Is there any fallout if McLaren is not successful in their appeal? What happens to the credibility of the sport?

Sadly the people governing the sport have had no credibility for many many years. The sport’s history is littered with decisions that would have appeared to favour in particular Ferrari (including 2 world championships won by deliberately ramming another car). And sadly, it is we the fans who condone the corruptness of the decisions by continuing to attend the race meetings or watch it on TV, and while we continue to do so there is no need for the governing body to behave any differently.
I will probably continue to do so, as I enjoy the racing whether or not I am supporting a particular driver, but maybe we need to consider boycotting the meetings/TV to give the governing body a message that we are tired of their inconsistent decisions.
Power to the people!

However, I do have some apprehension in them doing so, after the events of last year.

I have a burning hatred for Hamilton however so I am actually biased.

However, there are certain things that have to happen before the appeal is heard. The defendant has eight days to submit their side of the story via their respective ASNs (Article 19 of the ICA regulations). This includes a record of all items of evidence the defendent intends to call upon during the appeal. Until the grounds are received, the appeal cannot be held in case a summary dismissal due to a lack of evidence proves appropriate. This assumes that the default time limit to respond is in use.

Sometimes, appeals from multiple incidents can be done together, and maybe dealt with on the same day as other discussions and/or judgements. So if something appeal-worthy happens in Monza, don’t be surprised if the FIA decides that this incident and that one get done on the same day.

That said, speaking from the point of view of the racing driver, Hamilton did nothing that any other driver would not have done. I am no Lewis Hamilton fan, but it’s difficult for me to say that, looking at common practice, he deserved the penalty. But rules are rules, and it is pretty clear that Lewis did gain an advantage by cutting the corner instead of backing off. And one other thing, Lewis claims to have been ahead of Kimi in the corner, but looking at the tape at the time he began to cut the corner he was almost completely behind Kimi.

Shortly after the disputed pass, Kimi regained the lead when Lewis went off course, again, as they both dueled through backmarker traffic. Kimi won that battle but spun as he came out of the backmarker traffic. Would any of that happened had Kimi been leading as lapped traffic appeared? Kimi might well have been able to hang on to win the race especially as Lewis went deeply off course onto wet grass while navigating the backmarkers less successfully than did Kimi.

The real Kimi seems to have surfaced at Spa. If he remains so for the rest of the season, he could still win the championship.

I was reading in grand Prix dot com and Autosport the report of the petition online and it is getting stronger at any minute.

I´m noting that Lewis´ fans are morphing in Alonso´s ones as we saw last year and this is absolutely good in my view.

Another good thing in all this mess is that FIA has done, at least, a great favor to the McLaren and Lewis fans around the world and to the sport in general: they´re turning Lewis in a hero and transforming him in the most famous driver of the Formula 1 right now. Everybody, even people who don’t care about F1 are discovering on this moment what mean fight against Ferrari and FIA…

I was talking with my brother in law, telling him all the history, and showing him the repercussion around F1 community. In the same moment the he understood the matter, the guy became a Lewis supporter!

Here in Brazil, the majority of the insiders were vocal in accusing FIA at least of incompetence… There are some polarization in the F1 fans opinion, but I´m really impressed with the support that Lewis are receiving from a good number of Brazilian Formula fans.

Whitmarsh said: “From the pit wall, we then asked Race Control to confirm that they were comfortable that Lewis had allowed Kimi to repass, and they confirmed twice that they believed that the position had been given back in a manner that was ‘okay’.

“If Race Control had instead expressed any concern regarding Lewis’s actions at that time, we would have instructed Lewis to allow Kimi to repass for a second time.”

Now if someone can explain this penalty, I would appreciate it. That is like telling a child he can have ice cream and then beat his ass because he got into the freezer. The FIA has lost its mind and from what I read alot of fans.

Once the appeal has been notified and the appeal fee
paid, the Secretary General of the ICA will issue a
convening notice to the parties that will confirm the
time and place of the hearing.

I’ll keep looking though.

How long does it usually take for the FIA to schedule a hearing? Could this run past the end of the season?

I did know something about this, but it escapes me at the moment. Just researching…

You mean against McLaren , a little politically incorrect

Does it matter which round it is worded? It didn’t enter my mind while writing, only other than the article contained many McLarens and a Ferrari helps break it up a bit.

I think, based on the fact that McLaren are pushing ahead, that they can indeed appeal the decision.

They appealed after Brazil too…

You mean against McLaren , a little politically incorrect

The worst possible outcome would be for the FIA court of appeal to decline juristiction based on there being no right of appeal on a drive-through (even on a retrospective one).

I think, based on the fact that McLaren are pushing ahead, that they can indeed appeal the decision. In fact, I think Alianora has since told us (somewhere, among the comments) that it is okay to appeal the penalty because it wasn’t like the damage had been done (like with a real drive-thru, mid-race), thus rendering any appeal moot. In this case, the time added can be undone, therefore an appeal is possible.

I await the FIA statement though, assuming they can be bothered to be transparent enough to make one.

Obviously then, I’m all in favour of the penalty standing. However, its wholly unnacceptable that the teams’ “Ask Charlie” method of clarifying things such as this needs revising, given that his opinion is in no way binding, or indicative of the stewards’ opinion.

I think that the most important aspect of the appeal, however, is whether the FIA even get as far as offering a judgement on the stewards’ decision. The worst possible outcome would be for the FIA court of appeal to decline juristiction based on there being no right of appeal on a drive-through (even on a retrospective one). This would essentially avoid giving a message that the stewards were either right or wrong, and leave the arguments raging for the rest of the season.

What happens to the credibility of the sport?

The credibility of the sport died some years ago and until Max retires or dies it cannot be recovered.

I am pleased that McLaren have appealed although I am not sure how much good it will do in the championship. Where they may gain is in press coverage because should they be further penalised it will be portrayed as victimisation and fixing the championship rather than last year where they were portrayed as cheats for being accused of something every other team in F1 history has done.

with little political interruptions compared to last year

Ignoring Max, that is. My error, completely forgot all about that when I wrote the post.

Your quite right, this year has been very good with little political interruptions compared to last year. It’s a shame that as end of the championship nears, politics are getting in the way of great racing and rivalry.

I hope the decision to penalise Lewis is over turned quickly and that all this hoohaa is forgotten.