Hamilton suffers from stewards again

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Lewis Hamilton will have left the Spa circuit on Sunday night believing an injustice had been served in Belgium.

For the fifth time in 13 races Hamilton suffered at the hands of the race stewards as the ninth win of his career was taken away two hours after he had crossed the finishing line.

A three-man panel - Nicholas Deschenaux, Surinder Thatti and Yves Bacquelaine - deemed Hamilton had gained an advantage in cutting a chicane.

That had occurred at the end of lap 42 of the 44-lap race, taking the lead as he battled with Kimi Raikkonen in the closing stages.

Hamilton correctly handed first place back to the reigning world champion, as the rules dictate, before legitimately passing him again on the run down to the first corner La Source hairpin.

In wet conditions, the lead then changed hands twice more on the penultimate lap prior to Raikkonen spinning into a wall, handing Hamilton the win.

Or so the 23-year-old thought, only to be demoted to third, with Felipe Massa the victor, so cutting Hamilton's lead at the top of the championship standings to two points.

Hamilton was not allowed to comment after the stewards' verdict, but an answer to a question beforehand said it all.

Asked as to whether he would be surprised if the stewards punished him, Hamilton replied: "Absolutely, absolutely.

"This is motor racing and if there's a penalty, then there's something wrong because I was ahead going into that corner, so I didn't gain an advantage from it.

"We were still able to race at the next corner and I gave him his spot back, and I think it was fair and square, so I think it would be absolutely wrong."

Somewhat pertinently, he added: "But you know what they (stewards) are like."

So it proved, adding to Hamilton's woes with the stewards this year as he received a five-place grid penalty in Malaysia - along with team-mate Heikki Kovalainen - for impeding others in qualifying.

Hamilton was then demoted 10 places for the French Grand Prix after driving into the back of Raikkonen in the pit lane in the previous race in Canada.

He also received a drive-through penalty in Magny-Cours for cutting a corner and not handing the place back.

And then there was a £4,000 fine for being late to a press conference in Valencia a fortnight ago.

McLaren have registered their intention to appeal the decision, however, FIA rules dictate they are unable to protest a drive-through penalty.

It will be one for the Court of Appeal to decide whether they have grounds on which to pursue their complaint, otherwise it will be dropped.

A team statement read: "We looked at all our data, and also made it available to the FIA stewards.

"It showed that, having lifted, Lewis was six kilometres per hour slower than Kimi as they crossed the start-finish line.

"Having passed the lead back to Kimi, Lewis repositioned his car, moving across and behind Kimi to the right-hand line, and then out-braked him into the hairpin.

"Based on this data, we have no option other than to register our intention to appeal.

"We are a racing team and we will now focus on Monza, with a view to extending our lead in the drivers' world championship."

That can now be Hamilton's only recourse, to leave this behind him and put one over on Ferrari in their own backyard.

Sandwiching Massa and Hamilton was BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, with Fernando Alonso fourth in his Renault.

The Toro Rossos of Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais were fifth and seventh, with Robert Kubica sixth in his BMW Sauber, while Mark Webber claimed eighth in his Red Bull.

McLaren lodge Belgian GP appeal

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McLaren have lodged an appeal against the punishment that stripped Lewis Hamilton of his Belgian Grand Prix win.

Stewards hit the Englishman with a 25-second penalty, demoting him to third, for cutting a chicane as he battled with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

McLaren said they are appealing on the grounds that Hamilton had immediately ceded the position back to Raikkonen.

"We hereby confirm we have lodged notice of appeal," said McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh.

The appeal has been lodged by the UK's national sporting authority, the Motor Sports Association, with Formula One's governing body the FIA.

There is some debate about whether the rules allow for teams to appeal against a time penalty - but that will be decided by the FIA court of appeal.

Triple world champion Niki Lauda has already described the stewards' decision as "the worst judgement in F1 history".

"It is the most perverted judgement I have ever seen," said the Austrian, who won the title for both Ferrari and McLaren.


If there's a penalty, then there's something wrong because I was ahead going into that corner, so I didn't gain an advantage from it

Lewis Hamilton
"It's absolutely unacceptable when three functionaries (the stewards) influence the championship like this."

After the race, a McLaren spokesman said: "Having passed the lead back to Kimi, Lewis repositioned, moving his car across and behind Kimi to the right-hand line.

"He then outbraked him into the hairpin."

The incident that led to the penalty arrived at the end of lap 42 as the rain Hamilton had been praying for duly arrived.

It allowed F1's wet-weather king to reel in leader Raikkonen and on the approach to the Bus Stop chicane, he had the Finn in his sights.

Hamilton darted around the outside, both drivers locked up their brakes on entry and Hamilton took evasive action by using a run-off area to his left.

The rules say drivers are not allowed to gain an advantage by cutting a chicane.

Returning to the track in the lead, the 23-year-old knew he had to yield his position, otherwise he would have been duly penalised.

Hamilton appeared to do so, with Raikkonen crossing the start-finish line narrowly ahead, before Hamilton dived across the track to the inside and overtook the Ferrari into the La Source hairpin.

But race stewards Nicholas Deschaux, Surinder Thatti and Yves Bacquelaine saw things differently.

The McLaren spokesman had added: "We looked at all our data and also made it available to the FIA stewards.

"It showed that, having lifted [off the accelerator], Lewis was 6kph slower than Kimi as they crossed the start-finish line.

"Based on this data, we have no option other than to register our intention to appeal.

"We are a racing team and we will now focus on Monza (the Italian Grand Prix next Sunday), with a view to extending our lead in the drivers' world championship."

Despite his joy at the apparent win, describing his fight with Raikkonen as "one of the most exciting for a long time", Hamilton perhaps had an inkling as to what might transpire.

Asked prior to the penalty whether he would be surprised if the stewards did punish him, Hamilton replied: "If there's a penalty, then there's something wrong because I was ahead going into that corner, so I didn't gain an advantage from it.

"We were still able to race at the next corner and I gave him his spot back and I think it was fair and square."

Hamilton has incurred the wrath of the stewards on other occasions already this season.

Hamilton's first punishment was in the second race of the season in Malaysia, where he and team-mate Heikki Kovalainen were handed five-place grid penalties for impeding other drivers in qualifying.

Hamilton was then demoted 10 places for the French Grand Prix after driving into the back of Raikkonen in the pit lane in the previous race in Canada.

Add the drive-through penalty in Magny-Cours and a 5,000 euros fine for being late to a press conference in Valencia a fortnight ago, and it has been a controversial year for Hamilton.

But win or lose the appeal, he still has a lead going into the final five races of the season.

Hamilton passed too soon - Massa

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Lewis Hamilton paid the price for passing Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen too soon after cutting a chicane, according to his title rival Felipe Massa.

McLaren driver Hamilton was stripped of victory in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix after being handed a 25-second penalty.

Massa said Hamilton was "maybe a bit too optimistic" in taking the lead.

"If Lewis had taken the chicane correctly, he would never have been able to pass Kimi on the very short straight that follows it," he said.

Formula One rules forbid drivers from gaining an advantage by cutting a chicane.

Hamilton passed leader Raikkonen by missing the Bus Stop chicane with just over two laps to go at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. He handed the position back to the Finn, as dictated by the rules, only to immediately pass him again going into the next corner.

The stewards decided that Hamilton had broken the rules and imposed a 25-second penalty on him after the race, demoting him from first to third behind Massa and BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld.


Brazilian Massa is now only two points behind Hamilton with five races to go, the first of which is his Ferrari team's home Italian Grand Prix this weekend.

McLaren have indicated they intend to appeal against the decision, and have until Sunday evening to officially confirm whether they will go through with it.

"What Lewis did is the sort of thing that can happen," Massa wrote on his website, "but I think he was maybe a bit too optimistic in thinking he could just hand back the position, albeit only partially to Kimi, and then immediately try to pass him again.

"Incidents like this have often been discussed in the official driver briefings, when it was made absolutely clear that anyone cutting a chicane has to fully restore the position and also any other eventual advantage gained.

"Maybe if Lewis had waited and tried to pass on the next straight, that would have been a different matter."

Hamilton, interviewed before the stewards' verdict was made public, said he did not think he had done anything wrong.

"I had taken a short cut and I knew I had to let him pass," Hamilton said.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren dispute the lead during the Belgian Grand Prix
Hamilton re-passed Raikkonen right after giving him the lead back

"That's what I did. Then I got back in his slipstream and got through again at the next corner.

"He hit me up the back and nearly caused me to spin. It was a great fight and I don't think there was anything wrong. This is motor racing. I think it was fair and square.

"I didn't want to wait until he flew past. I couldn't really see where he was. But eventually I could see him and I don't think I was on full throttle when he came past.

"I don't know how much more I could have done."

Massa was outpaced by Hamilton and Raikkonen in Spa, in the wet and slippery conditions at the start and end of the race and during the dry conditions that prevailed for the majority of the afternoon.

But he said he he had driven a deliberately conservative race with one eye on the championship.

"It is now looking very interesting in terms of the championship, as I am just two points behind," said Massa.

"I drove my race in Spa to finish, thinking about the championship position, and I did the right thing, because I gained one place after Kimi's crash and then after the race, came another move up the finish order.

"I am happy with that because the championship is really open now."

Belgian Grand Prix

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McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was stripped of a dramatic victory in the Belgian Grand Prix after stewards handed him a 25-second post-race penalty.

The Englishman was demoted to third place behind Ferrari's Felipe Massa and BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld.

He was accused of gaining an advantage by cutting the Spa circuit's Bus Stop chicane in a late-race battle with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

McLaren announced that they intend to appeal against the stewards' decision.

The demotion meant Hamilton's lead over Massa in the title chase cut to two points.

Massa's team-mate Raikkonen, who crashed out of second place shortly after losing the lead, is 19 points behind Hamilton.

Raikkonen is a point behind BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica.

Before the penalty, Hamilton had extended his lead over the Brazilian to eight points, with Raikkonen effectively out of the running on 23.

On the track, Hamilton had survived a frantic last two laps in a late shower of rain to apparently score a superb win.

Hamilton lost the lead to Raikkonen with an early spin but fought back in the closing laps to re-take the lead with two laps to go.

In a dramatic climax on a soaking track, Hamilton passed Raikkonen, lost the lead again with a spin, re-took it and then saw Raikkonen crash.

I was praying for rain - I wanted it to come because I knew how to deal with it

Lewis Hamilton

In a chaotic final couple of laps, Heidfeld jumped from eighth to third place on the track with what he called a "hero or zero decision" to come in for wet-weather tyres with two laps to go.

Renault's Fernando Alonso chose the same tactic a lap later and it secured the double world champion the fourth place he had held for much of the race.

"It was an experience and a half," Hamilton said before his penalty was announced. "I was praying for rain. I wanted it to come because I knew how to deal with it.

"The heavens opened and I saw Kimi begin to back off and to brake a bit earlier.

"I was going reasonably wide at Turn 12 but Rosberg spun and went off where I was coming back on. I went over the grass. It was incredibly tough.

"Kimi pushed me wide. I was a little bit ahead. I was outside on Turn One, I had no room and he basically pushed me so I went on the escape route.

"So I let him past, then got in his tow and he was ducking and diving left and right but I managed to get past him and I was pretty much gone from there."
Lewis Hamilton lost his lead in the Belgian Grand Prix with this spin on lap two
Hamilton fought back from this early spin to win in dramatic fashion

It was another superb performance in the wet from Hamilton, who has inherited Michael Schumacher's mantle as Formula One's rain master.

But for a long time it had looked as if the Englishman had tossed away his chance of victory on the daunting Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

The race started with the track wet in the immediate vicinity of the pits but dry on the majority of the lap.

Hamilton, along with every other driver in the race other than Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr, chose dry tyres.

But the conditions caught him out at the start of lap two, and he spun turning into the La Source hairpin.

The mistake put Raikkonen right behind him and the Ferrari driver simply drove past on the straight after the Eau Rouge esses.

It was a critical error from Hamilton, who was fuelled to make his first pit stop a lap earlier than Raikkonen.


That meant his main hope of holding off the Ferrari driver was to build a lead big enough before his stop on lap 10 that Raikkonen could not close it on his extra lap.

Instead, although Hamilton shadowed Raikkonen to the first stops, he could not pass him.

Hamilton's hopes were further dented when he came out from his pit stop right behind his slower team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who was battling for position with Kubica.

By the time he had cleared Kovalainen and Kubica five laps later, Raikkonen was five seconds ahead, a lead he was able to maintain comfortably to the second round of stops.

The two men both made their final stops on lap 25 and on the harder tyre Hamilton was able to close on the Ferrari.

The 23-year-old shaved about half a second a lap out of Raikkonen's lead and was within two seconds of the Ferrari by lap 31.
Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari is carried back to the pits after the Finn's crash on the penultimate lap of the Belgian Grand Prix
Raikkonen's hopes of victory - and probably the title - ended with a crash

He was unable to make much more of an impression until the predicted late shower of rain arrived with about five laps to go.

Within minutes, the back of the circuit was soaking, while it remained dry in the vicinity of the pits - not an unusual situation at a track renowned for its capricious weather.

Hamilton closed right up to Raikkonen on lap 42 but he fatefully cut the Bus Stop chicane after pulling out of a passing move at the end of the lap.

He then chased Raikkonen down the pit straight and passed the Ferrari going into the La Source hairpin at the start of lap 43.

But that was not the end of the battle.

When the two men reached the wet part of the track halfway around the lap, Hamilton slid off, handing the lead back to Raikkonen, who almost immediately lost it again by sliding off himself.

The Finn then lost control going through the fast Blanchimont corner, and speared into the wall.

But the drama had not finished, and was merely switched to the stewards' office.

Their decision is likely to be greeted with cynicism as it makes the championship battle dramatically closer at a time when Hamilton was beginning to look like he was inching towards his first title.

Result of Belgian Grand Prix:

1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari one hour 22 minutes 59.394 seconds
2. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 9.383 seconds behind
3. Lewis Hamilton* (GB) McLaren-Mercedes at 10.539secs
4. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 14.478
5. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 14.576
6. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 15.037
7. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 16.735
8. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 42.776
9. Timo Glock** (Ger) Toyota 67.045, 10. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes one lap behind
11. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault one lap
12. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams one lap
13. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari one lap
14. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota one lap
15. Jenson Button (GB) Honda one lap
16. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota one lap
17. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari one lap
18R Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari two laps
R Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 19 laps completed
R Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault 31 laps

Key: R = retired

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:47.930, lap 24

* Hamilton penalised 25 seconds for gaining an advantage by cutting a chicane

** Glock penalised 25 seconds for ignoring yellow warning flags