Further to the stewards enquiry at the Australian and the Malaysian Grand Prix’s Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes have been called to appear at the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Wednesday, 29 April, 2009, to answer charges that, in breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.
This Article of the International Sporting codes states
151 Any of the following offences in addition to any offences specifically referred to previously, shall be deemed to be a breach of these rules :
C Any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally.
Background
At the 2009 Australian Grand Prix cars were running under the safety car. While under the safety car overtaking is banned. However Jarno Trulli in 3rd place went off track and Lewis Hamilton (in 4th) therefore had no choice but to pass. This was a legitimate action on his part.
However after regaining the track Jarno Trulli went to retake his place for 3rd. After the race the stewards investigated whether Jarno Trulli overtaking constituted a breach in the rules for overtaking under a safety car. Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s sporting director Dave Ryan were both present at this meeting and -
“told the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton in Car No. 1 to allow Trulli in Car no. 9 to pass when both cars were behind the safety car”
Jarno Trulli was then given a 25 second penalty for overtaking under a safety car and Lewis Hamilton was awarded 3rd place.
On 2nd April the stewards held a second enquiry as new evidence had come to light. This was a interview while Lewis Hamilton had made straight after the race and the audio conversation between Lewis Hamilton and the Pit wall during the race. The transcript of this radio conversation can be found here. It was found that Lewis had recieved instructions to let Jarno Trulli pass and both Lewis Hamilton and McLaren (in the form of sporting director Dave Ryan) lied causing Jarno Trulli to be unfairly penalised.
For this Lewis Hamilton was disqualified and Jarno Trulli was reinstated into 3rd place.
Lewis Hamilton
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to appear at FIA World Motor Sport Council
The FIA today released this statement
“Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has been invited to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Wednesday, 29 April, 2009, to answer charges that, in breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, it
- on 29 March, 2009, told the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton in Car No. 1 to allow Trulli in Car no. 9 to pass when both cars were behind the safety car, knowing this statement to be untrue;
- procured its driver Hamilton the current World Champion, to support and confirm this untrue statement to the stewards;
- although knowing that as a direct result of its untrue statement to the stewards, another driver and a rival team had been unfairly penalised, made no attempt to rectify the situation either by contacting the FIA or otherwise;
- on 2 April, 2009, at a second hearing before the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix, (meeting in Malaysia) made no attempt to correct the untrue statement of 29 March but, on the contrary, continued to maintain that the statement was true, despite being allowed to listen to a recording of the team instructing Hamilton to let Trulli past and despite being given more than one opportunity to correct its false statement;
- on 2 April, 2009, at the second stewards’ hearing, procured its driver Hamilton to continue to assert the truth of the false statement given to the stewards on 29 March, while knowing that what he was saying to the stewards was not true.”
McLaren Response
In response, McLaren issued the following press release:
“McLaren acknowledges receipt of an invitation to appear at an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on April 29, received this afternoon. We undertake to co-operate fully with all WMSC processes, and welcome the opportunity to work with the FIA in the best interests of Formula 1.
“This afternoon McLaren and its former sporting director, Dave Ryan, have formally parted company. As a result, he is no longer an employee of any of the constituent companies of the McLaren Group.”
Possible Penalties
There hasn’t been any newspaper speculation on the penalty for this. Lying to the stewards is a very serious matter and FIA can use any of the following penalties under the International Sporting Code.
− reprimand (blame);
− fines;
− time penalty;
− exclusion;
− suspension;
− disqualification.
Many will remember that in 2007 McLaren were excluded from the 2007 Constructors Championship and fined a record $100 million USD. This was for illicitly collecting and holding information from Ferrari to confer a dishonest and fraudulent sporting advantage upon McLaren.
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