Spa stewards make scandalous decision to strip Lewis Hamilton of Belgium win
We could chuckle at yet another breathtakingly blatant example of an anti-McLaren decision made by Ferrari-loving Max Mosley’s race stewards - except that joke isn’t funny anymore.
When you manipulate a sport for your own gain, it loses the very essence of what makes it sport; it then becomes a farce, and one that mocks the supporters who were on the edge of their seats - either at Spa or in front of the television - throughout a gripping grand prix.
Does the FIA think F1 fans are idiots? Lewis Hamilton gained an advantage by cutting the chicane and overtaking Kimi Raikkonen, but he immediately gave back the place, as the rules require. How that equals a 25-second penalty, only the one-eyed stewards know. We could mention all the times that Ferrari-powered drivers f**ked up this season without any punishment whatsoever - Kimi driving into the back of Sutil at Monaco, for example - but we’d be here all day.
So, Lewis was shafted, but hey, the suits at F1 suddenly have the tight title race they crave. Shameful.
Anyway, that’s our take. Watch the incident below and make up your own mind:
Perhaps we’re not watching it right, but how exactly did Lewis use Kimi’s slipstream to re-overtake him?
And Kimi clearly squeezed Lewis out at the chicane: the McLaren literally had nowhere to go except off the track.
As sporting decisions go, this ranks as one of the worst I’ve ever seen.
Agree, disagree, too angry to type? Comments please…
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18 responses so far
1 Jimmy C // Sep 8, 2008 at 8:09 am
FIA stings. Will never spare time for F1 again.
2 BG // Sep 8, 2008 at 8:13 am
as far as I know, David Coulthard drives a Reanult powered car, so his incidents have nothing to do with the FIA’s alleged Ferrari-bias…
3 Ollie Irish // Sep 8, 2008 at 8:17 am
Good point BG, amended now - I had Toro Rosso on my mind after the two Sebs’ good showing at Spa.
4 Michael // Sep 8, 2008 at 8:23 am
As you say, punishing Hamilton when he gave the position back is bad enough as it is but where is the sense in letting Massa, who would have come third had Raikkonen not crashed out trying to recover the lead that the stewards believe he should have maintained, claim the win? Very dodgy decision. Opens up the title race though!
5 Jumbo // Sep 8, 2008 at 8:30 am
Too angry to type.
6 Nick // Sep 8, 2008 at 9:38 am
Ludicrous decision- FIA need to stop licking Ferrari’s balls and fixing every season so they win. After the farce of last season’s decision with the spying (in which Ferrari clearly were equally as responsible as McLaren) and now the constant hounding of Hamilton Formula 1 is turning into a joke right when it should be enjoying a post-Schumacher resurgency. I just cant believe it, fuck the FIA.
7 Si // Sep 8, 2008 at 9:57 am
This decision is a bad one, but made worse by the fact it follows another terrible decision two weeks ago. For the stewards in Valencia to say that Massa’s pit exit was not dangerous and then to fine the team next to nothing (extremely unusual decision) and then ruin the outcome of a stunning race is beyond me.
It is time that the system was shaken up. The stewards should be the same for every race and have an ex-F1 driver and two very experienced people as the panel.
Will be interesting to see how the appeal goes, but if they lose they face further punishment.
8 rexes // Sep 8, 2008 at 10:10 am
what happens when we reverse the drivers an cars in this incident.Honestly,what would we all say.Hamiliton was not in kimi’s slipstream before the chicane and he is after,is that not an unsporting advantage?.K.R was forced to wave from left to right to get him off his slip stream but it was already to late.Think about it.
9 Jumbo // Sep 8, 2008 at 11:15 am
What is all this I hear about “slipstream”? Before this incident everyone was complaining no one could over take because of “Dirty Air” - now everyone is saying the cars produce a slip stream. Very odd - and only being said as it is the one thing that loosely makes the decision to penalise hamilton valid.
10 Joker // Sep 8, 2008 at 12:19 pm
It can be seen as a harsh decision, but it is justified (and will hopefully be applied against other drivers in a similar situation as well). Hamilton should’ve learned after France that it’s against the rules to gain an advantage by cutting a chicane. So the only question here is: Did he gain an advantage? I’d say yes.
What makes this thing worse: He has only himself to blame, because 1) he would surely have overtaken Kimi in a regular way a few corners later and 2) he didn’t need to risk so much in these conditions anyway, because second place would have been a good result in regard to the championship.
Getting rid of the tarmac run-off everywhere would solve this kind of problems. Don’t forget that Hamilton would have been stuck in the gravel and probably finished with no points just a few years ago.
11 jelena // Sep 8, 2008 at 12:51 pm
i so agree with what you have said…..do the stewards honestly think f1 fans are stupid ????
it’s just….it’s so upseting and….i dont know how they can keep this up….
why are they on mclarens back anyways ????
this decision is just so obviouslly framed and wrong that….
AND THEY GAVE HIM 25 SECONDS !!!!!!!
AND KIMI PUSHED HIM OFF THE TRACK AND EVEN IF LEWIS HAD NEVER MANAGED TO GET PAST KIMI, HE WOULFD NEVER BE 25 SECONDS AWAY !!!!!!!! HE WAS ONLY A SECOND OR LESS AWAY FROM KIMI……I KNOW THEY HAVE A 25-SECOND STANDARD PENATLY BUT HONESTLY…….TO MAKE SUCH A DISGUSTING DECISION 3 HOURS AFTER THE RACE……
SO HORRIBLE….
3 PEOPLE, 3 PEOPLE HAVE JUST MURDERED F1….
WE SHOULD NOT LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS…
I WONDER…..OUT OF ALL THE PENALTIES THAT MCLAREN HAS GOTTEN, HOW MANY COME FROM THE SAME STEWARDS !!!!
GET FIA AWAY FROM FORMULA ONE, THEY OBVIOUSLY DONT KNOW WHAT THIS SPORT IS ALL ABOUT.
AND MASSA DID NOTHING YESTERDAY TO DESERVE THE VICTORY….HOW CAN HE WANT IT THEN ??? BECAUSE HE’S A TWAT WHO KNOWS THAT HE CAN NOT BECOME F1 CHAMPION (HE JUST ISNT A GOOD DRIVER) UNLESS HIS SUGAR DADDIES AT FERRARI PAY FOR HIS CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE…
I DONT KNOW ARE YOU GUYS AS UPSET AS I AM, BUT BECAUSE I’M A CHICK THIS IS EVEN WORSE FOR ME….I JUST TAKE IT ALL TOO PERSONALLY……
WHAT A DISGRACE…..WHAT A DISGRACE……DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT BERNIE HAS SAID OF THE MATTER ? I’M REALLY CURIOUS ….
12 Ollie Irish // Sep 8, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Joker, I agree with you that Lewis should have waited before he attacked Kimi, but we should we not applaud his relentless desire to race at all times, no matter what the circumstances? It may not have been a very mature decision, given the state of the championship race, but at least he’s giving F1 fans what they crave: pure racing action.
13 Joker // Sep 8, 2008 at 2:00 pm
“should we not applaud his relentless desire to race at all times, no matter what the circumstances”
Of course! As long the racing happens on the track. Long before this incident I thought that racing off-track has become too common because of tarmac run-off and low curbs.
By the way: There seems to be a precedent in Suzuka 2005 between Alonso and Klien. Alonso cut the chicane, let Klien pass again, but went directly into his slipstream, overtaking him again at the end of the long straight. A few laps later, he supposedly was told to let Klien pass again or else there would be a penalty. I guess there wasn’t enough time this time to officially tell Lewis to let Kimi pass again, but McLaren could have done so on their own to avoid any risks. Lewis would have had time enough to overtake Kimi again.
“should we not applaud his relentless desire to race at all times, no matter what the circumstances”
Of course! As long the racing happens on the track. Long before this incident I thought that racing off-track has become too common because of tarmac run-off and low curbs.
By the way: There seems to be a precedent in Suzuka 2005 between Alonso and Klien. Alonso cut the chicane, let Klien pass again, but went directly into his slipstream, overtaking him again at the end of the long straight. A few laps later, he supposedly was told to let Klien pass again or else there would be a penalty. I guess there wasn’t enough time this time to officially tell Lewis to let Kimi pass again, but McLaren could have done so on their own to avoid any risks. Lewis would have had time enough to overtake Kimi again.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vdy6qzI2-A4
14 Pecespada // Sep 8, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Who cares, F1 is not a sport anyway…
15 tom // Sep 8, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Never liked the “let him pass again to avoid a penalty” thing. It holds up the racing, the drivers sit and wait for instructions on the radio. It’s like that unwritten rule in football about giving the ball back.
And, on ITV, it’s guaranteed to set James Allen off every time - it can be a couple of laps before Brundle can get a word of sense in.
16 Jumbo // Sep 8, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Just to clarify, the 3 Stewards at Spa are not the same at every race, they are appoionted locally. This time they comprised of a Frenchman, some other european and a guy from Kenya who once said he thought Sebastian Loeb was a bad image for World Rallying as he had grown a beard and had scruffy hair. None of the three have ever been racing drivers. McLaren aparently talked to Charlie Whiting (head of FIA at F1 events) straight after the incident and he agreed that Hamilton had done the right thing yielding. They also spoke to him again after the overtake and again he said in his opinion he was ok to do that. The problem is, Charlie Whiting can’t get involved in the stewards’ decisions.
At the end of the day, the move was done on Raikkonen, and he scored no points through his own error later on, so penalising hamilton didn’t actually help Raikkonen. Only by fact did Massa his team mate benefit. But if Massa had crashed out then only teams uninvolved would benefit. And thus I believe the decision was made because it favoured Ferrari.
17 Berger // Sep 8, 2008 at 3:46 pm
“Boo Hoo Hoo”: the sound of Hamilton crying into Uncle Ronnie’s lap.
Watch the Hamster total his McLaren in a fit of petty rage at Monza and hope he gets out in one piece…
18 Osmodious // Sep 9, 2008 at 2:23 am
Year after year after year….it’s gotten old, it’s beyond ridiculous and it IS killing the sport. None of my friends, who were formerly avid F1 fans (a rarity in the US, believe me), pay ANY attention anymore. In a country completely overwhelmed by unfairness associated with the color red (states or racecars), they just don’t want to go through the heartache of having their excitement destroyed every time the drivers/teams they follow have this kind of egregious garbage done to them…