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Following the saga of the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix, McLaren have been summoned by the FIA World Motor Sport Council to answer charges that they have brought the sport into disrepute. The charges come after it was realised that Lewis Hamilton and David Ryan failed to disclose all the information available to them at a stewards inquiry in Melbourne following the on-track passing/re-passing involving Hamilton and Jarno Trulli. Continue Reading

Following the re-investigation into the incident involving Lewis Hamilton and Jarno Trulli in the final few laps of the Australian Grand Prix last weekend, the stewards have decided to reinstate Jarno Trulli’s third place finish and disqualify the McLaren driver. It would appear that fresh evidence was brought to light and while Toyota withdrew their initial appeal, the stewards deemed the new evidence important enough to warrant further investigation. Continue Reading

There have been a few penalties flying around since the end of qualifying earlier today, but currently this is how the grid stands. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello of Brawn lock out the front row, with Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica close behind in the Red Bull and BMW respectively. Lewis Hamilton was given a five grid slot penalty after changing his gear box – the issue put him out of qualifying. Also receiving penalties were the Toyota team, the TF109 having a rear wing that was flexing too much. Trulli and Glock were sent to the back of the grid. Continue Reading

The first race of the season usually throws up some form of protest, or at minimum a bit of a sulk, but so far in Melbourne, the diffuser issue came to a head with no consequences as of yet and the Toyota drivers have been sent to the back of the grid. Williams have also protested the legality of the Ferrari and Red Bull Racing cars. The Toyota issue came about after a routine post-qualifying inspection of the cars, where it was discovered the rear wing mounts were in breach of the regulations. Continue Reading

The World Motor Sport Council met today to discuss a variety of topics surrounding the future of Formula One and one such topics was a improvement needed in the stewarding process at grands prix. 2008 saw an unprecedented number of decisions being made by the three race stewards, and to say they did a less-than-acceptable job is a gross understatement. However, the FIA have promised to be more transparent and share evidence with fans via the FIA and official F1 websites. Continue Reading

If 2008 will be remembered for anything, it will be the ruthless decisions made by the stewards of the races. I don’t have hard numbers, but it would appear that this season has seen an uncharacteristic high number of fine and penalties imposed on drivers and teams. Misdemeanour’s range from being late to official meetings (morning briefings etc) to driving the wrong way up the track during a practice session. But are the punishments helping or hindering the overall spectacle? Continue Reading

Shortly after the Singapore Grand Prix, Toyota lodged a protest against rival team Scuderia Toro Rosso as they felt Sebastian Vettel was unsafely released from his pitstop in to the path of Timo Glock. Despite Glock finishing ahead of Vettel in the race – so any punishment to the recent race winner won’t effect Glock’s result – it would have enabled a larger gap between the two teams in the constructors battle. Continue Reading