Less then 24 hours before the appeal hearing is was due to take place, McLaren have dropped their appeal against the loss of constructors points at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
McLaren endured a controversial qualifying session at the Hungarian Grand Prix which saw Fernando Alonso supposedly holding up his team-mate during a pit-stop in the final qualifying session leaving Hamilton unable to put in a flying lap. Race stewards decided that the team had not operated in the best interests of the sport and punished McLaren by pushing Fernando Alonso five grid slots down, and barring the team from scoring and constructors points over the weekend.
Shortly after the penalty was handed out, McLaren made it clear they would appeal the decision. It was expected that in light of the punishment received over the espionage saga, McLaren would drop the appeal against the Hungarian stewards decision. However, the issue was slightly muddied by the fact that if McLaren managed to end the season with more constructors points up to and including Monza than Ferrari s total tally for the season, they would have several million dollars taken off the espionage saga fine.
A statement issued on Tuesday has now confirmed that McLaren will be dropping the appeal. “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,†the statement read. “A penalty was imposed preventing McLaren from scoring points in the Constructors Championship at that meeting,” said the statement. McLaren have notified the International Court of Appeal this morning that they wish to withdraw their appeal against the decision of the Stewards.”
