A message to everyone that has posted along these lines:-
- The rule exists
- I accept the inuendo/inconclusive evidence that a team order was given
- Ferrari and their drivers should loose those the points.
Now that the WMSC, in their decision has accepted Ferrari's submission that Team Orders were used in the past. Ferrari specifically documented Germany 2008 Lewser and HK. Therefore it is now confirmed that Lewser used team orders to pass HK in Germany 08.
Given this, every person who posted that Ferrari and its drivers should loose points, must now agree that Lewser is not the 2008 World Champion, and that Felipe is the rightful 2008 world champion.
Please use the drivers correct name, your comments are inflammatory and will not be tolerated!
I knew that post would touch a nerve, but the fact is, there is a lot of bleating and complaining about Germany 2010, but, the truth that everyone knows is that Felipe is the real WDC for 2008. I'm simply stating it should be made official.
But Lewis Hamilton was robbed of four points at Spa Francorchamps 2008 when he was given a post race 25 second penalty dropping him to third for gaining an advantage by cutting a corner despite giving the position back to Raikkonen only to take the position back going into La Source. The rules state that if a position is gained by cutting a corner, that position needs to be relinquished to the driver passed by cutting a corner, which Hamilton did, there was no rule that states the driver that cut the corner and gained an advantage must wait for a number of corners before attempting to pass again! Again the inconsistent stewardship cost a driver dear. Bottom line is if Hamilton was not penalised for following the rulebook, he would have still won the championship even if HK didn't let him pass!
PS: I am not a Lewis Hamilton fan, but I like to see fair play; which is sadly unforthcoming with the inconsistent stewardship in F1!
Hmm, Spa '08, nice try, but wrong. Firstly, the rules states you can't gain a place by going off track. Lewis went off track and gained a place. There is noting in the rules about giving the place back. It has been the practice, sometimes, of the stewards to, at their discretion, to let a driver "give back/negate what they have gain" This is not written in the rules, but is a "interpretation" by the officials. So, the ruling was 100% correct and Lewis deserved the penalty (rare for Lewis to get an actual penalty rather than his customary endless warnings).
Also, if you were going to try and argue that the officials should have applied the same discretion, you would need to show that Lewis negated what he had gained by going off track. Clearly that argument could not be sustained. If you watch, Lewis barely slowed to just under Kimi's speed, ducked under his rear wing, grabbed a nice tow and got the sling ahead into the next corner. No-one in their wildest dreams could argue he could possibly have been in that position to grab that tow and be that close if he had, like he should have, fallen behind Kimi instead of cutting the corner.
P.S. You'll note I edited my original post on Team Orders, in case it wasn't completely clear that I don't in any way support the current ridiculous TO rule. I was making the point that those who did want it applied should now support the view that Felipe is rightful 2008 WDC.
keep it civil!