MOTORSPORT: Lewis Hamilton stiffed on appeal

The bottom line is that Hamilton and Ferrari's Felipe Massa go into the remaining four races of the world championship -- the first of them this Sunday night in Singapore -- separated by just one point, rather than Hamilton leading by seven points.

Late in the Belgian race at Spa-Francorchamps the 23-year-old Hamilton had cut a corner to avoid colliding with Ferrari's reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen. Having emerged in the lead by cutting that corner, Hamilton sportingly slowed to hand back the lead to Raikkonen, then attacked him again at the next corner.

It has subsequently been ruled, in the FIA's curious way, that Hamilton should not have made that second attempt to overtake until another corner later.

The outcome at the FIA overnight -- stiffing McLaren and giving Ferrari the benefit, yet again -- is hardly surprising but leaves huge questions about the way motorsport is being run at the highest level.

Some of the questions are:

>>>Why did the FIA spend 5½ hours on the matter in Paris on Monday if it was compelled to rule that the appeal was inadmissible?

>>>Did anyone senior to the three stewards who imposed the 25-second penalty on Hamilton that relegated him from first to third in the race interfere in the process -- i.e., "suggest"/direct the stewards make the finding they did?

>>>What action is being taken against race director Charlie Whiting for twice telling McLaren over the radio as the race continued that what Hamilton had done was OK?

We read now that Whiting said he gave wrong advice to McLaren because he had only seen the incident once live when asked his opinion over the radio.

"It became clear to me after seeing the incident in a more detailed way that the whole advantage had not been given back," Whiting said.

Hamilton said he did not know he was not allowed to attack Raikkonen at the next corner -- a ruling "clarified" only before the Italian GP a week later.

"I did not hear about this rule until Monza," he said. "I was going to overtake him anyway."

The decision not to entertain the appeal ensures a thrilling climax to the F1 season but again will have left many millions of people around the world wondering just how motorsport, and particularly at the highest level, is run.

How properly and fairly, and for whose benefit.

Hamilton has said: "People will probably expect me to be depressed about today's result, but that isn't me.

"All I want to do now is get on with what we drivers do best: racing each other.

"We're racers, we're naturally competitive, and we love to overtake. Overtaking is difficult, and it feels great when you manage to pull off a great passing manoeuvre.

"If it pleases the spectators and TV viewers, it's better still. So I'm disappointed, yes, but not depressed."

For further reading on the matter we recommend this article here, in The Independent newspaper in London by David Tremayne

and articles here, here and here, at grandprix.com.

While we believe Hamilton has been seriously wronged in this instance -- a view we are sure is still shared by F1 greats Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda and Sir Stirling Moss, even if not by most of Hamilton's contemporaries -- the second-year superstar is far from everyone's favorite person in the sport, and we draw attention to an article highlighting his arrogance, here.

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