Lewis Hamilton Could Face Fia's Melbourne Inquiry on His Own
Sacked sporting director Dave Ryan cannot be compelled to attend hearing as he is no longer employed by McLaren
Lewis Hamilton may have to answer to the FIA world motor sport council alone on 29 April. It emerged yesterday that Dave Ryan, the former McLaren sporting director who was dismissed by the formula one team on Monday, cannot be forced to give evidence regarding events at the Australian grand prix last month now that he is no longer working for Hamilton's team.
"The FIA has jurisdiction only over its license holders and their employees," said a source at the sport's governing body. "We cannot compel Dave Ryan to attend or give evidence if he feels unwilling to do so. We have yet to hear precisely who will be representing the McLaren team in attending the meeting."
McLaren could face draconian penalties in the wake of the controversy in which it is alleged that Hamilton and Ryan deliberately misled a succession of stewards' meetings investigating events in the closing laps of the first grand prix of the season, in Melbourne on 29 March. At issue was whether the British driver had deliberately allowed the Toyota driver Jarno Trulli to overtake him during a period in which the field was running behind the safety car, in the final stages of the race.
The suggestion was that by deliberately allowing Trulli to overtake, Hamilton was attempting to dupe his rival into making an error that would result in his being penalized for breaching FIA rules. Those rules forbid any competitor overtaking another car while running at reduced speed when while the safety car is deployed.
It has been asserted that Hamilton and Ryan repeatedly declined to change their stories at two subsequent stewards' meetings which had been convened to consider the matter. Yesterday the FIA appeared to ramp up the pressure on Hamilton.
Commenting on the subsequent stewards' meetings at which the explanations of Hamilton and Ryan were questioned against tape transcripts between Hamilton's McLaren and his team in the pits, the FIA source said: "First, Lewis heard the radio exchange. It appeared that the strategy [Hamilton and Ryan's] was to be extremely vague and not be very direct with the answers. Then the interview where he [Hamilton] said 'I was told to let him past' was played. At this point both got very uncomfortable, but still denied that's what actually happened."
The deliberations of the FIA world motor sport council are not new to McLaren. In 2007 the British team was fined £50m and stripped of their constructors' championship points after being found guilty of having illegally obtained confidential Ferrari design data. The affair led to the departure from the Woking-based team of the chief designer Mike Coughlan.
It remains to be seen what attitude the FIA will take towards McLaren on this issue when the full sequence of events is debated and analyzed in detail, but it seems clear that its key commercial partner, Mercedes-Benz, is currently taking a sympathetic and supportive view, even though there was no official statement on what was discussed at a meeting of the Daimler board on Wednesday when the matter was understood to have been on the agenda.
Sanctions against McLaren could range from loss of constructors' championship points to a mild reprimand. Those who understand how formula one politics operate believe the latter to be unlikely.
"The FIA has jurisdiction only over its license holders and their employees," said a source at the sport's governing body. "We cannot compel Dave Ryan to attend or give evidence if he feels unwilling to do so. We have yet to hear precisely who will be representing the McLaren team in attending the meeting."
McLaren could face draconian penalties in the wake of the controversy in which it is alleged that Hamilton and Ryan deliberately misled a succession of stewards' meetings investigating events in the closing laps of the first grand prix of the season, in Melbourne on 29 March. At issue was whether the British driver had deliberately allowed the Toyota driver Jarno Trulli to overtake him during a period in which the field was running behind the safety car, in the final stages of the race.
The suggestion was that by deliberately allowing Trulli to overtake, Hamilton was attempting to dupe his rival into making an error that would result in his being penalized for breaching FIA rules. Those rules forbid any competitor overtaking another car while running at reduced speed when while the safety car is deployed.
It has been asserted that Hamilton and Ryan repeatedly declined to change their stories at two subsequent stewards' meetings which had been convened to consider the matter. Yesterday the FIA appeared to ramp up the pressure on Hamilton.
Commenting on the subsequent stewards' meetings at which the explanations of Hamilton and Ryan were questioned against tape transcripts between Hamilton's McLaren and his team in the pits, the FIA source said: "First, Lewis heard the radio exchange. It appeared that the strategy [Hamilton and Ryan's] was to be extremely vague and not be very direct with the answers. Then the interview where he [Hamilton] said 'I was told to let him past' was played. At this point both got very uncomfortable, but still denied that's what actually happened."
The deliberations of the FIA world motor sport council are not new to McLaren. In 2007 the British team was fined £50m and stripped of their constructors' championship points after being found guilty of having illegally obtained confidential Ferrari design data. The affair led to the departure from the Woking-based team of the chief designer Mike Coughlan.
It remains to be seen what attitude the FIA will take towards McLaren on this issue when the full sequence of events is debated and analyzed in detail, but it seems clear that its key commercial partner, Mercedes-Benz, is currently taking a sympathetic and supportive view, even though there was no official statement on what was discussed at a meeting of the Daimler board on Wednesday when the matter was understood to have been on the agenda.
Sanctions against McLaren could range from loss of constructors' championship points to a mild reprimand. Those who understand how formula one politics operate believe the latter to be unlikely.
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