23-Sep-08: FIA Reject McLaren’s Belgium Appeal

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Welcome to F1 Minute for the 23rd September 2008.

The result is in, and the FIA have rejected McLaren’s appeal against Lewis Hamilton’s Belgium penalty, deeming it to be inadmissible. The official FIA Statement reads: “Article 152 of the International Sporting Code states that drive-through penalties are ‘not susceptible to appeal’.” McLaren tried to use an appeal from 2007 as a precedent – Tonio Liuzzi at the Japanese Grand Prix, for overtaking under yellow flags – but the FIA didn’t agree.

Hamilton released a statement soon after the announcement saying he was disappointed but ready to move on. “People will probably expect me to be depressed about today’s result, but that isn’t me. All I want to do now is put this matter behind me and get on with what we drivers do best: racing each other.”

McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh added to this that they are also disappointed to have received no ruling on the actual substance of the appeal, as they felt it was a perfectly valid complaint.

That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.