Sidepodcast - All for F1 and F1 for all

McLaren withdraw Hungary appeal - Putting the qualifying debacle of Hungary firmly in the past

Published by Mr. C

An update on the FIA's website this morning states:

At the qualifying session of the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix, the Panel of the Stewards of the meeting found that one of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes ("McLaren") drivers had obstructed another in the pit lane. A penalty was imposed preventing McLaren from scoring points in the Constructors Championship at that meeting.

McLaren have notified the International Court of Appeal this morning that they wish to withdraw their appeal against the decision of the Stewards.

Bugger! It would have been interesting to see how this played out and whether the stewards had any right to go meddling in the business of inter-team rivalry or not. It also leaves us with many unanswered questions like:

  • If holding a driver in the pitlane (until a space appears on the track) is wrong, how come no-one complained when Ferrari did exactly the same thing during Spa qualifying last Saturday?
  • How come Fernando is allowed to sit in the garage until all the other cars have left?
  • What did Hamilton say to Dennis over the radio?

Okay, the truth about the last point may never have come out, but we've been denied the chance of understanding the first two.

On the bright side, I guess Wednesday will be a quieter day.