McLaren have written to Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, to apologise for misleading race stewards after the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
McLaren were found guilty of misleading race stewards, with their driver Lewis Hamilton disqualified from the race.
The team are charged with five counts of bringing the sport into disrepute and face an FIA hearing on 29 April.
Penalties could include expulsion from the 2009 championship, suspension, a fine or points deduction.
"We are co-operating with the FIA. I have written to (FIA president) Max Mosley but before 29 April I can't say anything about it," said McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh ahead of Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
"It's a letter to them. Certainly, there's been no leak about it from us and I can't comment on it."
Whitmarsh's letter offers Mosley, the FIA and race officials "an unreserved apology" for lying to stewards in Melbourne.Hamilton finished fourth behind Trulli's Toyota, whom McLaren accused of breaking F1 rules by overtaking while the field was under the control of the safety car.
Officials initially handed Trulli a 25-second penalty, promoting Hamilton to third after the world champion and McLaren's long-serving sporting director Dave Ryan gave evidence that the Englishman had not deliberately let the Toyota driver through, and had not been asked by the team to do so.
But McLaren's radio communication contradicted this and Hamilton was later disqualified with Trulli reinstated to third place.
Hamilton, who issued an emotional public apology after the incident, is expected to escape further censure but Ryan, who was with him at the hearings and has worked for McLaren for 35 years, has been sacked.
Friday, April 24, 2009
McLaren make apology for 'lying'
Friday, April 3, 2009
Trulli: Justice has been done
Jarno Trulli believes justice has been served after Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from the Australian GP on Thursday.
Hamilton was promoted from fourth to third following Sunday's race at Melbourne's Albert Park after stewards handed Trulli a 25-second penalty for passing the reigning world champion under yellow flags.
That followed an accident late on between Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, who were running second and third at the time, bringing the safety car into play.
Toyota driver Trulli, demoted to 12th in light of the penalty, has since protested his innocence, although under the rules the team had no grounds to appeal.
However, with new evidence coming to light - notably radio traffic between Hamilton and his McLaren pit crew - the stewards have now hammered the 24-year-old following a further investigation.
Trulli has been reinstated to third, much to his delight.
He said: "I am happy because I wanted some justice and I got it.
"I am happy for myself and the team and I have to thank the FIA because it does not happen very often they reconsider something.
"It must have been really hard for them, but they had common sense to really try and understand what was going on. I have always been honest and it has paid off.
"It was a controversial end of the race and it was hard for anyone to understand, but I never lied. I was honest in my statement and I never changed it."
With the safety car out, Trulli concedes to making a mistake and running off the track at one stage, giving Hamilton the chance to legitimately pass and move up to third.
Shortly after, Hamilton then deliberately slowed - under orders to do so by McLaren - and believing his rival had a problem, Trulli reclaimed third place, albeit reluctantly.
The veteran Italian claims he offered Hamilton the opportunity to reclaim his place once it became apparent the Briton had no problem.
"The rules say if the car in front of you cannot keep a certain speed to follow the safety car, or is in trouble, you can overtake that car," Trulli added.
"I didn't know what his problem was but if he wanted he could have overtaken me. After I overtook him, I moved to the left side and he didn't overtake me."
Trulli feels Hamilton and McLaren should have been more clear with their explanation, although he added: "This is more up to him and not down to me.
"I know I told the truth and all the evidence shows I didn't break the rules. This is very clear. I said the same thing twice.
"I proved it with every kind of evidence and, on top of that, there was evidence from other teams, so that just confirms my statement."
Hamilton loses Aussie GP points
Lewis Hamilton and McLaren have been stripped of their podium finish and all points at the Australian Grand Prix.
The sport's world governing body, the FIA, said they were excluded "for providing evidence deliberately misleading to the stewards".
A post-race hearing promoted Hamilton from fourth to third after Jarno Trulli was penalised for passing Hamilton while the safety car was out.
Trulli and Toyota have been reinstated to third, and McLaren will not appeal.
Hamilton was summoned by stewards on Thursday, ahead of this weekend's Malaysian GP, to discuss what the FIA described as "a new element" of evidence.
That "new element" included radio exchanges between Hamilton and his team as well as a post-race interview given by the world champion.
"The stewards, having learned about the radio exchanges and the media interview, felt strongly that they had been misled by the driver and his team manager," said an FIA statement.
An FIA spokesman said it "could not rule out at this stage" further action against McLaren.
Hamilton left the Sepang International Circuit without commenting on the decision.
Trulli was initially handed a 25-second penalty for the incident, which saw him demoted to 12th.
"We are disappointed by what has happened but in the circumstances we are not going to appeal," said McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh, before the FIA's summary of considerations was released.
He added: "There is no implication that Lewis lied to the stewards.
"As I understand there is a belief that the team was not explicit enough in the content of the radio communications to the stewards.
"What they believe is that the omission of the information about the radio communication between the team was withheld and that is misleading.
"I believe it was a harsh decision. Lewis made a legitimate pass and then was repassed - at the time the team asked race control several times about the repass but they were too busy to answer that question so we felt the decision in the immediate aftermath was fair.
"I think it's a regrettable day. It certainly wasn't a deliberate attempt (to mislead the stewards)."
McLaren have had little leeway in terms of receiving the benefit of the doubt from the FIA since the 2007 'spygate' row.
That saw the team stripped of their constructors' points and fined £50m after being caught in possession of sensitive Ferrari technical data.
In Melbourne on Sunday, the safety car came out after a late collision between Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica in his BMW Sauber.
Trulli slid off the track and was passed by Hamilton but the Toyota driver, who has welcomed the decision, said he had little choice but to overtake the Briton again.
"I am happy because I wanted some justice and I got it," said Trulli.
"I am happy for myself and the team and I have to thank the FIA because it does not happen very often they reconsider something.
"It must have been really hard for them, but they had common sense to really try and understand what was going on. I have always been honest and it has paid off.
"It was a controversial end of the race and it was hard for anyone to understand, but I never lied. I was honest in my statement and I never changed it."
BBC commentator and former F1 driver Martin Brundle said: "This does not look good for Hamilton or McLaren.
"Hamilton passed Trulli as he was off the road. Hamilton clearly wondered then, to give him the benefit of the doubt, if he had passed under the safety car conditions and was trying to let Trulli back through.
"There was a point when he was doing just 15mph in his McLaren and Trulli had no option but to repass him.
"I think Lewis then saw half a chance of a third place instead of a fourth, went up to the stewards and didn't give them the full story.
"Now they've matched up his comments (to them) to radio content between him and the team, and other information they've gathered, and they've decided that effectively he was telling fibs.
"I think it's a big issue and it's not going to go away. If they were asked a direct question they should have given the right answer, and they clearly didn't."
Monday, March 30, 2009
Ferrari frustrated by pointless race
Luckless Ferrari did not manage to score a single point in a season-opening grand prix for the first time since 1992.
Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali was left to reflect on "a day to forget".
Last season's title runner-up, Felipe Massa, retired on lap 45, with 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen following suit three laps from home.
Domenicali can only hope his team repeat the kind of recovery they displayed last season when Massa came within a point of clinching the crown, while the team captured the constructors' championship.
"This was definitely not a start worthy of Ferrari, from any point of view," fumed Domenicali.
"We were lacking on the reliability front, with two cars forced to retire, with our performance not up to the potential we had expected after our winter testing.
"We struggled to manage the tyres and our strategy choices did not work out, especially in the case of Felipe.
"To sum up, it was a day to forget from the result point of view but to remember well so as to try and analyse everything we failed in, in order to improve immediately.
"From that point of view, it's good we have a race coming up next week in Malaysia.
"It will give us the opportunity to react, as long as we draw the right conclusions, calmly but also decisively."
Domenicali will be hoping the track in Malaysia is more to the liking of the team's cars, adding: "Australia does not seem to have been a happy hunting ground for us these last few years.
"The circuit is a bit untypical, where it could be that the pecking order is not so clear.
"It will be more evident in Sepang, although we're well aware that, apart from one team that was untouchable today, there are numerous other strong competitors."
Domenicali was referring to Brawn GP's one-two courtesy of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello as the team made a stunning start to their new life in Formula One after two years in the doldrums as Honda Racing.
Massa feels the Brawns are head and shoulders above the rest of the field at present but he remains confident Ferrari will recover.
"We knew the Brawn GP cars would be unbeatable but, all the same, we thought we could have a good race," said Massa.
"In my opinion, apart from the Brawns, we are competitive but we have to work perfectly to get to the front.
"The solution for Malaysia? Work, and work hard."
More to come from Brawn - Button
Jenson Button insists there is more to come from him and his team after leading home a Brawn GP one-two at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
The Briton led from start to finish, despite two safety car periods, with Rubens Barrichello second in Melbourne.
"It may have looked easy but it really wasn't.
"It wasn't the perfect race and there's room for improvement, but we got the win and hopefully this is the first of many. I can't wait for Malaysia now."
The result was a remarkable one for Brawn GP, who become the first debut team to finish one-two since 1954, when Juan Manuel Fangio led home Karl Kling for Mercedes in the French Grand Prix.
And the significance of the turn-around in fortunes for the Honda team - who as recently as a month ago were unsure of their future in Formula 1 - was not lost on the 29-year-old.
"It was an amazing day. I have to say a massive thanks to everyone because it's been a hugely traumatic few months - I can't exaggerate how tough it's been - but this is the perfect start," he said.
"I know I've said it before but it's true, we deserve this, I really feel we do."
Button showed admirable nerve in leading throughout a race littered with incidents.
Robert Kubica, Sebastian Vettel, Barrichello, Heikki Kovalainen and Mark Webber were involved in serious collisions with each other, while the likes of Kazuki Nakajima and Kimi Raikkonen spun into the wall.
But Button, aided by having a clear run out in front, held on to lead home his team-mate.
"Without the safety car periods it'd have been a whole lot easier, but even so there were things to deal with," he said. "Being at the front should be easy but I promise you it wasn't easy at all.
"We can definitely improve our restarts and I really struggled to get temperature into the tyres as well. I also made a mistake in the first pit stop so there's more to come from both me and the team.
"I made it difficult for us today but we got there."
And with just seven days until the Malaysian Grand Prix, Button allowed himself to cast an eye to the next race, saying: "It's wicked it comes up so soon, I'm looking forward to it already."
Button's team-mate Rubens Barrichello endured an incident-packed race but was impressed with the Brawn's durability.
"The car is strong, very strong," said the veteran Brazilian, "I was hit from behind and I hit someone in front and also on the side, so it was a very tough race."
The Brazilian was hit by Heikki Kovalainen's McLaren at the first corner and had another tangle with Kimi Raikkonen in the early stages of the race.
"I thought the car was done, my nose cone was falling apart and I lost braking stability but it survived quite well. I had a lot of mixed emotions but it was fantastic, really fantastic."
Team principal Ross Brawn was almost lost for words after watching his drivers fill the top two spots on the podium.
"It's stunning, absolutely stunning," he said. "With everything that all our staff have been through, it's just sensational.
"It wasn't that easy, there were times when we had to look after things, and of course reliability was a worry because we hadn't done a race distance until today.
"It's unbelievable. It doesn't get much better than that."
Australian Grand Prix photos
Jenson Button makes the most of his pole position by getting away cleanly in Melbourne
The silver and red McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen touches the Red Bull of Mark Webber and both are out of contention at the first corner
Nick Heidfeld in the BMW and Fernando Alonso's Renault are also on the gravel
Button opens a four-second lead by lap four with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Felipe Massa closing in
Button pits but gets out again in front, with a lapped car between him and the pack, as the safety car comes out, laps 19-23
Vettel and Kubica, battling behind Button, collide with only three laps left, wiping out both cars despite the German's attempt to continue
Button crosses the line to win the Australian Grand Prix and seal a memorable weekend for him and the whole Brawn GP team 
Barrichello completes and celebrates a Brawn GP one-two, owing as much to other team's performances as their own diffusers
Victory is sweet for Button
Button seals dream Australia win
Jenson Button secured a dream debut victory for the Brawn GP team after dominating the Australian Grand Prix.
The Englishman led throughout and team-mate Rubens Barrichello completed a Brawn one-two after a dramatic finish.
The Brazilian was promoted after Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW's Robert Kubica collided while disputing second place with three laps to go.
Toyota's Jarno Trulli was hit with a 25-second penalty after the race giving Lewis Hamilton an unexpected third.
Clinching an eventual podium finish from 18th on the grid was a superb achievement for the British world champion, given the woeful performance of his McLaren coming into the race.
But all eyes were on Brawn after the chequered flag, with the success of the former Honda team - whose survival was only secured by team boss Ross Brawn in early March - firmly capturing the imagination of the sport as it enters a fresh era under new rules.
Victorious Button secured the second win of his 154-race Formula 1 career after driving coolly throughout, showcasing Brawn's speed to keep Red Bull's Vettel at bay for the vast majority of the race to eventually cruise to a finish behind the safety car.
"This is a fairytale ending for the first race," said Button.
"Some people may say its a pity the race finished under the safety car but I don't care, I won the race and that's all I care about."
Vettel looked set for a brilliant second place but he and Kubica tangled on Turn Three with just three laps remaining.
The Red Bull driver was slow through the first two corners, allowing Kubica to get alongside on the outside.
The Pole gave Vettel room, but the Red Bull's front wheel tagged the rear wheel of the BMW.
That tipped both into a spin, and damaged their front wings.
Both crashed further around the lap, and although Vettel tried to continue on three wheels he was eventually forced to retire.
Along with earning the Red Bull driver a post-race 10-place grid penalty for next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, the crash brought out the safety car for the second time in the race and it stayed at the head of the field until the end.
Brawn's one-two looked unlikely at the start of the race as Barrichello, sat next to Button on the front row, was easily passed by the chasing pack as his anti-stall system kicked in.
The Brazilian also tangled with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to cause significant damage to his front wing, which had to be replaced during his stop on lap 18.
The frenetic start also saw Red Bull's Mark Webber collide with McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, causing the Finn to retire and putting the Australian to the back for the duration of his home race.
Button built a lead of nearly 4.5 seconds in the first two laps but Vettel stabilised the gap, which stayed at between four and five seconds until the first pit stops.
Kubica - one of several drivers to start the race on the slower, softer tyres in order to get them out of the way early - stayed in the hunt while Hamilton continued to make up good ground after a brilliant first lap that saw him move up to 12th from 18th on the grid.
The first of two safety car periods happened on lap 19, following a crash by Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima.
When it pulled in again, Button again built a five-second lead over a few laps before Vettel held it.
But both - now on the softer, slower tyres - came under pressure late in the race from Kubica, who was now benefiting from the team's decision to use the faster tyres late on.
That pressure on Button was punctured in an instant as the Pole collided with Vettel allowing Jarno Trulli and Hamilton, whose McLaren had woefully underperformed in qualifying by his own admission but was now seemingly capable of giving him a drive, to reap the rewards.
Hamilton received a further boost following the race when he was elevated to third after "I can't say how disappointed I am to finish third and have the result questioned," he said.
"I thought he [Hamilton] had a problem so I overtook him as there was nothing else I could do."
Team principal Tadashi Yamashina said the Toyota team would appeal the stewards' ruling.
Trulli's team-mate Timo Glock eventually finished fourth in Melbourne ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso and Williams's Nico Rosberg, who suffered a sticking front wheel at a pit stop on lap 15 which scuppered his chance of a podium finish.
Red Bull's Sebastien Buemi made an impressive debut to secure his first F1 points.
And Ferrari finished without scoring in the season opener for the second year running, as Felipe Massa - running in third place - sustained a reliability failure on lap 45, three laps after team-mate Raikkonen had spun out. Trulli was handed a 25-second penalty by the stewards for passing Hamilton under yellow flags following the crash involving Vettel and Kubica, meaning the veteran Italian finished 12th.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Slow start for champion Hamilton
Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton finished a lowly 16th after the first practice session ahead of the Australian GP.
With the cars sporting newly-designed front and rear wings, as well as a return to slick tyres, it was tip-toe stuff at first around Melbourne's Albert Park for the first practice session. And come the end of the initial 90 minutes run under blue skies and in warm sunshine ahead of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton was left languishing.
However, it was apparent McLaren are playing cat-and-mouse games as team-mate Heikki Kovalainen underlined there is clear potential in the car as he was fifth quickest. The Finn finished almost 1.6 seconds ahead of the Briton, and just under 0.8secs behind an unexpected one-two as Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets ahead of his Williams team-mate in Kazuki Nakajima.
Williams were one of three teams - along with Brawn GP and Toyota - cleared on Thursday by race stewards of using an illegal diffuser, a key aerodynamic component that aids the airflow beneath a car.
Just 0.049secs separated the Williams duo, with 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen a close third, finishing fractions behind the Japanese in his Ferrari.
The Brawn GP pairing of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, who had blown everyone away with their speed in testing, sandwiched Kovalainen in fourth and sixth.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who was denied the title last season by a point from Hamilton, finished seventh and almost a second down on Rosberg, whose fellow German Timo Glock was eighth.
The Force India of Adrian Sutil was ninth, followed by Fernando Alonso in his Renault, and then the first of the BMW Saubers in Nick Heidfeld.
As for Hamilton, he was 2.355secs off Rosberg's pace and the last of the Mercedes powered cars as Brawn GP and Force India both run with the German manufacturers engines. However, it is clear there is more to come if Kovalainen's pace is anything to go by.
Sebastian Vettel, now driving for Red Bull after switching from sister team Toro Rosso, finished bottom of the timesheets. The young German, of whom big things are expected this season, managed just four laps due to a technical issue with his car that forced him to pull over to one side of the track.
Rosberg fastest as F1 blasts off
Williams driver Nico Rosberg clocked the fastest laps of both practice sessions as the new Formula 1 season burst into life in Melbourne.
Toyota, Brawn GP and Williams - who all fought off a Thursday protest about the legality of their cars - shone the brightest on an intriguing afternoon.
England's Lewis Hamilton, the world champion, struggled in his McLaren to finish 16th then 18th.
Red Bull put in a strong second session while Ferrari had a mixed day.
Ahead of the richly-anticipated opening action of the 2009 season, motorsport's governing body, the FIA, had rejected a protest made by Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault about the legality of a key part at the back of the cars used by Williams, Brawn GP and Toyota.
It had been claimed their rear diffusers do not conform to new F1 regulations, but stewards ruled against the complaint.
And it was those cars that were fastest around Melbourne's Albert Park street circuit, with the traditionally more successful teams suffering.
In the first session, Rosberg came through to take the fastest time - one minute 26.687 seconds - from Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen on his last lap of 19, while team-mate Kazuki Nakajima finished second.
The German ran even quicker in the second session, clocking 1:26.053, while Japan's Nakajima finished up seventh.
"It's been a positive day," said Rosberg. "We've done very well today but it's not clear how much fuel others were running.
"My hopes are higher than before that we can consistently score points. It's a nice step forward but how much, I cannot say."
New team Brawn GP also backed up their impressive performance in testing with a strong showing.
The former Honda team led by owner Ross Brawn were tipped as pre-race favourites and, on this early showing, there is every indication that may be justified.
Veteran Rubens Barrichello, at 37 the oldest driver on the grid, finished fourth and second in the respective sessions with a fastest time of 1:26.157.
England's Jenson Button - widely identified as the pre-race favourite by bookies - finished sixth and fifth with a fastest time of 1:26.374.
Though little can be read into practice times - teams merely use these sessions to determine their qualifying and race tactics - Toyota will also be heartened by their performance.
Drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, both running on the softer of the two tyre types available, led for much of the second session and eventually finished third and sixth respectively.
Also on the seemingly more responsive softer tyres, Raikkonen led for most of the first session but eventually finished third for the constructor's champions.
In the second session, he finished 11th with Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa one place ahead.
McLaren were slow throughout, which was largely expected given the problems they had experienced in pre-season testing.
Heikki Kovalainen finished fifth in the first session but team-mate Hamilton was well off the pace and both were in the last four places in the second session.
"It's tough for anyone [being at the back] but I have a lot of experience running at the back in other categories," said Hamilton.
"But we are not in the place we want to be. We have a steep and tough challenge but we have to remain positive and keep pushing."
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso failed to shine in his Renault, finishing 10th in the first session and 12th in the second, while BMW Sauber had troubles with their car and were not as quick as anticipated after strong test showings leading up to Melbourne.
Red Bull suffered in the first session, with drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel managing just 11 laps between them.
But Webber hit back to finish fourth in the second session with a time of 1:26.370, though Vettel again span out.
Ferrari, McLaren and Renault, along with BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, ran with the new kinetic energy recovery (Kers), which gives drivers a power boost.
The third and final practice session is on Saturday at 0255 GMT.
F1 rivals fear new boys Brawn GP
Rivals of Brawn GP say the team could dominate the first race of the season in Australia on Sunday after their sensational form in pre-season testing.
"They will disappear on the basis of what we have seen in testing," said Williams team boss Sir Frank Williams. "I just hope we can be up there, too."
Former champion Fernando Alonso said Brawn's pace was "impressive".
However, a row is looming over the design of a part on Brawn's cars, as well as those of Williams and Toyota.
BBC Sport understands that Red Bull intend to lodge a protest against those teams if their cars are not declared illegal when governing body the FIA checks whether they conform with the regulations on Thursday.
The other six teams are also unhappy with the design of the rear diffuser on the Brawn, Williams and Toyota.
The diffuser is the rear part of the floor of the car between the rear wheels and under the rear wing.
It is crucial to the aerodynamics of the car, and small changes can have a big impact on the amount of downforce - and therefore grip and speed - the car can produce.
Brawn GP carries the name of former Honda team principal Ross Brawn, who put together a last-minute management buy-out in March.
Honda, whose team was based in Brackley, Northamptonshire, pulled out of Formula 1 in December because of falling road-car sales and the global economic crisis.
After Brawn's participation was confirmed, Englishman Jenson Button and team-mate Rubens Barrichello of Brazil shocked their opponents by setting the pace in pre-season testing in Barcelona and also shining a week later in Jerez.
"They are making the rest of us look like amateurs," added Williams.
Renault's Alonso noted Brawn's fine pre-season displays but sounded a note of caution.
"The times set by the Brawn cars in testing are impressive and suggest they will be racing at the front in Melbourne," he said on Wednesday.
"However, testing is one thing and racing is another, and as with our other competitors there could be some surprises this year."