World champ creates superlap from favourite corners
Lewis Hamilton has designed his dream F1 circuit. The imaginary track features ten of his favourite corners.
“I wanted to create a circuit that would be challenging, exhilarating and enjoyable,” Lewis said, “but most of all somewhere you would love to have the chance to drive and provide the definitive test for any driver, in any car.”
The anti-clockwise layout includes Spa’s Eau Rouge (the best corner in F1, still), Copse from Silverstone and Tabac from Monaco (where he picked up a puncture this season). With only ten corners, it wouldn’t last long, but it would be one hell of a ride.
“Article 152 of the International Sporting Code states that drive-through penalties are ‘not susceptible to appeal’,” the FIA said in a statement.
“Having heard the explanations of the parties, the court has concluded that the appeal is inadmissible.”
Hamilton, who has now arrived in Singapore ahead of this weekend’s night race, will be massively disappointed by the outcome which leaves him just one point clear in the Driver’s Championship.
Was the outcome of the hearing fair? Let us know what you think with a comment below.
Briton could have unlikely saviour in Vitantonio Liuzzi
Lewis Hamilton´s appeal against the 25-second time penalty he was handed after the Belgian Grand Prix has begun in Paris. Although the McLaren man was in attendance he was not required on the first day of the hearing. Instead it was left to McLaren´s barrister Mark Philips QC to prove that the appeal was admissable.
Philips argued that the appeal should be heard because an appeal about whether or not Vitantonio Liuzzi should have been handed a 25-second time penalty for passing Adrian Sutil under yellow caution flags at last season´s Japanese Grand Prix was heard. Appeals against time penalties are not normally heard.
Stunning onboard footage of the infamous chicane incident at Spa last weekend. Whatever you think of the stewards’ decision to penalise Lewis Hamilton, you have to agree this is one of the battles of the season, between two of the finest racers in recent F1 history.
What you can see from the onboard footage is that Hamilton clearly allowed Kimi to re-pass him before re-taking him at the next corner. This will run and run.
(British) F1 fans campaign to overrule time penalty
When it was submitted to the FIA morning, an online petition to reinstate Lewis Hamilton as winner of the Belgium Grand Prix had over 32,000 signatures, and thousands more have been showing their disgruntlement since.
When Fernando Alonso heard about Lewis Hamilton’s penalty, he probably laughed like a cartoon villain. It’s not that the Spaniard hate Lewis - in fact, the two are friendly enough around the paddock, even if they have never been genuine buddies. It’s more to do with Nando’s belief that McLaren (Ron Dennis, to be specific) f**ked him over and set his career back by several seasons.
One of the FIA’s three wise men in Belgium speaks out
One of the three FIA stewards who made the controversial call to penalise Lewis Hamilton at Spa has defended the decision.
Surinder Thathi, a Kenyan motorsport official, denied vehemently that an anti-McLaren agenda was the motivating factor in the decision to demote Lewis from first to third. Thathi said:
“There was no conspiracy against anybody, McLaren included. We acted professionally and within the FIA rules. Hamilton took a short cut inside of the corner while off the track. We had a choice to mete out a time penalty or ten grid places at the next grand prix, and we opted for the former and handed down a time penalty of 25 seconds. I know I am a very unpopular person in the United Kingdom now [yep], but I was doing my job and I know I acted professionally.”
According to the Nairobi-based Nation newspaper, Thathi also boasted “I can walk into any Italian restaurant - Italians love me.”
