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McLaren are shameless hypocrites devoid of any integrity...

Alfpoon

By Alfpoon,
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Alfpoon

Alfpoon

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Ferrari have accused McLaren of being "naked opportunists" at an appeal over the result of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

 

McLaren objected to Williams and BMW not being penalised for using fuel that was too cool in the season finale.

 

If the FIA upholds the appeal McLaren's Lewis Hamilton could depose Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen as world champion.

 

McLaren lawyers have called for a reclassification of the championship which led to Ferrari's sharp retort - a final ruling is expected on Friday.

 

Hamilton was seventh in Brazil behind a Williams and both BMWs.

 

If Williams's Nico Rosberg and BMW Sauber pair Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld are disqualified, the Englishman could be moved up to fourth and would gain enough points to overtake Raikkonen, who won the race.

 

Hamilton finished the season one point behind the Finn.

 

McLaren Barrister Ian Mill pointed to 26 instances in Formula One history where there had been disqualifications and a championship reclassification.

 

"We offer no special plea on behalf of the team, but I ask you to do what normally happens," he said.

 

"It's clear the infringement of this rule did have a performance-enhancing effect.

 

"If you put in cool fuel it increases the horse power.

 

"The principle is clear: if there was a performance enhancement, there was a breach and there has to be a disqualification.

 

"I ask you to address this as though it was any team at any stage of the season.

 

"It cannot make a difference it was the last race of the season, and that it will decide the championship.

 

"Invariably, whenever there has been a disqualification, there has been a reclassification."

 

But Ferrari's Nigel Tozzi countered: "This is not the way a Formula One world championship should be won.

 

"Mr Hamilton himself, potentially the only beneficiary, has said very clearly he does not want to win the championship this way.

 

"Mr Norbert Haug, head of Mercedes motorsport, has again gone on the record and said McLaren are not appealing in order to claim the championship.

 

"Mr Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren F1 CEO) in an interview yesterday said 'finding a way to award the world drivers' championship to Lewis retrospectively, is not at all what this is about'.

 

 

"It could be said McLaren are shameless hypocrites devoid of any integrity, or maybe what their representatives have said should be taken at face value.

 

"If what they want is clarity, then by all means let them have that, but do not allow them to have the world championship this way.

 

"It would be a serious injustice to Mr Raikkonen should the world title be taken away from him, a fact recognised by Mr Hamilton and Mr (Fernando) Alonso.

 

"As McLaren are fond of saying: 'The championship should be decided on the track and not in the courtroom'," he concluded.

 

It is widely expected that the FIA will not change the race classification even if it decides to punish Williams and BMW Sauber and it is unlikely to result in Raikkonen losing out.

 

And Hamilton has already said that he does not want to win the championship in this fashion.

 

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher and Britain's last world champion Damon Hill also believe it would be bad for the sport if the championship is settled in this way.

 

But the trio are united in their belief that McLaren's appeal will not affect the outcome of the title race.

 

Ecclestone said on Wednesday: "I don't think Formula One fans would like a championship to be won because the temperature of the fuel, which can't be measured anyway, is possibly 5C out," he told The Times.

 

"If anybody thinks that is the best thing for Formula One, then I'd have a serious thought about retiring.

 

"They don't have to change the results of the race - it's an infringement of the regulations.

 

"On the same weekend, McLaren used an extra set of tyres, which they shouldn't have used - that was an infringement - so if anything does happen at this Court of Appeal, maybe they'll treat it exactly the same as the tyres."

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Falc

Falc

3rd Gear

What's new? laugh.gif They talked about fairness, then someone come and say the team is racing against Alonso, not Kimi. bla bla ... You just can't believe what they say ... sweatdrop.gif

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Felipe

Felipe

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Mclaren should note that when a team is punished for spying, their drivers should lose all their points too. But at that time, in the spirit of racing, the panel decided to let Lewis and Alonso keep their points. Mclaren's argument is to think on the basis of the race alone, rather than common sense. They forgot that they were spared just a few months ago. Lewis shouldn't even have been allowed to keep his points for winning on an illegal car and Mclaren still has the audacity to appeal!

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Miles

Miles

4th Gear

Not forgetting, the Brazilian stewards did not penalize Hamilton for using 2 sets of tyres during friday's practice session in the spirit of seeing the final penultimate race as exciting as it can be.... now McLarens (or rather accdg to them Mercedes is the ones that decided to appeal) are appealing for this.... i dare say that if they win this appeal, Ferrari will launch another appeal because Hamilton uses 2 sets of tyres during practice.

 

If this should happen, they should change the name of the sport to F1001 because you need to scrutinize 1001 details of everyone's cars to win a championship.

 

Next year without electronic driving aids, it'll be interesting to see who is good and who is great.

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Alfpoon

Alfpoon

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McLaren lose Brazilian GP appeal

 

Raikkonen has been confirmed as world champion

McLaren's Brazilian Grand Prix appeal has been rejected by the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

The decision confirmed Kimi Raikkonen as world champion, dashing Briton Lewis Hamilton's title hopes.

 

The FIA ruled the appeal - against the decision of the Brazilian GP stewards not to punish the BMW Sauber and Williams teams - was inadmissible.

 

McLaren had objected to Williams and BMW avoiding punishment for using fuel that was too cool in Brazil.

 

The decision finally brings to an end a very intense season, both on and off the track

 

Ferrari chief executive Jean Todt

 

The FIA's independent court of appeal, comprising four judges, met in London for a four-hour hearing on Thursday, but did not announce the decision until late on Friday.

 

If Williams' Nico Rosberg and BMW Sauber pair Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld had been disqualified, Hamilton could have moved up to fourth and gained enough points to overtake Raikkonen, who won the race and therefore the title.

 

Hamilton was seventh in Brazil behind Rosberg and both BMWs.

 

"As I have said all along, Kimi deserved to win the 2007 world drivers championship and neither I nor anyone at McLaren had any desire to take it off him in court," said the 22-year-old Hamilton.

 

McLaren's F1 chief executive officer Martin Whitmarsh added: "In the interests of rule clarification and rule consistency we lodged our appeal.

 

"We hope this fuel temperature issue does not remain unresolved in Formula One next year.

 

"But we look forward to working with the FIA and the teams on clarifying matters to avoid a similar situation occurring again."

 

Lawyers for McLaren had called for a reclassification of the championship, a move that angered Ferrari.

 

Williams and BMW Sauber argued McLaren's appeal was inadmissible because Hamilton's team had not been an interested party in the stewards' initial inquiry, and had not appealed against the race classification immediately after the event.

 

Ferrari accused McLaren of being "naked opportunists", after the English team's previous claims that the championship should not be decided in the courtroom.

 

606: DEBATE

Formula One really is losing its way when it gets to the point that the politics in the sport detract from the racing

 

CB

 

McLaren barrister Ian Mill had pointed to 26 instances in Formula One history where there had been disqualifications and a championship reclassification.

 

"We offer no special plea on behalf of the team, but I ask you to do what normally happens," he said.

 

In September McLaren were fined $100m (

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Kangz

Kangz

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Cool fuel is just fuel that's cooler than the ambient temperature. Cooler fuel will result in faster refueling as well as giving the car and edge in performance until the fuel warms up.

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