F1 - Aussie GP Thread - CONTAINS SPOILERS

[Alec]

It's just like the decision over the diffuser not taking place until after two races.

If we get a similar result in Malaysia and then they find that it's illegal then it will be farcical.   

[jon b]

Hamilton DQ Melbourne due to the team providing "misleading information re yellow flag"

WTF are these FIA idiots doing.  Or is the poisoned dwarf up to his old tricks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

[jon b]

A statement issued by the stewards said:

"The Stewards having considered the new elements presented to them from the 2009 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, consider that driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the Stewards at the hearing on Sunday 29th March 2009, a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.

"Under Article 158 of the International Sporting Code the driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are excluded from the race classification for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix and the classification is amended accordingly."

[Hedge]

Er, blimey.
Any ideas on how they presented their case mis-leadingly then?
Not good, either way. For McLaren or F1.

Cheers, Hedge

[DFext37 Fielding]

Nice one, Trulli 3rd and Glock 4th, and Bourdais and Buemi firmly in the points, get in.

[jon b]

[quote="Hedge"]
Er, blimey.
Any ideas on how they presented their case mis-leadingly then?
Not good, either way. For McLaren or F1.

Cheers, Hedge
[/quote]

Who knows what was said or whether the facts will ever come out.

Rumors are that the McLaren team told Hamilton to let Trulli past under the yellow flag but didn't declare this in the hearing.

Either way, what gets to me is that the FIA are getting into the habit of a race decision not being made until several days after the race.  If they have to make a decision after a race there should be a time limit of 48 hours to get all of the evidence together to do so

[Trigger]

It is just damaging interest in F1. The fact is, even if Hamilton thought he had overtaken illegally and should let Trulli through, if in fact the pass was legal he should get 3rd back - as he did. Whether he let him thru or not is totally irrelevant. Its a joke.

[jon b]

[quote="Trigger"]
It is just damaging interest in F1. The fact is, even if Hamilton thought he had overtaken illegally and should let Trulli through, if in fact the pass was legal he should get 3rd back - as he did. Whether he let him thru or not is totally irrelevant. Its a joke.
[/quote]

Agreed.  But you know what Trigg, i'm sure the poisoned dwarf is convinced that it draws a larger crowd.  He needs to realise that F1 fans are a demanding bunch that call for fair play not a bunch of brainless morons that watch just for the glamour and who actively seek a sensational angle

[jon b]

This from the Jamesallenonf1.com blog
New McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has just come out into the Sepang paddock to speak to the media after the news that Lewis Hamilton and the team have been thrown out of the results of the Australian Grand Prix for â??deliberately misleadingâ?? the stewards over the incident with Jarno Trulli, involving overtaking behind the safety car.



â??Lewis was instructed to give the place back to Trulli, â??said Whitmarsh. â??The team thought, having not seen the incident, that it was the safest thing to do. That instruction was given to Lewis and he didnâ??t agree. Before that discussion was finished, Trulli had been passed. If we look at the speed traces and compare it to other periods, he didnâ??t do anything abnormal and itâ??s quite clear that Lewis shouldnâ??t have passed him. As soon as that happened we spoke to race control to ask if we could retake the place. race control was busy and couldnâ??t answer us.â?�

He added that the team then thought when they met the stewards that they were aware of the radio conversations. This turned out not to be the case.

He went on: â??The stewards now believe that we werenâ??t explicit enough about that radio conversation and thought that was prejudicial to the decision that they reached. We regret that and it was a mistake by the team.

â??There is not implication that Lewis lied to the stewards. I donâ??t know what they meant by (deliberately misleading), youâ??d have to ask them. They clearly feel that the team didnâ??t give enough information about the radio conversation.

â??They believe that the omission of the information about the radio conversation between the team and Lewis was withheld and that is what they believe was misleading.â?�

[Trigger]

F1 core support comes from real motorsport fans. Others come and go. They are losing the core with reidiculous decisions. Nowadays Senna would end the season with no points as his overtaking, and punching other drivers after the race would get him disqualified regularly !!! But it was entertaining !

This is issue is simple. Either Trulli overtaking Ham or Ham overtaking Trulli was wrong - so FIA decide which it is and place them accordingly. Simple. What was said on the radio is a pure irrelevance as I have already said, and makes it seem exactly what Jon says - Ecclestone is getting involved because Ferrari didnt get any points.

[DFext37 Fielding]

Yeah you know Senna gave Irvine a huge wad of cash and said 'sorry please don't take me to court' after he knuckle sandwiched him.

[dp35]

Transcript of the Hamilton/McLaren radio conversation:
http://www.f1technical.net/news/12012?sid=30906848cf4eea204a7a2fd2960b89e5

Actual audio of Toyota team radios at end of race:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OohT1HbaEF0

[dp35]

At first I thought - considering that all radio communications are now public, its rediculous that the FIA didn't have all the radio & in-car video needed to make a final decision just after the race ended.  Maybe that's still 90% true.  But after reading about it more, it makes slightly more sense why this happened the way it did. 

The one significant piece of evidence that damned Hamilton was a TV interview that he did after the race, but before his meeting with the stewards.  In that interview he said that the team told him to let Trulli by.  In the FIA meeting he said the opposite.  That is not ok.  The FIA didn't have access to that TV interview at the time they made the original decision.  Now they do, so they changed their minds.

Honesty in a situation like this is very important.  It made the difference between Trulli getting 3rd or 4th place points, to getting none.  Considering that the championships of the past 2 years have been decided by a single point, this is serious business.  Hamilton deserved some form of punishment for what looks to me like lying to the race officials.  Because the results of his lying would've cost another driver 6 points, I think his DQ is justified. 

Flame away my British friends.

[Hedge]

[quote="dp35"]
I think his DQ is justified. 
[/quote]

So do I, actually. And I'm, er, British 
I think Hamilton acted like a cock. For many reasons; chiefly, ignoring a directive from his team.
He deserves this, I think.

Cheers, Hedge

[CalScot]

What happens in the UK if you bet a tenner on the results, you win, you collect the money a couple days later and then the FIA changes the results a week later? Does Ladbookes come after you for the money back,...... or do they wait for a year on F1 payouts so all these guys can make up thier bloody minds what the final result is??

Just curious!