VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES
REACTION TO TODAY’S DECISION BY THE FIA INTERNATIONAL
COURT OF APPEAL
The FIA International Court of Appeal today rejected as
inadmissible Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ appeal against
the FIA Stewards’ decision in respect of fuel irregularities
at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix.
As was made very clear prior to the appeal, the team was
seeking to clarify the regulatory uncertainty that has arisen
from a decision of the FIA Stewards at the 2007 Brazilian
Grand Prix. After the race, both Williams cars and both BMW-Sauber
cars had been found by the FIA Technical Delegate, to have
used fuel that had been chilled by more than the accepted
margin of 10 degrees Centigrade below the ambient temperature.
Despite the FIA Technical Delegate’s findings, the FIA
Stewards decided that it was inappropriate to impose a penalty
on the Williams and BMW-Sauber cars owing to "sufficient
doubt as to both temperature of fuel on board the car and
also as to the true ambient temperature."
Despite the fact that the FIA’s Steward, Tony Scott
Andrews, accepted McLaren’s appeal when it was presented
to him after the race in the Interlagos paddock, the FIA International
Court of Appeal has decided that the appeal was not admissible.
This was despite the Stewards making the official results
subject to our appeal.
MARTIN WHITMARSH
"In the interests of rule clarification and rule consistency
we lodged our appeal. We have not yet seen the text of the
FIA International Court of Appeal decision and hope that clarification
is provided. It’s important to stress that the FIA Stewards'
inquiry at the Brazilian Grand Prix was not triggered by any
action from McLaren, but by a report written and made public
by the FIA Technical Delegate, which drew the FIA Stewards'
attention to what we regarded as a clear regulation breach
on the part of BMW-Sauber and Williams. Our appeal was merely
a logical and procedural step in the process begun by the
FIA Technical Delegate’s written report. We hope that
this fuel temperature issue does not remain unresolved in
Formula 1 next year but we look forward to working with the
FIA and the teams on clarifying matters to avoid a similar
situation occurring again."
LEWIS HAMILTON
"As I have said all along, Kimi deserved to win the 2007
World Drivers’ Championship, and neither I nor anyone
at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes had any desire to take it off
him in court. That was not the purpose of the team’s
appeal. I am looking forward to the 2008 season and racing
Kimi, and all my other rivals, on track and hopefully be able
to go one better than the second place I achieved in this
year’s World Drivers’ Championship."
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