September 08, 2008

FORMULA One was plunged into new controversy when race stewards at the Belgian Grand Prix stunningly stripped Lewis Hamilton of a brilliant victory.

The stewards' decision, which will be seen by many as part of a conspiracy to rig the results to ensure a close fight in the title race, came long after the race when they hit the Briton and his McLaren team with a 25-second penalty.

Their decision came in relation to a move in the final stages of the race when after attempting to pass Ferrari world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who was leading, he was forced off the circuit and cut out the 'Bus Stop' chicane.

Hamilton recognised immediately that he had done this - and gained an advantage by going ahead of the Finn - so he slowed to allow his rival to re-pass him and lead as they completed the lap in teeming rain.

When they began racing again, 23-year-old Hamilton passed Raikkonen and went on to win after the Finn slipped on the rain-drenched surface and crashed out.

Hamilton was relegated to third and the race victory was handed to Ferrari's Brazilian driver Felipe Massa who had struggled to keep pace with the Briton and Raikkonen.

McLaren said they would appeal the decision.

"We have studied the details and put them before the FIA stewards," said a team statement.

"They show that after cutting the chicane Lewis lifted off, he was 6km/h slower than Kimi. After conceding the lead to Kimi, Lewis repositioned his car on the right and beat Kimi on the brakes going into the hairpin."

Hamilton insisted that he did not deserve to be stripped of his victory.

"I left him (Raikkonen) enough room, yet he picked up more pace going into the corner, and drove me as wide as he possibly could," said Hamilton before the sanction was announced.

"This is motor racing and if there's a penalty, then there's something wrong because I was ahead going into that corner, so I didn't gain an advantage from it.

"We were still able to race at the next corner and I gave him his spot back, and I think it was fair and square, so I think it would be absolutely wrong. But you know what they (the stewards) are like, so we will see."

Critics and paddock observers were swift in their condemnation of a decision that reeked of potential favouritism for Ferrari and seemed entirely unjustified following the most exciting race of the year.

Last year, the sport's ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA) was accused of a 'witch-hunt' against McLaren and this spectre was raised again by their stewards action at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

In the immediate post-race euphoria, there were no calls for an investigation by any driver or team, but the stewards announced they would be making an official investigation.

The decision to hit Hamilton with a 'drive-through' penalty worth 25 seconds wrecked the value of the race as a spectacle and at the same time devalued Massa's win to nothing more than a hollow sporting victory gifted to him.

It will be seen by most observers as another move by the FIA artificially to keep alive the championship and make it closer by hitting McLaren with a sanction.

At the previous race in Valencia, Ferrari escaped any punishment for taking advantage at a controversial pit-stop when most observers expected Massa, who escaped sanction, to be given a 'drive-through' penalty.

The shock decision, which demoted Hamilton to third place behind Massa and BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld, left the British driver with just a two-point lead over Massa in the championship with only five races left.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso from Spain came home fourth for Renault ahead of German Sebastian Vettel in a Toro Rosso and sixth-placed Pole Robert Kubica in the second BMW.

In another late development, Timo Glock of Toyota was demoted a place to ninth, with Mark Webber of Red Bull promoted to eighth, following a 25sec penalty for not taking notice of yellow flags.

F1GP - Belgian Grand Prix
Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired
1 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:22:59.394
2 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +9.3 secs
3 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +10.5 secs
4 5 Fernando Alonso Renault +14.4 secs
5 15 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso +14.5 secs
6 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +15.0 secs
7 14 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso +16.7 secs
8 10 Mark Webber Red Bull +42.7 secs
9 12 Timo Glock Toyota +67.0 secs
10 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren +1 Lap
11 9 David Coulthard Red Bull +1 Lap
12 7 Nico Rosberg Williams +1 Lap
13 20 Adrian Sutil Force India +1 Lap
14 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +1 Lap
15 16 Jenson Button Honda +1 Lap
16 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota +1 Lap
17 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +1 Lap
18 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari DNF
19 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda DNF
20 6 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault DNF

Driver Team Pts
1 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 76
2 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 74
3 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 58
4 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 57
5 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 49
6 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 43
7 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 26
8 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 23
9 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 19
10 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 15
11 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 13
12 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Toro Rosso 13
13 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Honda 11
14 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 9
15 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 8
16 David Coulthard (GBR) Red Bull 6
17 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 4
18 Jenson Button (GBR) Honda 3
19 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0
19 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0
19 Anthony Davidson (GBR) Super Aguri 0
19 Takuma Sato (JAP) Super Aguri 0

Team Pts
1 Ferrari 131
2 McLaren 119
3 BMW Sauber 107
4 Toyota 41
5 Renault 36
6 Red Bull 25
7 Williams 17
8 Toro Rosso 17
9 Honda 14
10 Force India 0
10 Super Aguri 0