Oh Dear, Massa Wins
A week before Formula 1 congregates in the Italian temple of motor racing at Monza, the favorite driver for the Ferrari team has taken a crucial victory at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. But the victory came thanks to a decision by the race stewards that penalized Lewis Hamilton by 25 seconds on his total race time. Although Hamilton had driven a mostly brilliant race - particularly the final laps - and crossed the finish line first, he has now been demoted to third position. Felipe Massa, who drove a very safe and unspectacular race, inherited the victory. It draws him up to within two points of Hamilton for the lead of the series.
There would be no "Oh dear" in the headline of this post were it not for the fact that it is difficult to see how the race stewards concluded that Hamilton had gained an advantage from cutting the final corner of the track, since he then ceded position to Kimi Raikkonen on the main straight, before passing the Finnish driver in a brilliant move at the end of the same straight to take the lead again. Jeez. The two of them would again exchange the lead of the race before it was all over, although there were only two laps left, and then Raikkonen would spin out of the race. Where, indeed, where was the advantage?
Comments
An absolutely atrocious decision! This is the main reason I hate F1. The stewards and the FIA have no consistency whatsoever when issuing penalties. Ferrari is always given the benefit of the doubt when controversy arises. Before one race was started, Raikkonen changed his tires on the grid; he should have started the race from the pit lane. In another race he had exhaust parts about to fly off his car and wasn’t black-flagged or at least made to enter the pits to remedy the problem. When he ruined Sutil’s race in Monaco, I imagine a penalty would have been given to McLaren if they had caused the incident. The FIA and these part-time stewards working these races all stink to high heaven! To ruin one of the best races I have ever seen, in such a ridiculous manner is very sad. Hamilton allowed the FIArarri to pass on the front straight and the battle resumed… where is the problem? I suppose Hamilton should have just stopped his car right then and there! Bernie, get your act together! F1 will be dead by 2009! Why would anyone even want to watch F1 when any nitwit is allowed to strip a racer of his victories? The debacle that is F1… shameful!
Just tricks on Hamilton’s part, and this time they didn’t work. Pass illegally by cutting a chicane, drop just a tad behind Kimi to avoid getting a drivethrough penalty — certainly not the car length he’d have been behind had he not cut the chicane — and stomp on the gas to pull ahead again.
It’s easy to win with tactics like these.
What a farce F1 is becoming , no consistency at all ,rules should apply to all teams and if this ridiculous penalty isn`t removed Formula One could find themselves loosing touch with their supporters. Lets not forget the Senna, Prost, and Mansell Days !! when racing was wheel to wheel…
ferrari obviously must be allowed to win by any means possible, mclaren and all the teams should retire from this nonsense sport, i have watched for over twenty years’ and the ‘cheating’ and bent rules of the fia means that any team that isnt ferrari dosent stand a chance,the miilions of non ferrari fans are being screwed by this organisation and should admit defeat and just let ferrari win.if all teams finally admitted to this fact we could defeat the ‘bent’ fia. let ferrari race on their own,im sure under the fia both cars would come first.
As I expected from Hamilton he cheated again, he is a very unpleasant person, he always wants to win doing forbidden things!!
I am very dissapointed because of Kimi Raikkonen, he is a very unlucky person, after an excelent race to be out because of rain is awfull!
Anyway, McLaren has much more performant cars than Ferrari, but the latter has better drivers!That Hamilton is a shame for F1!!
I agree with Neal, the decision to place a 25 second fine on Hamilton has only again shown that the image of Formula 1 is being eroded by politics. It is clear to whoever you support that Lewis made a several clear moves, firstly giving back the lead to Raikkonen after the chicane, then overtakes him (even Kimi went to defend the outside) for Lewis to pass. In the Olympics, the officials reversed a decision against China in the kick boxing.This would not and did not happen to Schumaker.I shall no longer support Formula 1 due to the obvious rulings by the governing body (Ferrari). FIA wake up and do the honest things and restore faith in the supporters. Sack Moseley and reinstate Lewis as the rightful winner of Spa.
The FIA obviously know how furious most sane minded people are at their decision to punish Hamilton for something that he is not guilty of. When Ferrari – in the last Grand Prix- nearly caused a huge accident in the pit lane, we all thought their actions deserved a penalty. Amazingly enough, Ferrari got away scott free! Maybe we should not be surprised, as over the years the FIA have always given the team unfair advantages whenever possible. They also appear to try to penalise McLaren whenever they can. They can try to hide from our criticism by withholding their email address, but they cannot hide from the contempt they are now held in by millions of FI fans who are fair minded but not stupid. Let’s dump this ghastly organisation now!
what is going on lewis did hand the lead back on the straight what did they want him to do crash on the bend , it was a great race and the stewards have tarnished it even more after kimi spinning off was bad enough i feel sorry for the both of them . the FIA are going to ruin the sport because they make decisions that are one sided ferrari never get punnished for anything but maclaren always do for any reason
What a fantastic race! And such a contrast to the dull procession that was the European grand prix. Spa never fails to entertain and this race was of no exception. The final few laps were some of the most griping, exciting laps I have ever seen. With the dicing for 3rd place and the battle for the lead it was a fantastic climax! There was some hard battling between Lewis and Kimi but all fair and legal in my opinion. I was disgusted to hear Lewis was later stripped of the win. As a long time fan of the sport I feel such sadness and anger that they would even comprehend stripping Lewis of a magnificent and legitimate win! It seems Ferrari are the only team that are allowed to dominate. Any other team that so much as threatens that dominance is shot down one way or another. 5 penalties in 13 races! Shocking! Injustice! Corrupt! Conspiracy! Just a few words that come to mind.
Lots of people whining here about Ferrari dominance have short memories, and are sucking sour grapes.
If Hamilton hadn’t screwed up last year he would have won the championship because FIA decided to punish the team but not the drivers who profited from the team’s misbehavior. Kimi won, but if Hamilton had gotten even a few points in the last race last season it wouldn’t have mattered.
And what to say of the 80s-90s, when British cars dominated? I remember years in which McLaren (sp?) won most of the races and nobody said they had help, and years that Williams did the same, and eventually got squashed — remember the ban on active suspensions? It penalized Williams, but certainly didn’t favor Ferrari.
Kyle
I think Nikki Lauda’s quote says it all, “The most perverse ruling ever made in F1″.
Yes, that’s good all right. It’s also one of the saddest rulings – for the sport.
One more pro-Ferrari decision. Down with the FIA.
Sign the petition at…
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?belgp08
I think you are right. The rules should not change, they should be the same for all the drivers. The question is, has there been a different ruling in a similar situation? I invite you to review the race at Suzuka 2005. Alonso cut a chicane and overtake Klien. He let Klien by and hung on to his sleapstream much as Hamilton did to Raikkonen. He overtake Klien and went on to chase Schumacher. Two laps later Alonso was told to let Klien by, leave ample space and the resume racing. Alonso did, he let Klien pass, conceded about 5 car lengths and then it took him two full laps to overtake Klien again. So, historically, the stewards have made the championship leader let pass a driver that had been overtaken by cutting the chicane twice or he would have been handed a drive through penalty. Therefore, I don’t think Hamilton’s is un unfair ruling. It’s just coherent with previous rulings.
None of you mention the fact that Kimi Raikkonen passed under yellow when they cam upon the car of … who was it? Couthard? … spun in front of them.
The FIA is a joke. You know, if it were the IRL or NASCAR you’d have claims of racism. It may not be racism, but it is surely the shoddiest officiating I’ve ever seen in motorsports.