Hamilton to Hear Appeal Decision
The verdict on the appeal against Lewis Hamilton's Belgian grand prix penalty is to be delivered in Singapore
Lewis Hamilton should arrive in Singapore today to hear whether the McLaren team's appeal against his Belgian grand prix penalty has been accepted and he can go into formula one's inaugural night race with a seven-point championship lead over Ferrari's Felipe Massa rather than the one-point advantage he had after finishing seventh at Monza 10 days ago.
Hamilton was joined in Paris for yesterday's hearing by McLaren's formula one chief executive, Martin Whitmarsh, his race engineer, Phil Prew, the team's director of legal affairs, Tim Murnane, and representatives of the solicitors Baker & McKenzie. Initially the hearing was dominated by the issue of whether the appeal is in fact admissible, given that under FIA regulations so-called "drive-through" penalties are not subject to appeal.
However, McLaren's barrister, Mark Phillips QC, contended that this specific case should be eligible for consideration - as the issue under debate is that of a 25-second penalty added to Hamilton's time in the Belgian race. The appeal took place in front of five FIA-appointed judges, who under the regulations have up to 48 hours to deliver their verdict, although they may well make public their decision this morning. It was also pointed out that in last year's Japanese grand prix an appeal was heard on whether Vitantonio Liuzzi should have been penalized with a 25-second penalty for overtaking Adrian Sutil under yellow warning flags.
Hamilton was joined in Paris for yesterday's hearing by McLaren's formula one chief executive, Martin Whitmarsh, his race engineer, Phil Prew, the team's director of legal affairs, Tim Murnane, and representatives of the solicitors Baker & McKenzie. Initially the hearing was dominated by the issue of whether the appeal is in fact admissible, given that under FIA regulations so-called "drive-through" penalties are not subject to appeal.
However, McLaren's barrister, Mark Phillips QC, contended that this specific case should be eligible for consideration - as the issue under debate is that of a 25-second penalty added to Hamilton's time in the Belgian race. The appeal took place in front of five FIA-appointed judges, who under the regulations have up to 48 hours to deliver their verdict, although they may well make public their decision this morning. It was also pointed out that in last year's Japanese grand prix an appeal was heard on whether Vitantonio Liuzzi should have been penalized with a 25-second penalty for overtaking Adrian Sutil under yellow warning flags.
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