Was Hamilton's dq fair

[Dare]

Do you think Lewis got a raw deal in being
disqualified in the Australian GP?

[Number 38]

I'm the first vote. I voted disqualify only because there's no other choice.  Frankly I thought the Trulli penalty was way out of line, but now the Hamilton penalty also, is out of line. There have been 1000s of OPINIONS posted on many sites concerning this issue, who passed who and when but all that's out the window since Hamilton, MBE, got caught using two stories. Lying, fibbing, mis-stating .... all the above, has a price. I'm a softie, I HATE penalties, I would have merely reversed the results,  Trulli 3rd, Hamilton 4th and ended it.
There are polls on F1GPupdate that indicate 72% thought Trulli's penalty was unjust, and I figured Hamilton would get a similar response. NOT SO !  65% think lying a greater infraction than re-passing. There's a 'civil rights' leader in the USA that gave a great speach concerning the "Content of Character" ..... maybe we should send a copy of it to young Mr. Hamilton.  Food for thought.

[lkjohnson1950]

I haven't seen any real proof of lying yet, and I find it a bit difficult to believe Lewis and Macca are that stupid. The proper solution and one you would have seen in American racing of almost any kind was to simply tell the drivers what the correct order should be and finish it. Either JT 3rd and LH 4th or LH 3rd and JT 4th, race over.

Lonny

[Scott]

The fact that Mclaren are accepting the penalty speaks loudly of guilt, however you are right Lonny.  There is no excuse for race control to simply put the two back in the proper order and then finish the race - after all, it was under safety car to the end.  Having an investigation in the first place was ridiculous for such an incident.  FIA does their best to muck things up, and then some idiot(s) at Mclaren mucked it up even more.

[SennaMan]

There are polls on F1GPupdate that indicate 72% thought Trulli's penalty was unjust, and I figured Hamilton would get a similar response. NOT SO !  65% think lying a greater infraction than re-passing. There's a 'civil rights' leader in the USA that gave a great speach concerning the "Content of Character" ..... maybe we should send a copy of it to young Mr. Hamilton.  Food for thought.

brilliant thought Number 38

those who live by the sword often find out it has a double edge

[SennaMan]

Today's Top Story ON Yahoo 7 Australia:

 
Hamilton stripped, McLaren deny lying
AAP - April 2, 2009, 10:39 pm

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh denied Thursday that Lewis Hamilton lied about an incident at the Australian Grand Prix after the Briton was stripped of his third place result.

The world champion was fourth in the Melbourne race when Toyota's Jarno Trulli passed him under safety car conditions on lap 57 last Sunday.

The incident earned the Italian a 25-second penalty, which saw him relegated to 12th, with Hamilton promoted onto the podium behind the Brawn 1-2 team of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.

But after a hastily arranged hearing in Malaysia on Thursday, the sport's governing body ruled that the Briton and his team deliberately provided misleading information on the circumstances leading to Trulli's penalty.

The decision not only handed Trulli back third place but disqualified Hamilton and McLaren from the race classification.

"The stewards, having considered new elements presented to them, consider that Lewis Hamilton and McLaren Mercedes acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event," the FIA said.

It added that Hamilton provided "evidence deliberately misleading to the stewards".

The new elements the FIA considered were believed to be radio conversations between Hamilton and his McLaren team which were seen to contradict the original statements presented to the stewards.

Whitmarsh said the team would not appeal but insisted Hamilton did nothing wrong.

"Obviously we are disappointed by what happened," he said. "Lewis didn't do anything abnormal and it was clear Trulli shouldn't have passed him. But we have to accept the decision."

He said there was no question of Hamilton lying.

"There is no implication that Lewis lied to the stewards. I don't know what they meant, but I understand there was a belief the team was not explicit enough about the radio conversation," he said.

"What they believe is that the omission of the information about the radio communication between the team was withheld and that is misleading.

"As you can imagine Lewis is very disappointed. It's a harsh decision but experience had told us that you have to accept these decisions."

Trulli has maintained his innocence, claiming he had little choice but to overtake the Briton again after he slowed down.

"It was a controversial end of the race and it was hard for anyone to understand," the Italian told reporters.

"But I'm happy because honesty was rewarded. It is good for the credibility of the sport.

"I would like to thank the FIA because they had the strength to reconsider the case, giving new evidence and understanding what was going on.

"I never lied, I was always honest in my statements and I never changed it."

He declined to comment on Hamilton's actions or his exclusion.

[Alianora La Canta]

The Hamilton penalty appears to me to be purely a communications issue, in that McLaren had an argument on the radio and the stewards didn't figure out that it was an argument. Because they have such differences of opinion, there'd be no point going to appeal because the FIA would simply dig its heels in, however inaccurate their view may be. Arguing on the radio should not be a crime.

Between this and Vettel, the best choice the teams can make is to resolve not to use them at all unless there's an absolute emergency.

[SennaMan]

Arguing on the radio should not be a crime.

arguing on the radio" has nothing to do with this ruling but deliberately holding back this and relevant information from the first hearing in Melbourne is the crime for which McLAREN and lewis have rightly been penalised

[cosworth151]

Once again, the FI's lack of credibility comes to the fore. If Hamilton did mislead the stewards, than the dq was justified. But given the FIA's track record with McLaren, it's hard to tell just what happened. A transcript of the meeting needs to be made publc.

[SennaMan]

Once again, the FI's lack of credibility comes to the fore. If Hamilton did mislead the stewards, than the dq was justified. But given the FIA's track record with McLaren, it's hard to tell just what happened. A transcript of the meeting needs to be made publc.

it just has been cossie - please see my last posting "FIA: McLaren instructed Hamilton to let Trulli pass"

[cosworth151]

Thanks, SennaMan. That's the transcript of McLaren's radio traffic. There's a real-time recording of it on the FIA website. It spans about 3 1/2 minutes. It made me wonder why it took so long to get an answer from Charlie Whiting.

What I was looking for was a transcript of the Hamilton's testimony at the steward's hearing. Now that he has admitted to misleading the stewards, I guess that's a moot point.

[johnbull]

This whole affair has been blown completely out of proportion by the FIA to satisfy their own petty squabble with Mc laren.

Don't forget that despite racing all last season with their hands tied (by the FIA) Mc Laren still make the FIA look proper jerks by winning the World Championship.

The FIA wants it's revenge........... childish as the whole thing may seem.

[Dare]

more teams than Mclaren have been punished
by the FIA.The mass damper ban on Renault
was one example,I don't recall anyone saying poor
Renault the FIA is out to get them.I think it made
most Mclaren and Renault fans elated that they
could blose the gap mo matter how they did it

[SennaMan]

This whole affair has been blown completely out of proportion by the FIA to satisfy their own petty squabble with Mc laren.

Don't forget that despite racing all last season with their hands tied (by the FIA) Mc Laren still make the FIA look proper jerks by winning the World Championship.

The FIA wants it's revenge........... childish as the whole thing may seem.

sorry JB as I have to disagree with your deductions even though past actions by the FIA seem overdone towards McLAREN.

This time is different as McLaren, through team manager Dave RYAN and Lewis HAMILTON, have been caught deliberately lying to keep a fellow competitor out of the points

once their previous false testimony/evidence was contradicted and laid bare by Lewis's immediate post race media interview AND the actual radio transcripts, the FIA had to act in the manner they deemed the most appropriate and I assume the regs do allow for the penalty imposed.....and probably a lot more.

The FIA did not blow up this simple 'passing under the safety car" etc incident, it was the devious actions of Dave Ryan and a complicit Lewis HAMILTON who turned it from a minor infraction of the racing rules to a case of highly questionable integrity, and no authority can let that go without some penalty.

If these two had testified to what actually happened it is fair to say Lewis and McLAREN would have been relegated to 4th behind TRULLI thereby getting valuable points and we all would have moved on much more easily and sooner.

It also took away the kudos of Lewis's and TRULLI's magnificent drives from the rear of the grid and from the pitlane.

I wish both will do well at Sepang and beyond 

[Scott]

Actually, 1 point is all it was over.