UNITED KINGDOM: MOTOR RACING - McLaren F1 team must wait 24 hours to find if Lewis Hamilton becomes world champion

An International Court of Appeal will rule on Friday (November 16) if 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen of the Ferrari team is to be deposed in favour of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Rookie Hamilton finished one point behind Raikkonen at the end of the season with a seventh place and two points in the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix in October. McLaren protested after the race that the Williams and BMW-Sauber cars that finished in fifth and sixth places violated regulations and so should be disqualified from the race. Any extra points awarded to Hamilton as a result would give him the world championship, although the driver himself has said that he does not want to win the championship in such a manner. The stewards in Brazil dismissed the protest but McLaren have protested. The fuel violation depended on an interpretation of regulations which allow teams to cool their fuel, especially for races in hot countries. The teams are told that the fuel must not be more than 10 degrees celsius cooler than the "ambient temperature". However the regulations do not explain where or how ambient temperature is measured and this has led to legal argument since the protest was lodged. Ferrari's lawyer told the FIA's independent International Court on Thursday that Formula One will be badly damaged if 'grubby' legal manoeuvring leads to Kimi Raikkonen losing his title to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in a courtroom, Nigel Tozzi said "It would be highly damaging for the sport if the title were to won this way with the fans probably feeling it was more about grubby manoeuvring by the lawyers than by skill behind the wheel." Tozzi said comments by McLaren bosses that they were not appealing in order to win the title through the back door but for clarification of the rules should either be taken at face value or be seen as the words of "shameless hypocrites devoid of any integrity". He, and representatives for BMW Sauber and Williams, argued that McLaren's appeal was in any case inadmissible because the team were not an interested party in the stewards' initial enquiry and had not appealed against the race classification. McLaren's lawyer had earlier called for the BMW Sauber and Williams cars to be disqualified, and Hamilton promoted. After the hearing McLaren's Chief Executive Officer Martin Whitmarsh alluded to the legal argument over how fuel temperatures should be measured. "Inevitably you can always think back on what could have been said that should have been said," Whitmarsh said. "But in the time I think we put our case forward. I think we, before Brazil, knew how fuel temperature was measured in cars. We are not sure as of today.We hope that is going to be clarified" Sam Michaels, technical director fo Williams F1, said he had clearly told the International Court that his cars had not broken the regulations. "We were surprised that there was any challenge because it was very clear on Sunday night to those who were involved in the case that our car was not only legal but a long way away from illegal so it was not a marginal decision, it was very obvious. Ferrari's next Formula One boss Stefano Domenicali, who takes over the role in January, declined to comment after the hearing. McLaren were fined $100 million and stripped of all their constructors' points in September in a spying controversy involving Ferrari, and Ferrari has made forceful comments about the attempt by McLaren to change the outcome of the championship.

ITN Source | November 16, 2007

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