the internet).
It bothers me that Ron Dennis doesn't understand that, PLAIN SIMPLE, his team WON'T win either a constructor's or driver's championship as long as Mosley is heading the FIA. AS SIMPLE AS THAT. Actually, let me rephrase, his team WON'T BE ALLOWED to win, because last year they won both championships fair and square (whether people want to admit it or not, that's a different story, but we should ask Mr. Brawn about the plans of those 2 employees that were going to go to Honda to work for him, and how Todt - one of the biggest disgraces to the sport ever to walk the paddock - took advantage of something that every team in F1 do every season).
This is a very, very well thought plan. Several years of cynical effort were put into his by these "monkeys". First, they want to screw Hamilton as much as they can so that he gets annoyed and leaves McLaren. Yeah, their wildest dream is to steal him from McLaren. The good news is that they also want one of the other biggest disgraces to happen to the sport to race for them: Mr. Alonso, a driver with so huge talent but so amazingly dissapointing as a person and as sportsman that he has surpassed Schumacher as the dirtiest figure to race an F1 car, which is quite an accomplishment to be honest. Go ahead Ferrari, please hire Mr. Fernando. He will destroy your team in 2 seasons, and it will make us, the REAL fans of racing, VERY happy to see that you are getting a dose of your own "spaghetti".
Mosley wants to destroy Dennis. They have their little battle going on, and I don't understand why Dennis doesn't understand that Mosley won't stop at any price. The solution is not for Dennis to step down, because as long as Mosley is in charge, McLaren are doomed. The solution is very simple: for all the fair teams in F1 that actually like RACING and not to win races on championships on the basis of accusing every other team and crying every single race because their cars or drivers are incompetent, to leave F1 and form a new form of racing completely independent of this joke association that is the FIA.
F1 does NOT need the FIA at all, and does NOT need Ecclestone either. With the amount of money they generate, they can have a great championship all over the world ruled by fair standards. Of course, this would mean Ferrari wouldn't be around, since fairness and their name are like water and oil. So, a new championship devoid of all the corruption and mafia of the reds and the "monkeys" is what we really need.
In the meantime, I don't care what these "individuals" do, and how much they penalize McLaren (or any other team that can threaten the championships that Ferrari claims every year and which yield millions of dollars in revenue, some of which is used for "kind gifts" in the form of Fiorano 599 cars for the FIA delegates every year). Remember all the shenanigans against Renault when they were humilliating the reds?
So, in the bookds of the FIA it is already sealed and arranged how many championships Ferrari will win. In the books of every REAL RACING FAN around the world, Ferrari hasn't won a championship in over 25 years, and won't win one this season either. As simple AS THAT.
Kenzie Endo - USA
I've been following F1 since 1970. The past several years have tried my patience and love for the sport. If perception is indeed reality then F1 is completely adrift. Love of money and power, not to mention sheer arrogance without regard for the fans have irreparably spoiled F1.
Anthony Helman - East Sussex
I am so incensed by the decision of the FIA that I hardly know where to begin. We all suffered a truly boring European GP, the only excitement coming from the Massa "unsafe release" episode, for which Ferrari was given the customary slap on the wrist, followed by one of the most exciting races I have seen for years. Then the FIA step in to ruin it by once again showing just how biased they are. I am sure had a Ferrari driver made the move that Hamilton made they would probably have awarded some bonus points. The points difference between first and second don't really encouraged a driver to go the extra mile as it is, so when we get a fantastic end to a race it should be encouraged not discouraged. I would really like F1 to break away from the FIA as they are not fit for purpose. If Ferrari and/or Massa win championships as a result of this affair it will be a hollow victory and devalue F1 forever.
Sam Gacka - Michigan, USA
First, I want to say that the final few laps of the race last Sunday were spectacular. Being a lifelong fan of motorsports, the battle between Kimi and Lewis was something to behold. As a supporter of Ferrari, my heart sank when I saw his car slide off the road and into the barrier, however one should not forget that the end of the race would not have been nearly as spectacular had both Kimi and Lewis not continued to fight as hard as they did for those closing laps.
I am first and foremost a fan of Formula 1, and as a fan of Formula 1 I was heartbroken after hearing that Lewis had been given a penalty for his failed attempt to overtake Kimi at the bus stop chicane. It put a bit of a sour note on the end of what was otherwise one of the best races of the year. That being said, I knew immediately after seeing the incident that he would ultimately receive a penalty for this action.
Without question, Hamilton did get an advantage by short cutting the chicane. Yes, there was the obvious advantage, gaining a position, which he correctly gave back to Kimi on the following straight. However, one must say that after his overtaking maneuver was unsuccessful, had he stayed on the track, he could not possibly have been close enough on the following straight to make the second move ... which would constitute an advantage. Consider if there been a wall or gravel trap at that particular corner, he would not have been able to overtake the Ferrari at La Source. This fact is indisputable. Hamilton should have waited until after La Source before trying to overtake again in my opinion, however I will be the first to admit that in the heat of a race ... I probably would not have had the presence of mind to wait either.
For me, the problem is that the rules are written in an extraordinarily ambiguous way. In my opinion this is done on purpose, so that the rules are in some ways fluid enough to be able to cope with situations that come up but were not conceived when the regulations were written. The consequence to this is, of course, that the regulations can be interpreted very differently by very different people. This is unacceptable, especially considering the impact it could have on the result of the championship.
Consider these two excerpts from the regulations that Lewis was in breach of.
Excerpt from the 2008 Formula 1 Sporting Regulations:
30.3 a) During practice and the race, drivers may use only the track and must at all times observe the provisions of the Code relating to driving behavior on circuits.
Expert from the 2008 FIA International Sporting Code: Appendix L
4.2.g) The race track alone shall be used by the drivers during the race.
The word "advantage" is not even found in the official text of the rules. So one can conclude that Hamilton did not use the track ... however this opens a whole new can of worms, because virtually every other driver left the track at some point during the weekend. So how do you distinguish which offense is punishable and which is OK ... or do you punish everyone ...
I believe that for all intents and purposes, the rule has been paraphrased to say:
A driver must use the track at all times during the race. If a driver should leave the track, he must re-enter as soon as it is safe, and without gaining an advantage.
In this situation what constitutes an advantage???
I submit that there is no person on this planet who can be truly objective in this matter (myself included) ... Funny, everyone from the British public / press thinks that McLaren and Lewis are the target of some sort of vendetta by the FIA, while everyone from the Italian public / press seems to think it was absolutely the correct decision. Elsewhere, fans of Ferrari feel vindicated while fans of McLaren feel robbed. Of course I am generalizing, but to a certain extent everyone is correct and no one is correct all at the same time. People's decisions are rarely based on objective, sensible and logical thought, but
instead, passion is allowed to rule. Instead of having a calm rational discussion,
I think that people should give the stewards more credit, because their job is actually a lot harder than most people are willing to admit. I would also wager that given the opportunity almost no-one would want that level of responsibility ... and most of those who would ... would want it for the wrong reasons.
I think everyone should keep in mind that we were not privy to the information / instructions provided to the drivers in their briefing. Or any other special instructions for this race provided by race control. Perhaps there was some particular comment made about that corner based on something that happened in one of the support races or last year's race, and that is why the stewards seemed to take such a keen interest in what was going on at that corner. It is likely if that is the case it would have come out by now. However it is something to consider.
One thing that I'm surprised no one has admitted yet is that this is the second time this season that Lewis Hamilton has been penalized for cutting the track. He was given a drive through penalty in France for an eerily similar offense (trying to overtake someone around the outside of a chicane). To me, it seems that the FIA are quite consistent in applying their penalty, two identical offenses & two identical penalties.
I would also like to address the notion by some that the penalty was meaningless because Kimi ended up not finishing the race. This is completely ridiculous on a number of accounts. First, if you break the rules, it doesn't matter at what time during the race, or what happens to your competitors, you still have to pay the price. What if this happened on the 10th lap of the race? Should a penalty judgment be withheld until the end of the race just to see if one of the cars would not finish the race? Secondly, you cannot say that either driver would have driven the same way had their original positions been maintained. Perhaps kimi would have driven less aggressively with Hamilton still behind him ... and perhaps Hamilton would have gone off trying desperately to pass Kimi at. You cannot say, and the only acceptable option is to penalize the guilty party according to the regulations.
For the people who claim that this 'controversy' marks the end of their love affair with F1 I have to ask why. I know many people who have been saying that for years. At every controversy ... "I can't follow this anymore, it's not a sport" ... however they still show up at the pub for the next race ... and the race after that. My opinion is that they love the controversy because it gives them something to talk about. I seriously doubt that this will have any lasting impact on the face of the sport regardless of the final outcome. The sport will move on, just as it always does. If I am wrong, then I guess I have underestimated the fortitude of the average F1 fan. In one way of thinking it could be good for the sport ... after all, Bernie always says that there is no such thing as "bad" publicity ...
Finally regarding the FIA bias towards Ferrari, I hate it. As a fan of Ferrari, there are times when decisions are made (in favor of Ferrari) that I do not agree with. However, I do think that many people are hyper-sensitive toward this sort of thing. I think that the outrage over this would be a lot less if Ferrari were not the second party involved. Especially considering the virtual nonevent of Hamiltons penalty in France ... but I digress. I desperately want to point to the stop watch and be able to say ... we are faster, but it is not always the case. It is unacceptable for any kind of bias to exist in this process, and I think the FIA would do it's self a huge service if it made the process a little more open so that the general public could understand why certain decisions were made.
The above is my opinion and my opinion alone. Even if I know it will not be a popular opinion. I do not intend to offend anyone, and certainly not to instigate some sort of electronic altercation. My only aim is to present an alternative way of looking at the situation to inspire a healthy rational discussion.
Warran Mavrodaris
Words cannot describe how infuriated I am with F1 at the moment. There are top class drivers out there, willing to give it their all, and yet it seems you need a really good Lawyer to win a race. I say we scrap F1 altogether, Put the drivers in Touring cars and let them rip their competitors wing mirrors off... BTCC and WTC are so much more entertaining and their seems their is almost no visible politics involved in the sport. SPA has always been the iconic race venue for F1, I remember the 16 something car pile up and Jordan winning their first race. If that had happened on Sunday, we would still be waiting for the courts to decide who one the race.
I say let all F1 drivers drive like touring car drivers, and let them get on with it. Racing is about risk and passion, Max my dear boy, you seemed to have killed all that, (Well in F1 at least)
Kerby Simon
The penalty against Hamilton is Spa is a disgrace and is frankly an embarrassment to F1. This was the most exciting lap in an F1 race in years.
If drivers are to be penalised in this way then there is no future for the sport.
This is a sport that I used to love. I brought my kids up watching it too, now they don't bother because, I their words, it is "boring". Personally, I just feel it is corrupt from the top (Bernie and Max).
Malcom Hewitt
Hmm hard to know where to start, I wonder how many people would be voicing distaste if the roles had been reversed and it benfited Hamilton, F1 has always been the same.
I haven't seen many people voicing opinion about Hamilton hitting Raikkonen in the pits the other week or his arrogance and habit of tripping over his tongue, yet everyone had something to say when Raikkonen lost it at Monaco.
Seems to me more sour grapes against Ferrrari and because the FIA wont bend to "British" public opinion.
What Max Mosely does in his spare time does not concern me and I don't want to read or hear about it, especially as the girl concerned admited in the end she was lying and being blackmailed by the newspaper, are we going to start delving into all the drivers, mechanics, journalists etc. etc. private lives?
I think the empty seats at the races is for 2 main reasons, good tv coverage and rising costs of flights, hotels and tickets to attend.
As far as I am concerned nothing has changed in the 30 odd years I have been following F1 except that it is more exciting now than it has been for the last decade.
Lets not forget the McLaren days of Senna and his cheating, and the fact that Ron Dennis spends more time in the stewards office than any other team manager, bitching and whining when things don't go his way and has done since the Senna days and that he only held his hand up last year because Allonso threatened to tell all, otherwise he would have been happy to carry on cheating and putting both his drivers careers at stake, and nobody complained that Alonso wasn't penalised last year even though he knew about the cheating.
Personally I think the biggest travesty in F1 today is ITV's decision to choose James Allen as the commentator despite a huge wave of public protest and the fact that Mark Blundell still hasn't fully grasped the english language.
As for the question as to how stewards should be picked, frankly it doesn't matter, whatever decisions they make will always upset someone.
Ah well on to Monza and lets hope Hamilton wins even though I am a Massa fan, I don't think I can stand another week of bitching Brits.
Trevor Wallis
I live in AUS followed F1 for 43 yrs. I have seen the sport go from being a celebration of skill and bravado to a game of whose has the power. FIA for last fifteen yrs has been too focused on being trying to be GOD and I think they are so jealous that others have the money. They have forgotten they are responsible for providing a sport which the fans want to attend, watch or follow.
In AUS the televised races are just the two hours and at a ridiculous time but for the years that it has been on TV, I rigorously watch it regardless of the necessity for sleep. Most major racing from Europe and USA is televised live and with at least one delayed broadcast but not F1, it is live only. As each sage goes by and the racing continues to be a procession with the only passing in the first lap, I find it more difficult to justify my F1 "attendance" but I live in hope that the glory days will return. Spa was living up to that but then..
I follow ALL forms of motor sport and after the F1 race I sat through the rest of the night watching Indy Racing live from Chicago. I know I will still get excited about the next race from USA, MotoGP, Superbike and others but F1; well if I have the time and there is nothing else on TV. Shame as it was the best by far.
Ed Beroset - North Carolina, USA
I had almost talked my wife and daughter into attending next year's F1 race at Spa, but we are, instead, going to go to Disney World. Our process in making that decision depended on far more than just the outcome at Spa, of course, but if I'm going to spend a wad of cash on a carefully stage-managed version of reality which has the underlying purpose of maximizing profit for the owning corporation, I'd expect, at least, for it to be done competently.
John Lynch - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
I watch all the races, no matter what time it's on. Here in OZ, normal race start (for Europe) is about 22:30.
Spa always produces a race worth watching. I make the effort to feel involved in the sport.
When I find-out the next day, that the results have now changed, I think, Why Do I Bother ???
I don't care what happens, the final result must stand. Delay the podium if they must, But the result must stand.
F1's becoming like the "America's Cup" Sailing. Where all decisions go through the courts.....& about as interesting....NOT !!!
Sid Geeder
I have watch F1 for about 30 years now, and also got involved in and raced in junior formulae over the years. But Sunday was pretty much the nail in the coffin - it doesn't matter to me if it is Hamilton or someone else; it is just silly when actual racing is not allowed any more.
F1 is a private club, but their ability to sustain the cashflow that funds that club depends on people like me actually watching the show. It is time to turn off F1; watching MotoGP instead, seems like a better option - with actual racing, as anyone who watching the MotoGP race from Laguna Seca will tell you.
This is how real it is: my boss has arranged for a 3 day trip from the UK to Singapore for the GP as a reward for performance, and I told him on Monday I'd prefer not to go the the GP - I would rather go scuba diving instead.
Abdul Hamid
There's Nothing wrong in the race, There's Nothing wrong with Hamilton & McLaren. The Only problems is Ferrari looking for "BLACK SHEEP" just because there's no more "team order" this season.
Was, Ferrari n' Schumi become champion with TEAM ORDER.
Now, when Schumi down & Ferrari have no more power, they only can LOOKING FOR MISTAKES From McLaren.
For me, F1 is become bored...
Stewards Decision is DISGUSTING...
Mark Hutchings
We can all argue as to if Lewis lifted enough, did he have an advantage into the next corner etc. The McLaren pit wall were also unsure if Lewis had done enough so they asked the FiA for clarification during the race and were told that Lewis would be ok with what he had done. I can not understand what else they were supposed to do!
Andrew D McKenzie
This is nonsense! What are they thinking about?
I would certainly like to see the last few laps again to be sure but I didn't see LH, or anyone else, doing anything wrong.
When LH gained a place by going off/cutting the corner he gave it back. He won fair and square after the most exciting few laps that we have seen in quite a while.
I missed some of the SBK races to watch the GP.
Won't happen again!
David Redfern
We can blame Jackie Stewart for this current fiasco. Now Jackie's a countryman of mine and I was his greatest fans in the 70's but his pursuit of safety in F1 has brought us to this current situation.
As safety got better on track and in car, drivers were encouraged to push their cars to higher speeds. Wings became more sophisticated and efficient, then the cars bodywork became a wing in itself and then there was ground effect. The sight of cars accelerating as they left the track and headed towards the scenery having lost their glue to the road surface finally put the nail in the coffin but not before the start of spin off development. At one time we had catch fencing for Gods sake… suicidal…. and fans recognised it as soon as we saw the first car going off but no one in the FIA could foresee a trapped driver being torched in his own car. Gravel traps were then the silver bullet until we recognised cars bouncing across them as though they weren't there. The recent ground effect is probably as effective as the original ground effect cars only it's thinly disguised because there are no visible skirts.
Now tarmac run off areas are being laid to ensure drivers have an opportunity to recover from their errant missile but as has been seen at Spa, they are going to be used as an extension of the track. Drivers will flaunt the rules until the FIA concentrate on another subject then they will start doing it again.
As for the rules, the FIA have backed themselves into a corner by allowing more extreme corner entry and higher corner speed. Circuits have had to create artificial chicanes to slow the cars down therefore more incidents occur that the FIA have to intervene on and make judgements with bureaucrats acting as judge and jury. Massa mentioned this week that the circumstances of giving back a position were frequently discussed at drivers meetings however the public are not privy to these meetings and the precise regulations/discussion agreements are not published for the publics scrutiny as far as I can gather. No wonder the public are leaving the sport in droves! The rules either need to be precisely defined for every circumstance (a practical impossibility) or areas of uncertainty need to be eliminated and consequently the need for subjective decisions will be reduced.
The 2009 regs are barely going to help, much like the ridiculous decision in MotoGP to reduce engine size to slow the bikes down was ill considered by more bureaucrats, they have realised that corner entry and ultimate corner speed has increased to the extent that the gravel traps are no longer sufficient to impede the progress of bikes and riders as they skim across the top…… sound familiar?
Much more needs to be done to reduce downforce and corner speed, reduce run off areas and ultimately remove stupid artificial chicanes that do nothing for the sport but introduce another area of rule bound uncertainty. Had their been a wall or an Armco at Spa Hamilton would not have put himself in the position he did. He was trying to force Raikkonen to give way and Raikkonen was equally determined not to give him room. Had there been an Armco at the second corner, Hamilton would have doubtless still have tried the long way round at the first corner but he would have had to give way if there was a solid barrier at the second bend. This cant be accomplished while cars can drive on the ceiling at 60mph and although the new regs may increase that to 70mph it's really not enough to ensure collision speeds are relative to road speeds and that cars aren't accelerating towards an obstacle as soon as the ground effect is lost.
The pursuit of the holy grail of F1 promotion, overtaking, ought to be abandoned, for as long as we have had the sport there have been dominant teams and drivers and it's the bold drivers that make the difference, Villneuve (father and son), Senna, Mansell and Hamilton to name but a few. Reducing downforce to almost nil would facilitate overtaking but it won't make it happen. What it will do though, is restore F1 to an intervention free competition, I don't know if there are any statistics on it but I would have a guess that Monaco is the place drivers are least likely to suffer the indignity of a drive through penalty and if the track was wider there would be more overtaking.
The F1 fans aren't upset at Lewis' penalty, they are upset at the inconsistency and apparent bias of the FIA's decisions and the FIA cant make consistent decisions because there are too many variables. Even with 'travelling' stewards if ambiguous situations occur there is room for misinterpretation of the rules and keeping the precise reason behind closed doors is treating the paying public with contempt.
F1 has a history of controversy, we will never get away from that but what we cant have is the FIA branded as corrupt any longer.
Andrew Eva
Having spent the weekend in Spa and invested in time and money to follow a sport I love, I feel incredibly cheated after what happened AFTER the race. During the race we experienced what is great and endearing about this sport and then to have the farce 30 minutes after the race left us the fans with the feeling of being cheated. Irrelavant of who you support (and I for one am not one Ferrari’s biggest fans) but did not feel any biase against the decision not to penalise Massa points for the pit-stop sham we were all left with the same feeling we have had for many years that there is most definitey a huge bias towards Ferrari.
I have been with F1 fans this weekend and everyone (including Ferrari fans) were left bemused by the events. One thing I can guarantee out of all this is F1 will be the loser, fans will vote with their feet. This is an expensive sport to support, we have a global credit crunch and people will not pay the money to follow a sport whereby events are not controlled by driver skill but by "faceless" individuals who are not interested in providing entertainment but by ensuring Ferrari are giving every assistance in winning.
I was due to go to Monza this weekend and guess what.... I have cancelled and believe me I am not alone
Also, Sunday evening in discussing with numerous F1 fans in Liege I couldn’t help thinking this was a lovely PR stunt for Mr Mosely’s trip to Monza this weekend.
Shane Pereira
I wonder how the current ‘F1 Race Stewards’ would have coped with the battle between Gilles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux in 1979 - their epic battle during the French GP?
Its so sad. The governing body (and the F1 fans) all want more wheel-to-wheel racing...is this possible considering the pathetic, untrustworthy, inconsistent stewardship of F1?
I’m not a Ferrari-hater or a Mclaren-lover.....I’m just a gutted F1 fan who feels the sport has been poisoned by too much politics, too many old personalities with too many grudges.
Chris Bassett - London
I no longer go out of my way to watch F1 on the TV. If I happen to be around a TV when it’s on, I’ll watch. If anyone else has something they want to see, or if there’s almost anything else to do, I can no longer be bothered fighting or changing plans to watch the grand prix.
BTCC, GP2, even the Ginetta series are more entertaining, and with younger drivers trying to prove themselves, or closer racing (or both) involved, they are far more likely to draw my attention.
It is a shame, because I used to enjoy the whole F1 spectacle, but there is very little spectacle left that isn’t a comedy of errors.
Phil Saudino
I'm not a Ferrari fan, nor a McLaren fan.
Here are some opinions on the matter:
1. I agree with the stewards decision. The rules state that the posistion must be given back, INCLUDING any other advantage. By cutting the corner, Hamilton was able to get on the gas faster than he otherwise would have were he to have followed Raikkonen through the corner. Massa's take on the event is accurate.
2. I would like to know how binding race controls' statements are because I feel for McLaren in that they checked to see if it was ok.
3. Massa nailed it on the head when he said... if Hamilton would have waited until the next stretch, that it might have been different. If the same decision would have been rendered by the stewards in that situation, then Hamilton fans would have a reason to be weary.
As it stands, I believe Hamilton fans are just being partisan.
Nigel Gamble - Ontario, Canada
I have been slowing going through the comments and very good they are. This morning I log on to pitpass and see the vote asks for "Who will win in Italy?"
Kind of mute now eh!
Ferrari even if both crash out.
John Sandro Rivas Murillo
As a die-hard, alarm clock on the bed table to wake up anytime anyday that F1 is on, I think this is all about the show they are destroying. We came from at boring race in the new circuit of Valencia, where after 90 minutes no safety cars (several where expected), no body risking anything and therefore one of those races that makes impossible for one to invite his friends (who are not F1 fans) to watch a race; They will say "come on, that's a one and a half hours of boringness". And we get to Spa hoping, and sure based on the history, it would not be Valencia all over again and what is the outcome: One of the most thrilling races of the season, even better than Silverstone and Monaco combined; but they (the stewards) have to screw it big time. According to my latest news reading they gave McLaren an "All clear" about LH maneuver, apparently they understood right away that LH and KR were side by side entering in the chicane, actually LH was a bit ahead but without much room to make it happen without crashing, then they understood that LH cut the chicane unwilling to do it and finally they understood LH gave back the position to KR for that they said to McLaren: "All clear". But after everythig happened they said: "wait a minute, we need to think about something else, we weren't understanding everything after all. For now you just celebrate and we will tell you later whether you won or lose", that is retarded!. The podium ceremony should have been postponed until they reached a conclusion about the penalty, ohh they reached a conclusion during the race they said: "They were OK with LH giving back the position to KR", so why did they change?. I strongly think F1 need a better board of stewards, fans, ex-drivers, people from the press, whoever they are F1 needs consistency on the application of the rules and needs quick decisions taken during the race to avoid creating more stupid controversies. Examples of the bad judgment of the current stewards are all over, most of their mistakes tend to help Ferrari, tho. For example, no drivethru penalty for FM after almost crashing on AS after an unsafe release from pits in the boring Valencia GP or, for those die-hard fans, no penalty for MS for overtaking under yellow flag in Indianapolis 2003, race that he won but the cameras on TV showing overtaking with a clear yellow flag in front of him. TG did the same on Spa this time and he got a 25-second penalty, didn't he?.
If they die-hard fans can't increase the number of fans that F1 have because of the stupid decisions and the boring races, F1 soon will die as a marketing show, who is gonna see the sponsors? Please, give us a sport we are happy to be fan of, make fast and consistent decisions during the race and don't take back the decision you have taken during the race, that make us all think that you are unfair and that you want the championships to be decided on your desks or in court rooms rather than on the track.
Martin Brownson - Hong Kong
Firstly, I'm curious to know whether this is a record in terms of the number of responses you've had to a single Talking Point?
Secondly, I have read every single response so far (66 pages at the last count) and tried to take fair account of all the opinions expressed, though to be honest there is an overwhelming worldwide - not just british - view that it was an utterly ridiculous decision to strip Hamilton of the win.
The one thing that crops up again and again is the use, rightly or wrongly, in this incident and others, of the tarmac run-off area. I have my own views - already published earlier in this Talking Point - regarding the incident but I would like to suggest the following:
Make the tarmac run-off areas so incredibly highly abrasive that anyone using them to gain an illicit advantage would ruin that set of tyres. At the same time surely a highly abrasive, high grip surface would slow an errant car more effectively and quickly than standard tarmac ??
There may be an obvious flaw in this idea but for the life of me I can't think of one right now...
Pedro Lanari
It is clear crystal that Lewis benefited from the shortcut. Even being the great driver he is, he would never have the speed to pass Kimi at the end of the straight. Many of you are talking about giving the position back and this is not the main point. If a driver shortcuts part of the track and consequently reduce the difference to the car ahead from 7s to 1s, he'll be penalized, even-though he did not take the position. Lewis gave the position back, but benefited from the shortcut because he pass Kimi at the end of the straight (which wouldn't have happened otherwise. If he had waited the next turn and established himself behind the Ferrari nothing would have happened. He was going to pass Kimi soon or later so I think the lack of experience played a role one more time.
I also would like to criticize the British press for the pressure that you try to put in the Stewards and for creating this noise around this fact. The decision was correct and I congratulate the stewards for having the corage to take such a serious decision.
Costas Los
The rules are obviously created and policed in a manner to achieve flexibility and the ability of the ruling class to decide at which point in the season a particular outcome needs to be favoured. This ambiguity takes into account the internal economic dynamics of the F1 game for which the public have absolutely no knowledge. What can anyone say except question whether or not F1 is still a sporting endeavour? However it also seems this type of controversy adds to the public's involvement, so it is probably most welcome from the sport's promoter. One has to bear in mind F1 probably finds it very difficult to draw attention based on the sporting aspect alone, such is the competition today. Most races are frankly boring (unless it rains), and controversial events keep people talking about it. That's what they want; no physical danger on the track - just political and financial intrigue and plenty of hype to arouse interest.
Adam Nakar - Surbiton, UK
Such a commotion! Of course the penalty is deserved. Lewis clearly cut the corner, when he could have backed out of a failed move. He clearly gained advantage, getting a good line for La Source to pull off a pass as a result of cutting the chicane. His only saving grace might be that Raikkonen crashed out, making the whole thing academic. Otherwise, thank goodness the stewards were alert to make the right call.
That's at least the fourth penalty Lewis has had this year, all of them totally justified. This arrogant rookie still has plenty to learn about how to behave in a race car.
Marc Parthew - Mayne Island BC
At first I was astounded with the decision, but after watching replays I can see the reason. Hamilton complained of Kimi forcing him outside and off the track. He could have backed off but didn't. He went off and did gain a speed advantage on the straight. Although it appeared very different it was very similar to the earlier incident when he was penalized for cutting a chicane and gaining the same advantage. (wish I could remember where). However it does leave a bad taste, especially considering that those last three laps were some of the most exciting of the last few years. And I'm a Kimi fan. I can't remember when F1 wasn't like this so you just have to accept it as part of the fun. Or settle it with fisticuffs like Nascar.
John Feveyear
I've long thought that the FIA are now the wrong people to be running F1. This is a multi billion pound sport and the teams are nearly all very professional significant sized international corporations. They and the sport have outgrown the governing body. The public perception of the FIA is of a group of ageing amateurs in blazers, who have created a huge bureaucracy that is run in the manner of a small minded parish council. This is why they keep making such incredible decisions that every right thinking person can see is unjust. My family and I were literally on our feet shouting at the TV for the last few laps in Belgium, it was the best for ages. Then two hours later, all we saw had counted for nothing. The FIA are not only wrong in this case but consistently inconsistent. Witness Massa and Kubica last year and Schumacher dicing with de la Rosa in 2006 in Malaysia. I still don't subscribe to the Ferrari favouritism theory but it is very difficult. Please Max, Bernie anybody?? do the right thing and stop our sport from being a laughing stock.
Anton Zimmermann
This weekend saw a turning point in my following of Formula 1 since my dad first introduced me to the sport when I was 8 in 1984. For the first time we completely disagreed on an event in a race. Perhaps reflecting the polarised nature of the comments here and in other places he thought Lewis had done nothing wrong and I though he had gained an unfair advantage by cutting the chicane.
As a result I recorded the ITV highlights show and rewatched the move from Hamilton's attempted pass at the old Bus Stop to his successful pass at La Source many times and changed my mind almost every time. My conclusion for what its worth is that Hamilton did gain an advantage by virtue of the fact that he was far closer to Kimi than he otherwise would have been had he followed him through the chicane. On the other hand, it was not that clear cut and so in the interests of the sport I think the officials should have assembled the drivers at the next race, replayed a video of the incident to them and said in no uncertain terms that such a move will be penalised in the future. That way a marker will have been laid down to govern an insidious driving tactic which is creeping into the sport and the best interests of the sports reputation in the public eye will have been protected.
There is still time for the FIA to do the right thing on both these fronts in the appeals process. I hope they grasp that opportunity with both hands.
Roman Zyss
I record the F1 races so I can watch my own instant replays as many times as I like. It's also more practical as I live in Toronto and like to sleep in. I looked over the whole scenario several times and this is what happened:
As Hamilton tried to overtake Raikkonen, the latter deliberately (because that part of the track was still dry) veered off the racing line, forcing Hamilton onto the run-off road. Although Hamilton came back onto the track slightly ahead of Raikkonen, he immediately ceded the lead. He not only ceded the lead, he made sure that Raikkonen crossed the start/finish line ahead of him by half a car length. Then, as a further measure of exculpation, he slowed down and crossed over to Raikkonen's right hand side while behind him. I cannot think of anything more that Hamilton, factually or theoretically, could possibly have done to comply more closely with the rules. After this exchange, while Raikkonen zig-zagged wildly down the straight in a vain attempt to block him, Hamilton nevertheless made a fair pass.
Then look what Raikkonen did on the very next lap (all on his own) – He put a nice shiney red Ferrari in the wall. Ferrari need an Alonso/Massa line-up next year if they are to realize their full potential as a serious F1 team.
The question McLaren should be asking on appeal is: "What else should or could Hamilton have done to avoid being penalized." I submit that the answer is: "Nothing!"
So, let us reflect on what Raikkonen has actually done for forty million a year: He has partied his brains out, he has gained weight and he has lost muscle tone and endurance. Perhaps his most obvious loss is the will to win. Too much, too soon for a mediocre driver who had a few good days last year and who took the World Championship off Hamilton by ONE LOUSY POINT.
Unlike many protesters, I am not going to even consider not watching F1, for this or any other reason. Apart from top fuel drag-racing, F1 is the closest run racing series there is and although an F1 car will never top 330mph, I hope we will at least see 22,000 RPM engines next year.
Michael Oxley - California, USA
F1 has many problems but chief among them is the desire of the governing body, from the racing stewards all the way up to Max himself, to interject themselves into the racing. It's not enough for them to quietly regulate the sport, no, they feel a narcissistic desire to take the limelight away from the men that we all tune in to watch. That governing body has seen the effectiveness of imposing penalties to bring the Championship into tight contention that they are literally drunk off that wine and now, apparently, need no real cause to level those penalties.
The governing body needs to realize that if they break this 'product' called F1, they will also lose in the breaking. But perhaps this is the desired result. After all, if Max can break F1 to the point that the 'product' is de-valued, perhaps Bernie can swoop in and buy F1 back from CVC for less than what he sold it for years ago. He'd make a profit and own F1 again.... hm.... food for thought.
Jean-Luc Roche
The usual uproar among the British fans; 68 pages - and still going - of answers to your Talking Point; more debates and arguments in the specialized press; a few paragraph about the grand prix in the general press... Not bad for what is, arguably, the most boring show on planet earth.
From the point of view of press coverage I think that, yes indeed, it was the right decision.
Michel Champoux
Formula 1 is supposed to be the quintessence of auto racing. But this is the lowest point ever. Convoluted decisions, contrived interviews, ever-changing rulebook. It will soon reach the same level of ridicule as WWF wrestling, only the actors are less talented.
Nigel Minchin
I have been an ardent fan of F-1 for 40 years and have seen the sport change dramatically in that time. However we are living in the time when we can rewind and review everything.
What a great race Spa was, overtaking in the final few laps no less but alas some minor officials made a ruling which not only took away a superb race but made the high tech sport look like one of our ruling governments.
Can we not see stewards who go to every race that are properly trained and paid, instead of people that are placed in that position who, some would say, for loyalty in the last spanking vote.
John Tasker - Queensland, Australia
NOTE: RON DENNIS & MAX MOSELEY PLEASE READ.
Ron and Max the heading is done in large print in the hope that it will catch your attention.
I am not in any way going to make this a personal attack on either of you, but trust that you can see reason over the situation in Belgium
The FIA is a democratically run organization with the best interest in the wellbeing of motor sport at the forefront of their credo, supposedly.
The officials are democratically elected.
In this recent survey run by Pitpass, on the events at Belgium, up to and including page 66 there have been 199 letters sent in. 3 of these letters have the writers sitting on the fence saying that things could have gone either way. 14 writers gave opinions on rules and other matters, 16 writers believed that the stewarts decision was correct and a massive 166 writers were adamant in their belief that the decision was incorrect.
Whatever is going on "Ego" and fear of future reprisal need to be put aside for the benifit of F1
Looking at the number of letters surely it can be seen that we the Fans (and many of us possibly members of local clubs under the auspices of the FIA) believe that in this instance the stewarts have acted in away to bring FI into disrepute.
Max please let common sense prevail, give us back our sport and please allow magnificient racing such as last Sunday to continue without penalty after the event.
Ron, we are reading that you may withdraw the appeal. please for ours and the sports sake dont, Its time to readjust what we your supporters see as an injustice not only to your team and LH but to our sport in particular.
Phil Evans
F1 has just one more chance to keep me, a die hard fan for nearly 40 years, and that is to reverse the ludicrous penalty decision from Sunday. That still wont mean the decisions currently being made by the stewards are anywhere near consistent but it will at least mean I'll continue to watch F1 in the hope that it will get it's house in order before it self destructs. F1 is supposed to be the cutting edge of motor sport and yet it's a farce, races with no overtaking, inconsistent rules and penalties a night race in a world of global warming!!!! F1 should take a good look at Sport Car racing, Moto GP, World Superbikes, and evaluate themselves how much entertainment value do they actually provide.
Stephanie Woods
I started watching F1 three years ago. I even subscribed to Direct TV so I could get Speedchannel to watch the races. My boyfriend, who got me interested in F1, and I watched the entire race. We both agreed it was the most exciting race we had ever seen. the F1 stewards have it all wrong! Lewis got no advantage by going over the chicane-I believe that there is a clear Ferrari bias, and I am not usually a conspiracy believer! If F1 denies the appeal, I think I will give up F1. The races tend to be boring since there generally is no chance of passing . We finally get a truly exciting race- and the stewards destroy the results. Are they just trying to ensure that a Ferrari driver wins the championship? I don't think that any other result can be denied. This is supposed to be an objective sport-whoever crosses the finish first wins-not have that result taken away by some steward in Ferrari pay!!
Stephen Brandon
I don’t believe there was any bias in the decision to penalize Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton is an aggressive driver, and he, and all drivers take risk, and make mistakes. Hamilton took a chance, and it did not pay off. In every F1 race that I have seen, drivers make mistakes as wetness by all the crashes, and broken nose wings, (or worse) in this last, and each and every race. The only bias I see, is in the thinking of the British fans, who want a British Champion really bad! Lewis Hamilton will be a Champion; he is young, and super talented! His time will come!
Wessel van Niekerk
I have been a F1 supporter since the days when Tom Price was killed at Kyalami. I also witnessed Peter Revson accident at Kyalami way back when. Those days the man were racing and I loved it ever since but in the last couple of years it turned into a farce. Why don't they draw straws to see who wins. Hamilton did nothing wrong! But of course, Ferrari is involved and there is no doubt they are favored by the FIA and the clowns who work for them. I'm done. Much as I love the sport, I won't bother any more.
Paul Rogerson
Disgusted does not begin to describe how I felt after Sundays race at Spa. Having followed F1 avidly for over 40 years I can assure you that I will no longer prioritise Sunday afternoons for watching races.What's the point if what you see with your own eyes is no longer regarded as the truth by F1 officials, and behind the scenes manouvering is used to detrime race results. F1 has a death wish .... I'd say it's just killed the golden cow.
Ivan Taylor
I have been a fan and a dedicated follower of F1 for 12 years following the action and the change in rules with interest on TV, Internet and via my mobile. Each weekend I have followed each race from the Friday through to all the post race conferences with interest and crawled the net each week to find the snippets of information that makes F1 come alive. That is now over!!!!!
Following the farce that F1 has become this season culminating in the decision of the stewards yesterday I will not be following F1 anymore. This is not a snap decision, as I have thought long and hard on this, as it did make such a major part of my life, however the inconsistent steward decisions, allowing Ferrari to get away with the dangerous pit antics last race followed by the decision to penalise McLaren this week is beyond a joke, we, as a viewing public are not idiots!!!!
F1 is now run as a political circus and is no longer a sport I wish to be involved in.
Richard Spooner
Pat Symonds has offered comment on this, and of all the people associated in the F1 paddock, Symonds has to talk THE most sense out of anyone. I don’t necessarily like the guy that much at times, but like Ross Brawn, if he has an opinion it is worth listening to. I’m not going to post those comments or what side he has come down on, you can all find that yourselves, but they are worth reading and I just hope, I dearly hope, the FIA appeals court if they take heed of only one set of comments about the whole thing and what it means for the ‘sport’, they listen to Pat Symonds.
Nancy Ott
72 pages of comments on this "Talking Point" and counting! This has really struck a nerve.
I'm just stunned that Formula One still has amateur officiating. Having a cadre of well-trained, professional, and independent stewards would go a long way towards fixing the problem of bad officiating. It would also address the widespread perception of favoritism towards certain teams and bias against others, which is much more damaging to the sport.
Neil E. Wetsch - Albuquerque
How many times in motor racing have we seen someone pass another drive when they miss a chicane and then give that position back to the passed driver. A zillion times, right.
How many times do I remember a driver stripped of a win after the race is over for giving up said position - ZERO. As race fans this is the most frustrating part of the entire incident. It is like a football (soccer, for you American fans) referee in the World Cup taking the trophy back after the game because he decided the ball was not spotted correctly on a free kick in the 83 minute. Imagine the uproar.
Stanislav Markov
I think we just have to listen to the drivers (Monza Thursday Press Conference). Sorry it sounds bad for people in the hammi world but it is time to calm down to reality and facts. Second similar mistake is too much and Luis should show some dignity and admit it. On top of this he attacks Kimi for being too afraid to brake late. Luis should grow up.
David Smith
I am a lifelong fan of F1 and my company sponsored F1 in the 90's However, I am increasingly disillusioned with F1's ability to shoot itself in the foot and its total lack of transparency on decisions.
As a retired (very amatuer) racing driver I do not understand the decision to penalise Hamilton for his overtaking manoeuvre on Raikkonen.
Hamilton did cut the chicane, although Raikkonen left him little option. He then let Raikkonen though back into the lead.
Hamilton did not gain a slipstream advantage as he changed direction twice looking to pass on the outside and then outbraking Raikkonen on the inside. I saw it as a classic outbreaking manoeuvre.
The FIA must get professional stewards for F1, the level of inconsistency in decisions and penalties is unacceptable.
The FIA seems to show a total contempt for fans and it is a shame that a talented sportsman like Hamilton should be engaged in an activity that no longer bears any resemblance to sport.
Dennis Jenkinson once said that the in F1 the bullshit stops when the lights go out, unfortunately it restarts as soon as the racing stops.
June Abbott
Pitpass, once again, hits the nail on the head. If this had happened with drivers from any other teams there would not be this public outcry. Had it been Schumacher rather than Hamilton involved fans would be baying for his blood while congratulating the stewards for the penalty. It comes down to personalities rather than rules.
Why people continue to draw comparisons between Massa's pitlane incident, and the overtaking move at Spa is beyond me. They are not similar, or related. These comparisons merely highlight the short-sightedness common amongst those of us who watch F1. We sit back and slap our backs and congratulate ourselves for being informed. We're not. We're biased, prejudiced and completely incapable of drawing reasonable conclusions.
Other drivers suggest Hamilton gained an advantage, the stewards say Hamilton gained an advantage. End of story.
Peter Fasey
I believe F1 is beyond redemption until the max & bernie brigade are removed. I have watched since 1966, but what was a sport has manged to tranform itself into some sort of freak show. Its like big brother, the diehards watch to see what strangeness occurs next. Forget the sport, it's long gone.
If a racer makes a decision in a millisecond that can be deemed illegal after 2 hours by three people who have never raced then we do indeed have some sort of strange system that will be familiar to those who live in the uk and visit parks on their own or leave their bins one inch to far from the kerb.
I will probably continue to watch F1 out of morbid curiosity. My respect for it is now irrevocably destroyed, much to my dismay. The lunatics have finally taken over the asylum. May all those who gave their lifes and lives to the sport in the past RIP.
John Kinnear
I am both an amateur driver and a race official in Canada. I am perplexed at the decision of the stewards! The McLaren was clearly faster at that point, easily catching the Ferrari. The Ferrari gave no room at the corner and the McLaren was forced off in order to avoid a collision. It is of course the responsibility of the overtaker to make his pass safely. After ending up ahead of the Ferrari, he backed off and let the Ferrari retake the lead. He then repassed in spite of the Ferrari's efforts to block. The Ferrari then went off the track in a vain effort to keep up.I just can't see any penalty to the McLaren.
Given recent history, it is very easy to believe in favouritism for Ferrari. And yes, this type of actions certainly hurt Formula 1. It certainly left a sour note at the end of a great day of racing. The Speed Channel program ' Wind Tunnel' had many callers on the subject and all were unhappy, to say the least with the stewards decision.
I agree that there should be a more or less permanent panel of stewards who become familiar with all the rules of the sport.
Gordon King
Stewards are basically referees and F1 should take a leaf out of the book of Cricket where third umpires and match referees (as well as the two standing umpires) are all professionals (professional, full-time umpires), well versed on the rules and spirit of the game and many are ex players.
F1 needs a panel of maybe nine such professionals, three of which would "stand" at each GP.
As in cricket, any member of the panel appointed for a race would not be selected for a "Home Grand Prix" (i.e. no Italian steward at Monza for example).
Drivers should dominate the panel which, IMHO, should not include fans or any representative of the manufacturers in order to keep the panel as neutral as possible.
The balance of the panel could be anybody "neutral" (psychometric testing required?), maybe well known figures, Richard Branson, Jeremy Clarkson etc.
F1 is a professional sport, the current situation of having amateur stewards making decisions that could cost drivers a championship and teams millions of $ is a joke.
Dave Martin - Yakima, Washington
As usual you have hit the nail on the head yet again. Being from a relatively small "City" in Washington State we/I get little news of F1 races. On about a two-inch side-bar of the news paper, we get the report of all of the "insignificant" events in the World of "Sports".... F1 is one of those "insignificant events".
Seeing as how I don't get a satellite view allowing me to sign-up for The Speed Ch., my Brother tapes the races for me; at least the ones he
deems "a race"....
I just got through watching the "event" at Spa; and, yes, those last five or six minutes were most assuredly an event.
Having had red cars most of my life is why I kinda root for the car that is red all over..... BUT, the way Kimi finished that race seemed to me to be his idea, NOT Lewis'. To say I was under-struck when my Bro wrote the following week and told me of Massa's win would be the under
statement of this years racing outcomes.
Like I told my Bro, had Lewis done a bad deed, Kimi woulda come out of his car swinging..... didn't happen, did it.?
Consequently, I am reduced to watching that which me Bro sends and my reading about the events of a race week- end you write
about....yup, you still make me feel I been there and seen it in person.
Yer comments about whats hurting F-1 pretty much says it all. What is sad is that your musings will go on deaf ear and blind eye. I kinda see
F-1, presently, like I do the business folks that are on the edge of their fannies waiting to go down the tube which, now days, is sorta inevitable, no.? Specially for the idiot managers of those businesses.
F-1, today, is being supervised and over - seen (not one and the same) by some very stupid and dumb (like foxes) people. It should not be
expected by us wee little folks to get straightened up in the near future. If "they" want it (F-1) destroyed let it be....there are other outlets for us wee little folks to watch and adhere too. No matter what, there will always be racing; whether or not it is organized (legal or outlaw) is up to the ones putting on the show.
Personally, I wish F-1 quite well; not for the Max or the Bernie types but, for the wee little folk who enjoy a grand racing performance like that which Lewis put on for us at Spa.... them are few and far between....
Graham Waddington
The (bar)Stewards are killing the sport. They clearly don’t want drivers to overtake each other as that would be too dangerous and might disadvantage the slower driver. They have lost all perspective of what F1 is all about. We want to see ON TRACK RACING not pit stop/safety car races. If the bar(Stewards) keep penalising drivers for having the guts to overtake on the track then F1 is finished.
Spa 2008 was the most exciting race this season. The bar(Stewards) have managed to ruin it yet again. I can guarantee that I will not watch another Valencia-type procession again!!
Shad Monem
Frankly I think it was Hamilton's fault. They know if they give FIA any reason to judge them the decision goes against them. Especially if the other involved party is Ferrari. Look at Valencia. If Lewis didn't stand to gain form Massa being panelized, I am sure Massa would have received a bigger penalty.
That saddest part is, we only get may 10 minutes all season to get excited like this and then they worn it like this.
Brian Kiloh - Glasgow
I have watched F1 for nigh on 25 years but the latest "racing" is just utterly tedious. I felt watching Valencia on TV was just two hours of my life wasted…
The rules have brought us cars unable to overtake except apparently in the rain, whilst refueling has removed the unnecessary risk of actually trying to overtake on the road. Two tyre changes per race means that race-long tyre management and struggling on worn-out tyres is virtually a thing of the past.
The banning of customer cars has meant that the grid consists mostly of two (some would say one) car which has a realistic chance of winning. The 2009 rule changes may go some way to addressing this but as some ex-technical directors have already said they are not radical enough to promote overtaking I'm not holding my breath. No-one is looking for oval-style overtaking every second but without the actual ability to overtake on a dry, clear track then F1 is no more than a high-speed procession.
Drivers themselves have become tiresomely bland with a worrying tendency to select drivers based on marketability rather than speed, after all why else would Takuma Sato get a test with STR but Anthony Davidson would not? The worrying trend whereby large swathes of the junior formulae are also populated by ex-drivers' sons, nephews and second cousins once removed suggests there is a massive problem with distribution of funds from the national sporting associations – the cream is not rising to the top. Surely one of the reasons sponsors support F1 is to convince themselves and others that they are not just grey corporate behemoths so why insist that drivers become equally grey and dull. Even the TV coverage has become bland with no-one prepared to say that a race was boring, instead trying to convince viewers it was interesting when we all know it wasn't – I long for the days of James Hunt, the contrast is marked on German TV with Niki Lauda who is quite prepared to criticize drivers and races.
F1 is simply not bothering to reach out to the future audience either. My 8-year-old nephew knows about Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari but won't watch an F1 race as he says "it's boring". I remember when I was a kid on holiday in Germany, me and my brothers couldn't wait to get to a TV to see the British GP and Mansell pulling off a mega overtaking manoeuvre on Nelson Piquet. I have been to a few races but it has now become prohibitively expensive for a decent seat (especially to take a fanily) and I am still frankly shocked at the primitive facilities at the Hockenheim-Ring (I was there in 2005), e.g. the toilets would be unacceptable at even my lowly second division football stadium but track and F1 bosses consider it fine as they have no idea of the ordinary spectator's experience; ironically those at Silverstone were far superior. And don't get me started on the "quality" and lowly number of support races – I often think that the reason there are no historic F1 races at GPs is that most people would find them more entertaining than the "real" thing. F1 is not interested in its fans, races go to wherever pays the most cash so there is no reason to reach out to the great unwashed but why would this attract new fans? What efforts does F1 make to generate new support - the last live demo in my neck of the woods (Scotland) was several years ago on the Isle of Bute but nothing since. Seeing (and hearing) an F1 car in the raw would do much to attract new interest but it's probably not worth the hassle as long as the leaders of a selection of semi-police states are prepared to fork out huge sums of cash to build tracks that all look the same in the middle of nowhere that no locals can afford to go to in order to promote their "great nation" (please don't mention democracy or human rights anyone).
Poor entertainment, dull-as-ditchwater racing and drivers, poor value-for-money, abandoning the core European audience and a general impression that ordinary spectators are a "necessary evil" to be avoided whenever possible at an F1 race or test – is it any wonder F1 is struggling against other sports?
Dee Thompson - London
Like so many of your readers I have been following F1 for years, ever since James Hunt burst onto the scene and turned it into the sexiest sport on the planet (I'm a full-blooded woman, by the way). This whole sad saga in Spa stinks of the FIA members making up the rules as they please (yet again). Having looked at the chicane incident over and over, I can still find nothing wrong in Hamilton's actions. Hamilton was ahead going into the chicane and level with him mid-chicane, it was here when Kimi decided to force Hamilton's car and all four of his wheels over the chicane kerb, leaving him no alternative but to use the run-off area. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a rule that clearly states you should allow a car enough room to keep at least two wheels on the track when fighting for position? I can remember Brundle banging on about this rule a few years ago. Or perhaps this is another one of those rules that come and go only when it suits the FIA. Thank goodness this wasn't Monaco and there was a run-off area for Hamilton to take, otherwise I imagine both drivers would have been out of the race. Hamilton then, quite correctly, conceded his advantage to Kimi who was struggling in the wet conditions and driving like Bambi on ice into the following corner. Hamilton had every right to take him when he did - not only was Kimi fighting a lost cause, but taking him at the earliest opportunity was a whole lot safer than waiting for him to spin out of control which, of course, he inevitably did.
With regard to the decision on McLaren's appeal, in all the races I have watched, which has most probably been at least 90 percent of them, I have NEVER heard of the rule that came up at the appeal and which subsequently became the reason for the post race 25 second penalty (imaginary drive-through punishment) - you know, the one about waiting for the next corner to be completed after gaining an unfair advantage before attempting another overtaking manoeuvre. Even though Charlie Whiting did say during the appeal that he had apparently mentioned this 'new' ruling to the teams and drivers sometime during the season, he also admitted that there was NOTHING in the rule book to back this up. Mind boggling, isn't it? What other sport is there that starts a season with unwritten rules, or even introduces them mid-season? And then for Charlie Whiting to tell McLaren during the race that Hamilton's overtaking of Kimi was within the rules is beyond belief. In light of what Mr Whiting, himself, had advised the teams on second corner overtaking, surely this is proof that the FIA members are given a free hand to make the rules up as their fancy takes them. Now, I am no lawyer, but if McLaren's appeal was deemed 'inadmissible', then surely this made-up rule is also 'inadmissible', as it doesn't actually EXIST. Sorry - of course it exists, somewhere in the fantasy world of the FIA (for the time being anyway). But this isn't the first time the FIA have 'moved the goalposts' to suit their agenda, as F1 fans have all too often witnessed in the past. Yes - a clear-cut rule book is most definitely and desperately needed. How can you expect any sportsman to compete when the rules are all SHADES OF GREY and completely open to interpretation? This sort of thing only creates confusion and in a sport that his highly dangerous can only exacerbate that danger.
Introducing ex-F1 drivers as stewards is the only logical course of action (but not Schumacher - in my book, one of the biggest cheats in F1 history). I'm sure if reputable and respected drivers, like Lauder, Stewart, Alesi or Berger, where allowed to steward races then incidents like this one (including many other dodgy decisions, for and against drivers) would never have seen the light of day, and F1 would be known for its exciting on track action instead of the off track squabbles.
The FIA need to grow up - Formula 1 racing is not a playground game where an inadequate school bully can childishly make up the rules so that he always wins.