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Waiting game Ferrari appeal to be heard Friday in Paris
Posted: Tuesday October 19, 1999 08:58 AM
SEPANG, Malaysia (Reuters) -- Ferrari face an agonizing wait to see if they can re-open the Formula One title race by overturning the decision at the Malaysian Grand Prix to disqualify Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher. Sunday's double disqualification after the cars failed a post-race inspection saw race winner Irvine and runner-up Schumacher stripped of their points -- and the title handed to defending champion Mika Hakkinen with one race remaining. Ferrari immediately appealed and must now sit and wait for the decision of FIA's independent court of appeal following the bizarre late twist in the Formula One season. The appeal will be heard in Paris on Friday, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) announced. FIA's International Court of Appeal is made up of 15 experienced lawyers or judges from a motor sport background. But they may take some heart from a ruling back in 1994 when Benetton were found to have removed a filter from their refueling system. Jos Verstappen was engulfed in flames during a pit-stop at the German Grand Prix and Benetton were called to Paris for a hearing. Employing a famous barrister, they admitted the fault, but argued that it was not intentional to gain any advantage and escaped lightly without losing any championship points. In another case after the Brazilian Grand Prix in 1995, teams running on an irregular fuel were punished by losing points won in the race, but their drivers were not sanctioned. Hakinnen's McLaren team chief Ron Dennis was the first man to admit that Sunday's chaotic and confusing outcome following the disqualifications was an entirely unsatisfactory way to end the scrap for the drivers' crown. "This is not the way to win a championship," he said as he left the Sepang circuit. "It is bad for the sport." The two Ferraris were found to have bodywork which contravened the technical regulations. The wind deflectors, fitted behind the front wheels and in front of the air-intakes, were found to be missing a 10 millimeter piece of material. This meant they did not conform with the rules. All-round superiorityOnly a few hours earlier, Dennis had been on the point of protesting at the tactics employed by Ferrari who cynically used Schumacher's all-round superiority to block and baffle Hakkinen and to run on tires which Dennis believed had been worn down to slicks. The rules, he said, were written to ensure everyone ran on grooved tires to prevent this, but his complaints -- he described Ferrari as "unsporting" -- were dismissed by the Italian team as "sour grapes." In the end, it was Ferrari who had the sour taste in their mouths as sporting director Jean Todt and technical director Ross Brawn, both under pressure following the team's dreadful weekend at the European Grand Prix at the Nuerburgring three weeks earlier, faced the wrath of the Italian media. Frenchman Todt, believed to be the highest-paid team manager in Formula One, said: "We would like to underline that this is exactly the same car in terms of technical specifications that was used and raced at the Nuerburgring. "And the cars were scrutinized on every day of this race event in Malaysia." Brawn, the man responsible for the design and manufacture of the cars as well as the team's strategy, said: "We have not yet established the reason for this nor can we verify or establish if there were faults to the fabrication of the part.
No performance gain"I wish to state that there was no performance gain in this part. We would not have used it if we had known it was illegal." Ferrari's appeal is expected to be confirmed by Tuesday and to take place in Paris or Geneva this week, or early next week. The post-race drama was all enacted after Irvine, whose 'victory" had put him four points ahead of Hakkinen in the world drivers' championship, had left the circuit and flown to Macau. His sister Sonia, who works for him as his fitness adviser and personal assistant, said he knew the cars had been declared irregular after being scrutinized, but did not know he had been excluded. The Ferrari team were planning a week's holiday in Cherating before going to Japan for the season-ending race at Suzuka on October 31, but this was said to be in jeopardy on Sunday night.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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