McLaren to Decide on Hamilton Appeal Today

McLaren will decide today whether or not to proceed with their appeal against the controversial stewards' decision at Sunday's Belgian grand prix to strip Lewis Hamilton of victory and inflict a 25-second penalty which dropped him to third place as punishment for gaining an illegal advantage prior to overtaking Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari in the closing stages of the race.

On Sunday evening McLaren formally lodged notification of their intention to protest and have 48 hours from the race to translate that into a firm appeal. While the team consider their position the senior management are making no comment at all on the issue, but it is believed that they are considering whether it might be more beneficial to accept the penalty rather than disrupt their preparations for Sunday's Italian grand prix at Monza where their Ferrari opposition is expected to be stronger than ever.

It is understood that the stewards based their decision on the fact that Hamilton gained extra momentum by straight-lining the tight chicane before the pits and, although he backed off the throttle sufficiently to permit Raikkonen to regain the lead by the time they crossed the start/finish line, his extra speed made it easier for him to repass the world champion as they went into the braking area for the tight La Source hairpin.

However, McLaren are confident that, in the event of their proceeding with the appeal, they can prove from their telemetry that Hamilton was running six km/h slower than Raikkonen at the point they crossed the start/finish line and gained no such performance increment.

Meanwhile the former triple world champion Jackie Stewart has reiterated his concern about the composition of the panels of stewards who officiate at formula one world championship grands prix, expressing the view that they lack sufficient hands-on racing knowledge to qualify them to adjudicate consistently on such complex sporting matters.

"I am bound to ask where is the differentiation between the decisions of the stewards at the European grand prix at Valencia who deemed that [Felipe] Massa should not receive a drive-through penalty for pulling out alongside another car when resuming after a refueling stop, and Bruno Senna, who received a drive-through penalty after doing the same in the GP2 race in Belgium which had the effect of dropping him from first to 12th place," he said. "So Senna was given a much harsher penalty by a different group of stewards. There is just not enough consistency in these decisions. If you sit down and watch the US Open tennis, top-division football or rugby the jobs of umpire or referee are carried out by good people who are paid for their skills and are accountable by contract. Why is motor racing so very different?"

Meanwhile former Ferrari driver Niki Lauda, who lost the 1976 world championship by a single point to McLaren's James Hunt, said in his view that the stewards' ruling was "the worst decision ever" and that Hamilton was beyond reproach.

"Hamilton did nothing wrong," said Lauda. "He was on the outside, and then let him [Raikkonen] by, which is the rule. Then afterwards he passed him. There was nothing wrong from Hamilton. There was nothing special in what happened. Hamilton did the right thing in letting him by, and then passed him. It was an absolutely perfect drive."

Lewis in the dock

March 22, Malaysian grand prix

Given a five-place grid penalty for impeding another driver during qualifying

June 8, Canadian grand prix

Shunts Kimi Raikkonen at a red light in the pit lane and is given a 10-place grid penalty for the next grand prix

June 22, French grand prix

Incurs a drive-through penalty after stewards rule that he cut a corner on the first lap of the race

August 21, European grand prix

Fined €5,000 (£4,000) after arriving three minutes late for the official FIA press conference in Valencia

September 7, Belgian grand prix

Charged with cutting a corner and handed a retrospective 25-second drive-through penalty