2008 Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Who are the stewards at a Grand Prix anyway? Are they just a bunch of FIA blokes who happened to have nothing else to do that afternoon, or are they full-time circuit staff? If the stewards are FIA then good luck to McLaren in their appeal, they're going to need it.
 
I think this penalty is more or less the same category (if thinking about how deserved it was) as Alonso's penalty after the quali in Monza '06.
 
the moment the sport gains any kind of credibility along come the FIA to save the the day.... shit bags, do they purposefully want f1 to descend into a laughing stock?
 
Watching ITV coverage, when do they learn to speak Vettels name properly, V is an F in german! Fettel!
 
What bugs me about the penalty is how Lewis "gained and unfair advantage by going off the track". During the rest of the lap after Lewis passed Kimi in the corner before they met Rosberg, Kimi went off the track but continued around the outside of the corner "off track" which gave him a great slingshot after Lewis for the next corner.

Kimi had all 4 wheels of the track for that corner and Brundle was saying during the commentary that in the wet the outside of the corner would give better grip and traction. So Kimi there was gaining and unfair advantage.

I dont see why to give Lewis the pentatly as Kimi crashed out anyways so its not as if Kimi could have won the race.

F1 has already had a pretty bad season this year because of more FIA crap and this is doing it no favours at all. I truly hope that McLaren win the appeal because the FIA has ruined one of the best final laps of a race in quite some time.


Edit: i have just watched where Kimi later went off the track and noticed that Lewis had also gone off the track but he decided to rejoin straight away instead of running all the way around the outside on full throttle as Kimi did.
 
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Just finished watching the race off my DVR. Those last 3 laps were amazing. And as much as I dislike Mclaren and Hamilton, they deserved the win. This penalty is bullshit.
 
Just finished watching the race off my DVR. Those last 3 laps were amazing. And as much as I dislike Mclaren and Hamilton, they deserved the win. This penalty is bullshit.

Agreed. I'm not a fan of McLaren or Hamilton but he pulled it off perfectly. He clearly backed off just enough to let Raikkonen pass and then took him at the next corner. Perfectly legit move to me.
 
News flash - Dateline 07 09 2008 Spa Francochamps, Belgium Grand Prix.

In an almost unprecedented moment some F1 racing and excitement was generated in Belgium today. A spokesman for the FIA commented "We will put a stop to all this!"
 
Who are the stewards at a Grand Prix anyway? Are they just a bunch of FIA blokes who happened to have nothing else to do that afternoon, or are they full-time circuit staff? If the stewards are FIA then good luck to McLaren in their appeal, they're going to need it.

AFAIK, the stewards are a local officials appointed by the host countries ASN. Basically a bunch of part-time amateurs more used to domestic championships.

The appeal will be heard by the FIA's International Court of Appeal, not the same stewards who awarded the original penalty.
 
AFAIK, the stewards are a local officials appointed by the host countries ASN. Basically a bunch of part-time amateurs more used to domestic championships.

The appeal will be heard by the FIA's International Court of Appeal, not the same stewards who awarded the original penalty.
So is it fair to blame the actual FIA for giving the original penalty? Or is it soley the fault of the stewards?
 
Going by precedents set by the FIA (right? not that I believe in them, or that they matter at all at this point), it's the organization itself that is responsible for the behaviour of individuals that work within it.
 
Wow... what a total fucking joke. That's one of the worst decisions I've ever seen made in 20+ years of watching motorsport. Seriously, just how up their own arses are the stewards heads?? Let's see, Kimi barges Lewis off the track a little (which I don't really see as being unfair given Lewis had somewhere to go), Lewis uses the escape area and clearly doesn't gain any benefit since he came out of the corner behind Kimi, and Lewis gets penalised? You've got to be joking.

I've seen some questionable decisions in my time, but this just takes the cake. What a great way to F1 to lose fans.

I'm genuinely astounded how fucking ridiculous this decision is.
 
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