multi21

How's this for an investigation, Wayno.....

McLaren disqualified from Australian Grand Prix
02 April 2009


The McLaren team has been disqualfied from the Australian Grand Prix following a detailed stewards' investigation into the incident involving the Englishman and Jarno Trulli on Sunday; the World Champion passed the Toyota under safety car conditions as the Italian ran off the circuit, before then slowing to allow Trulli to retake his position.



Hamilton (right), following his discussion with race stewards
For repassing the McLaren, the Toyota driver was handed with a 25-second time penalty which resulted in him losing both his podium position and indeed any chance of points, as the tightly packed field finished the race under the safety car. As Toyota withdrew what would be a seemingly hopeless appeal this week, Trulli reminded onlookers of his version of events: "When the safety car came out towards the end of the race, Lewis Hamilton passed me but soon after he suddenly slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. I thought he had a problem, so I overtook him as there was nothing else I could do."

Hamilton admitted to passing the Toyota as it ran across the grass at Turn 15, subsequently explaining that his team then instructed him to yield to Trulli. "I was behind Trulli under the safety car, and clearly you're not allowed to overtake under the safety car but he went off in the second to last corner," he explained to SpeedTV on Sunday. "He went wide and onto the grass, I guess his tyres were cold. I slowed down as much as I could, but was forced to go by. I was then told to let him back past, but I don't know if that's in the regulations and, if it isn't, I should really have had third."

Despite those comments, however, the stewards claim that Hamilton made no mention of this during their post-race investigation into the incident just minutes later, stating that he infact did not slow down to allow the Toyota to retake the place. Having received a recording of McLaren's radio broadcast during the race, the FIA has removed entire team from the final results of the race for providing 'deliberately misleading' information. This includes the second driver, Heikki Kovalainen, who will effectively not suffer the consequences having retired at the end of the first lap.

The governing body has also lifted Trulli's penalty, which places the Toyota driver back into the third position he originally achieved in Australia.

multi21

Trulli: "I have always been honest"
02 April 2009


A pleased Jarno Trulli claimed he had received the justice he deserved when leaving race control at Sepang on Thursday. The Toyota driver lost the third place and six points he scored in Australia last weekend following an incident involving McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, for which the English team has now been been disqualified and Trulli's own penalty lifted, repositioning him to the podium spot.

"I am happy because I just wanted some justice, and I got it," Trulli said. "I am happy for myself and for the team, and have to thank the FIA because it's not very often that they reconsider something; it must have been really hard for them, but they had the common sense to really try and understand what was going on. I have been always honest and it has paid off."

The incident started when Trulli made a mistake and ran off the track under safety car conditions at Turn 15, with Hamilton going through to take the third position. However, with the safety car still on track, the McLaren then yielded to the Toyota by lifting off the thottle to allow Trulli back through. The Italian subsequently explained that he believed the McLaren was in trouble, and possibly out of the race. Hamilton, on the other hand, told the stewards that he did not let Trulli past, despite explaining the opposite to SpeedTV just minutes earlier; it is for this 'deliberately misleading' information that the FIA elected to remove the McLaren team from the final results of the race, having also reviewed the team's radio communications.




Trulli claims it was a misleading shadow which caused him to run off the track in Melbourne
"We did not appeal, we did not do anything, and I did not make any further comments," Trulli continued. "I think the FIA was clever enough to understand the situation - they had a very busy end to the race, with so many accidents, but then had a bit more evidence to understand the case. They wanted to hear our views again, and it just confirmed what happened in Australia as I didn't change my statement. That is it. I don't know what made them change their mind, I don't know the evidence or what they investigated on. I cannot comment on it, but am just happy I got my position for what I did on the track.

"It was a controversial end to the race and it was hard for anyone to understand, but again I would like to thank the FIA because they had the strength to reconsider the case, using new evidence and understanding what was going on. I never lied, I was always honest in my statements and I never changed it," he stressed.

MTosi

Lewis Hamilton lie? Never....

Time for the-


Crowd

multi21

Typical McLaren Evil Empire dealing....

No appeal from McLaren
02 April 2009


The McLaren team has elected not to appeal against the decision of the stewards to disqualify the team from last Sunday's Australian Grand Prix. The Woking-based squad was thrown out of the final results following the highly controversial incident between Lewis Hamilton and Toyota's Jarno Trulli during the second safety car session towards the end of the race.

In a statement released by the team, McLaren explained that it understood the stewards' decisions, which were based upon recordings of the team's radio communications during the race and were previously unused as evidence to the case.

The statement went on to explain that McLaren 'mistakenly believed that the radio transmissions had been reviewed by the FIA on Sunday 29th March, and consequently did not believe it was necessary to discuss them with the stewards on that date. Nonetheless, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Team now regrets that it did not do so, accepts the stewards' decision and will not appeal.'

ew928

McLaren's Kung Fu is not strong.

They need much better techs to edit their radio communications for official consumption.



Or a much better PR person to paraphrase and interpret team radio communications.

multi21

Should I interpret that as they need better liars and cheaters so that don't get caught as often?

Circuit Motorsports

Nice to see an organization get after it's members for not being entirely truthful, although there seems to be some grey area here.

However giving Trulli his spot back considering he went off course under the safety car is f'in ridiculous.

kurt M

Under SC Racer #1 boffs a corner and Racer #2 overtakes him. Racer #2 gives the spot back before the race restarts. Racer #2 gets a DQ for the next race?

Only in F1.

smlporsche

Wow !
The circus is back in town

mdrums

I am confused....so Lewis passes Jarno when he goes off the course into the grass under the safety car but does the correct thing and lets Jarno back in front....but...tell the stewards he did not do this and tell SpeedTV he did do this??? Am I understanding this correctly?

Slantnose!

wow...

Lothar

Stupid (on McLaren and Hamilton's part): Yes

Evil: No Get real

RajDatta

McLaren just don't seem to learn their lesson. Spygate wasn't enough bad press for them to now pull this kind of crap. The difference would have been 1 point. I understand the championship last year was decided by 1 point so nothing to sneeze about.
McLaren to me is a very classless organization that lacks honesty and integrity. They went on and on about not having any information on Ferrari only to get caught red-handed, now all this.
The problem lies it that Hammy clearly let Trulli through by slowing down to an almost halt. Trulli felt that Hammy had a problem and he passed him. Then McLaren has the nerve to turn around and protest Trulli passing them under yellow. Hammy slowed down to let Trulli pass based on orders from the team, which he oblidged but decided not to share that with the stewards when questioned. This is where the problem lies.
Just unbelievable. I hope they ban him and McLaren for the next 5 races. They just don't seem to get it. Stop f'ing with the FIA and making a joke of the sport.
Raj

ltc

it's a very good thing that Sir A.Wayne is 100% behind Alonso (wait, that doesn't sound right, does it....) and has no interest in how Hamilton does.......otherwise, it would be in our best interests to send someone to take away his belt and shoe laces.

Lothar

I thought the Stewards investigated Trulli passing Hammy on their own. I was not aware that any protest was filed by McLaren regarding Trulli's pass. It was also my understanding that both Trulli and Hamilton were called before the Stewards after the race. It appears that McLaren told Hamilton to stay mum on the order to allow Trulli to pass, because they realized they had made a mistake and were not obligated to give up the position. Of course the problem was, Hamilton had probably already given the Speed interview and the radio transmissions would certainly come out.

As I said before, it was stupid on McLaren's part, both for not properly advising Hamilton that he could pass Trulli if he was in the grass and for not simply telling the truth after.

It is impossible for McLaren to make the sport a joke. The FIA has already done that masterfully.