Hamilton stripped of Australia points - Lewis is called before the stewards, and excluded from the results
Published by Christine
It’s the 2nd April 2009 and this is F1Minute.
After Toyota announced they were dropping their appeal over Trulli’s penalty from Australia, we thought the matter was closed. How wrong we were. Rumours began last night that Lewis Hamilton would be called before the race stewards again.
The FIA confirmed today that Hamilton was excluded from the race classification of the Australian GP. Trulli was reinstated to third, and the rest of the points remain as normal. A statement issued by the stewards said they felt Lewis deliberately tried to mislead them when questioned after the race. He was told by his team to hand the place back to the Toyota, but told the stewards this never happened. Their argument was backed up by onboard camera footage, pit-to-car radio evidence, and press interviews given by Lewis post-race.
Martin Whitmarsh says that Lewis did not lie, but acted on the belief the stewards had already heard the radio footage. McLaren will not be appealing the penalty.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1Minute.
