Hamilton stripped of third place at Australian GP

[Nibb]

Hamilton excluded from Aussie GP


Trulli (front) was passed by Hamilton (back) when he slid off the track

Lewis Hamilton and McLaren have been stripped of their podium finish and all points at the Australian Grand Prix.
The sport's world governing body said they were excluded "for providing evidence deliberately misleading to the stewards at the hearing on March 29."


A post-race hearing promoted Hamilton from fourth to third after Trulli was penalised for passing the Englishman while the safety car was out.
Trulli and Toyota have been reinstated to third place.
The Italian was initially handed a 25-second penalty for the incident which saw him demoted to 12th.
Hamilton was summoned by stewards on Thursday to discuss what the FIA, motorsport's governing body, described as "a new element" of evidence.
It was not clear what the new evidence was, although it was thought to involve pit-to-car radio conversations between the team and driver, with the FIA ruling that there had been a breach of the international sporting code
The yellow safety flags came out at Melbourne after a collision between Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica in his BMW Sauber.
Trulli slid off the track and was passed by Hamilton but the Toyota driver said he had little choice but to overtake the Briton again.
606: DEBATE

As the stewards messed up in the first place by punishing Trulli, surely the best thing to do would be to reclassify Trulli as 3rd and Hamilton 4th?



Tom


"When the safety car came out towards the end of the race, Hamilton passed me but soon after he suddenly slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road," he said.
"I thought he had a problem so I overtook him as there was nothing else I could do."
Hamilton had told Speed TV after the race that Trulli went wide onto the grass at the second to last corner.
"I was forced to go by. I slowed down as much as I could. I was told to let him back past, I don't know if that's the regulations, and if it isn't, then I should have really had third," said the Briton.
Toyota had said after the race that they would make a protest but dropped that on Wednesday because they felt it had no chance of succeeding.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/7978186.stm

[BBK]

LMFAO what a surprise.

Its official, I'm giving up on F1. Again. The whole thing is now a total farce, and if the FIA can't see how they are ruining F1 then I'm not going to bother telling them.

[ka$h]

Surely Mclaren and Hamilton thought he had gone past on the yellow hence his slowing down to let Trulli back in front. sounds like the FIA haven't got a bloody clue this season either!

[beerman]

well they couldn't have him scoring more points than the 2 ferraris put together

[4me2]

Updated original post with more info.

[blaggard]

Surprise, surprise. I will have difficulty following this season now that I am to be working Sundays but this saves me the trouble. Clueless cunts have finished me off, I've followed F1 since about 1964 but that's it now!

[4me2]

1. why was it last year Mclaren were told they can't appeal a stuards "STOP and go penalty" decision after the race ? Toyota put in an appeal and withdrew it for probably this reason.

2. Why would there even be an enquiry when Toyota had scrapped their unallowed appeal ?

3. What Nationality is Trulli ?

4. Why strip Hamilton and Mclaren of all their points and not just put them back to 4th ?

Someone still feels very majorly threatened by them so tests their new 2009 Ferrrari International Assistance membership.

[GTI]

On a field of football, the referees decision is final. Why can't the Stewards make their decision there and then, and even if they are later proven wrong they can claim they acted with the information that was available to them.

[4me2]

Q & A with Jarno Trulli

By Jonathan Noble and Pablo ElizaldeThursday, April 2nd 2009, 09:32 GMT

Four days after the Australian Grand Prix, Jarno Trulli is a happy man again, having been reinstated into third place after the stewards decided to remove the penalty given to the Italian.
The controversy, however, is still ongoing, with the FIA saying that world champion Lewis Hamilton has misled the stewards in Australian.
AUTOSPORT heard Trulli's version of the events.
Q. What is your reaction to the decision of the stewards to give you third place?
Jarno Trulli: Well, I am happy. I am happy because I just wanted some justice, and I am happy I got it. I am happy for myself, for the team - and I have to thank the FIA because it does not happen very often that they reconsider something. It must have been really hard for them, but they had common sense to really try and understand what was going on. I have been always honest and it has paid off.
Q. So what happened between Australia and now?
JT: Nothing. We did not appeal. We did not do anything, and I did not make any further comments. I think the FIA was clever enough to understand the situation. They had a very busy end of the race, with so many accidents, and they now had a bit more evidence to understand the case. So they wanted to hear us again, and it just confirmed what happened in Australia as I didn't change my statement. That is it. I don't know what made them change their mind.
Q. Are you surprised that Lewis Hamilton has been excluded from the results?
JT: I don't know the evidence or what they investigated on. I cannot comment on it. I am just happy I got my position and what I did on the track. Honestly, it was a controversial end of the race and it was hard for anyone to understand. But again I would like to thank the FIA because they had the strength to reconsider the case, giving new evidence and understanding what was going on. I never lied, I was always honest in my statements and I never changed it.
Q. It was a crazy weekend in Australia.
JT:</B> It was a troubled weekend. We pushed really hard to get the best possible result on track. We were all pleased, and we are still pleased with what we achieved last Sunday. Unfortunately we were left facing a controversial end to the race.
Q. There's a Youtube video of the incident when you went off. Can you talk us through what happened?
JT:</B> It was my mistake when I went off. I was trying to slow down because this year we have a rule that you need to stick with a certain speed which is on the display. And on that particular part of the track I was caught out by a shadow.
We have the safety car line which gives you the exact time you have to do, so I was trying to respect that. I was trying to concentrate on that. I missed the braking point by a little bit with the cold tyres and I went a little bit wide. Obviously Lewis got me. Nothing wrong in that, because I obviously lost a position.
The problem came afterwards when, between turn 4 and turn 5, Lewis suddenly slowed down quite a lot. At this stage I didn't know why but my thought was that he was having trouble because he pulled over to the right side of the track, while he should have been on the left.
And he was slowing down more and more, so I overtook him at 80km/h. So we were basically stopped. And before overtaking him I went next to him to make sure that I was not breaking the rules. So what happened is that I went in front of him and I opened the radio to tell the team what was going on because I didn't want to get a penalty. And that's it. That's all I can say.
Q. The radio conversation is on Youtube now, and the team told you to stay behind him...
JT:</B> I knew because I already had this problem before. I knew that I couldn't get the position, that's pretty clear. But if the car in front of you has a problem, like it looked from me... I didn't know what happened before, I just read what Lewis said to the press. At that stage it looked like he had mechanical troubles.
Q. Did the team tell you to give him his position back?
JT:</B> At that moment, no. I called the team asked what was going on and the team said "Okay, stay there". Because the team has to go back to Charlie (Whiting) to see what is going on. I knew that I should have given the position back, but the rules say that if the car in front of you cannot keep a certain speed to follow the safety car or is in trouble, you can overtake that car.
I didn't know what was his problem. If he wanted he could have overtaken me. I let him by. When I overtook him I moved to the left side and he didn't overtake me.
Q. So you think he was taking some precautions?
JT:</B> I think from what I read on the press, because I cannot say much more than that, was not sure about it and he was told to stay back. That's the only thing I can tell you because I read it. But at that stage I didn't know.
I think the stewards didn't have all the evidence, because they got a bit more evidence now. We gave them our radio communications. They have the McLaren communication. They have the data from the car.
The funny thing is that I was called to go to the stewards just after the press conference, so I didn't know anything about what McLaren and Lewis had said after the race. And my statement matched exactly that statement from McLaren. So that's very clear. I told the truth straight away and it corresponds exactly to what the data log of the car says.
Q. Are you disappointed that perhaps Lewis has not explained the situation clearly?
JT:</B> Yeah, but this is more up to him and not down to me. I knew that I told the truth and all the evidence show that I didn't break the rules. This is very clear. I said the same things twice. I proved it with every kind of evidence and, on top of that, there was evident from the other team, so that just confirms my statement.
Q. Are you surprised the FIA has taken so long to solve the issue?
JT:</B> It's difficult to judge because there was a lot going on for the FIA. I cannot judge what was the problem. For sure they didn't have enough evidence then. It's good that they reconsidered it. It means they really understand that there was something that they missed then. Just after the race things were probably a bit too chaotic for them. That's all I can think.
Q. Are the drivers clear about what you can do behind the safety car if a car goes off the track in front of you?
JT:</B> It has happened to me already. I was warming up the tyres in this heavy rain in Japan and I spun. And I didn't get the position back, I stayed where I was. So for me, it's very clear. It's expressively written in the rules. It says that if the car in front cannot keep a reasonable pace to stay close to the safety car, and slows down too much, then the car behind can overtake.
The thing is not that I want to overtake. I saw Lewis slowing down and pulling apart, that was the other thing. He pulled apart, and I thought he was having a problem. So I went next to him and I was trying to make sure it was right. But obviously when you are there you don't start talking to the other driver. I didn't want to overtake him, but he didn't get the position back.


http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74148

[blaggard]

Lots of interesting comments here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A49377063

[blaggard]

On a field of football, the referees decision is final. Why can't the Stewards make their decision there and then, and even if they are later proven wrong they can claim they acted with the information that was available to them.

Technology often gets in the way these days, just look what's happening in Cricket!

[DJ OD]

Like someone said...

Why watch the race, if the decisions are going to decide the results after?

Farce.

Let's hope Button wins the season, then the witch hunt may have a new target.


DJ OD

[4me2]

Lots of interesting comments here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A49377063

comment by charlton_chap (U3834841)
posted 2 Minutes Ago
So before the season starts we've got teams protesting that other teams cars don't conform to "the spirit" of the rules. Now we have this. Why doesn't Max stop getting his butt whipped and turn it into a court room drama instead. Can anyone remember the last time anyone just won a race without protests? They spend more time with lawyers than racing these days.

Here's an idea for cutting costs Max - lose the lawyers!!!

[4me2]

Yep why get up at O Fuck hundred Sunday when you can have a lay in and get the amended results on Thursday morning ?

[Nikki]

What a joke....lewis must seething

[freakzilla]

I bet their wouldn't be half the outrage had this happened to Jenson, but low and behold it happens to poor little defenceless Lewis and everyone is outraged. He plays the media like a fiddle and no doubt we will see the sob stories soon enough, but he cheated and got caught, if it was football as has been said he would be getting a multiple (game) race ban but hes not hes only lost points and can still win the title.

[blaggard]

I bet their wouldn't be half the outrage had this happened to Jenson, but low and behold it happens to poor little defenceless Lewis and everyone is outraged. He plays the media like a fiddle and no doubt we will see the sob stories soon enough, but he cheated and got caught, if it was football as has been said he would be getting a multiple (game) race ban but hes not hes only lost points and can still win the title.

You're right but only because of the history between FIA and Mclaren. Try to have some understanding of the situation before making ridiculous comments.

[SiE]

I bet the bookies are fuming as they would have paid out on hamilton getting 3rd place which was really good odds.

[casio]

it didnt take FIA(T) long this year, i wonder how theyre going to screw him and mclaren in malaysia?

any bets as to how there going to do it? cos knowing the fia(t) it'll be something like his tyres are on upside down, or his steering wheel isnt round, ive followed f1 since i was 5 and a bit, and this is making it so i dont want to bother with it,

roll on motoGP!

[blaggard]

it didnt take FIA(T) long this year, i wonder how theyre going to screw him and mclaren in malaysia?

any bets as to how there going to do it? cos knowing the fia(t) it'll be something like his tyres are on upside down, or his steering wheel isnt round, ive followed f1 since i was 5 and a bit, and this is making it so i dont want to bother with it,

roll on motoGP!

They will get very confused if they have to screw Jensen AND Lewis!