2007 Hungarian Grand Prix

I thought the idea with Q1/2/3 was to get the cars on the track more during the broadcast and for the people at the track. To make it more interesting to watch. Where previously they'd all sit and do nothing for most of the qualifying sessions, and it was very boring.
 
McLaren goes ahead with points appeal

McLaren has decided to go ahead with an appeal against the penalty it received at last weekend?s Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Woking team was precluded from scoring any constructors? world championship points in Sunday?s race after stewards ruled that its actions in the final minutes qualifying were ?prejudicial to the interests of the competition and to the interests of motor sport generally?.

McLaren immediately served notice of its intention to appeal the penalty, but after the race Ron Dennis hinted in an interview with ITV Sport?s Steve Rider that the team might reconsider.

On Wednesday, however, the FIA confirmed that McLaren intends to press ahead with the appeal.

?The International Court of Appeal has received confirmation of McLaren?s appeal from the national sporting authority in the UK,? a spokesman for the governing body told ITV-F1.com.

McLaren?s cars finished first and fourth in Budapest, so there are 15 points at stake in the appeal, which may well prove crucial in its duel with Ferrari for the constructors? title.

Source
 
I was wondering if a team appeals the FIA and are unsuccessful, don't they get even further and harsher penalties?
 
I was wondering if a team appeals the FIA and are unsuccessful, don't they get even further and harsher penalties?

It's happened to Mclaren before, but it seems unlikely. Its not a definite sort of thing.
 
Wont be any further punishment, and I think they will get their points back.
 
^^^^Incorrect. The 107% rule was scrapped as of France I believe and no-one said anything about it. You now get fuel credit for EVERY lap you do in Q3.

The pit lane line-up thing is something I don't understand. Hamilton was at the front because his car cooled down to acceptable temperatures first. However Alonso was still second in line......not like he was 8th or something. So why not just wait with Lewis' car another 10 seconds or whatever and put him second in line. If the cars are cooling down.....its only going to cool down further?!?!?!?!?!

But then they risk other teams getting out in front of them...
 
Ted Kravitz on ITV-F1.com has this to say in his pit lane notebook. Fascinating stuff. The more I read about it, the more Im hating Lewis.

McLaren


Hungary was a great race to attend as a neutral observer. It seemed everyone had something to be annoyed about, even the winning team which was slipping gently into civil war.

The details of what happened in qualifying have been extensively documented, so I thought I?d let you in on an untold highlight of the weekend, which was McLaren?s ?meet the team? press conference on Saturday afternoon ? although it was more a case of ?argue with and roundly abuse the team?.

Ron Dennis and Norbert Haug sat in the middle of a packed motorhome, with Fernando Alonso alongside.

First Ron apologised for Lewis not being there, saying that he was still too wound up by what had happened in qualifying and would not be attending.

Ron then explained, in a commendably frank and open manner, the sequence of events that started with Lewis deliberately disobeying repeated team orders to let Fernando past.

Dennis also confirmed that there had been a sweary exchange on the radio between himself and Hamilton, although was not asked what he made of Lewis?s instruction to ?swivel?.

The good bit started when the British press sunk their teeth into Fernando Alonso.

?Why didn?t you move off?? the Spaniard was asked. ?Because I was being given a countdown by the engineers to find a space in the traffic,? came the response.

This explanation didn?t satisfy Fleet Street, who?d already written their stories that Alonso deliberately held up Lewis, and didn?t want to hear any explanation to the contrary.

They asked him again and again, but Fernando held his nerve. ?I?ve told you four times now,? he said, laughing, ?I was waiting for a countdown from my team. We always do this.?

He?s right, it?s not always shown on TV, but there have been many times I?ve watched from the pits as Alonso is held for sequencing.

I was on Alonso?s side at this point ? I believed his version of events. But what emerged from the stewards revealed that Fernando wasn?t telling the whole story.

The fact was that the countdown ended when the lollipop lifted.

Fernando then had an argument with his engineer about why he had been given hard tyres.

He knew time was tight, but probably didn?t give a monkeys? about helping Lewis by moving out of the way, just like Lewis didn?t give a monkeys? about the team?s instructions to let Fernando past.

Anyway, by this time Ron had been called to the stewards, and Lewis entered the press briefing. ?Sorry, I?ve been watching the GP2 race ? I didn?t know this was on,? Hamilton explained.

The next five minutes saw Lewis casting doubt on Fernando?s story, Fernando looking thoroughly hacked off with being made out to be the bad guy and Norbert Haug, sat like some human shield between the two drivers, wishing he was somewhere else.

It was just about to get angry, personal and completely out of control when Martin Whitmarsh came in and called the whole thing to a halt.

It was powerful stuff, and Fernando was visibly furious. His perception is that he?s fighting not only against his team-mate, but also against the British media, most of the McLaren team, his team boss and the FIA stewards. He?s probably right on all counts.

I wouldn?t be at all surprised if he decided that actually the grass wasn?t greener, and goes back to Renault.

Source


Interesting how halfway through, Ron gets called to the Stewards office and then Lewis appears, and notices that theres no management around and then the problems begin. Lucky for Alonso that Martin was around to call an end to it.
 
I think both drivers are at fault here

Lewis for not obeying orders, and being a little selfish

Fernando for holding up Lewis even after the lollipop lifted, as the above article explains the countdown was over when the lollipop lifted. And if Fernando was really trying to find space to do his lap, he would've gone after the countdown was over.

Overall I think this whole qualifying thing was based on rivalry and both were willing to attack each other to get in front. The whole team is responsible for this incident and has damaged the entertainment of that race, which is why I believe the team deserve their punishment.
 
Interesting how halfway through, Ron gets called to the Stewards office and then Lewis appears, and notices that theres no management around and then the problems begin. Lucky for Alonso that Martin was around to call an end to it.

I don't want to spoil your blind-hate but Nobert Haug is Vice-president of Mclaren. Whitmarsh is just the CEO. So there was management around. There more and more you talk and complain about Hamilton, the more I think your opinion is based on his ethnicity. I hope it's not, but in my eyes it could very well be ;)
 
There more and more you talk and complain about Hamilton, the more I think your opinion is based on his ethnicity. I hope it's not, but in my eyes it could very well be ;)

Thats a pathetic, cheap shot mate!

Its not based on his ethnicity, and if you read the article, you will see that Norbert was uncomfortable there and isnt a strong member of their management and didnt cal an end to it. It was Whitmarsh who had to come in and stop it.

Also if you read the article, you will see that once Ron left, Lewis appeared, claimed he didnt know a team press breifing was happening and then problems occurred,
 
Yeh since when has race come into it?? Wouldn't matter if Lewis was black, white or green. Wouldn't change my opinions.

As far as I know Norbert Haug has no role in McLaren at all. He is head of Mercedes Motorsport department I believe. Ron is top-brass at McLaren followed by Martin.

I find it interesting that Ron said Lewis was "cooling down and still upset" whereas when Lewis walked in he claimed he had no knowledge of the press conference.
 
I find it interesting that Ron said Lewis was "cooling down and still upset" whereas when Lewis walked in he claimed he had no knowledge of the press conference.

That's what I found interesting too, it means Lewis or Ron were lying, but we don't know which one. Maybe Ron decided he didn't want to invite Lewis or Maybe Lewis really was just cooling down.

I still don't understand how anyone can think Alonso is in the clear on this one. He was wasting time after the lollipop went up and that wasted time cost Lewis his extra hot lap. Sure Lewis was a dick by not following team orders, but Alonso didn't have to stoop to his level.
 
Lewis & Fernando have kissed & made up:

Alonso is speaking to me again - Hamilton
10 August 2007

Lewis Hamilton has responded to continued media speculation that relations between him and Fernando Alonso have hit an all time low and that reportedly Alonso wasn't speaking to Hamilton after the qualifying incident in Hungary.

"For the record, Fernando and I are fiercely competitive and respectful of each other," Hamilton explained in his statement. "We are both ambitious drivers who want to win. However, we are not drivers at war, as has been widely reported. Although we did not speak on Sunday we have spoken since the weekend and continue to have a professional working relationship. In fact, Fernando and I plan to meet up over the holiday period."

"As an individual in my first year in Formula 1 I have done my utmost to conduct myself in a professional and open manner," he insisted. "Of course, I have made mistakes, not least during the last weekend, and those are open to public scrutiny. I have my own regrets and have dealt with matters arising. However, it is disappointing that inflammatory and untrue material is given to the media and published which may damage reputations. This inflammatory material is then commentated on by many others as if it is factual."

Source

And turns out Lewis didn't swear at Dennis - don't you just love baseless media beat-ups?
McLaren denies Hamilton swore at Dennis
10 August 2007

With speculation rife in the British media that Lewis Hamilton used profanity in a heated exchange with team boss Ron Dennis after the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session, the McLaren team has taken the unprecedented move of issuing a statement denying any such exchange.

The statement read as follows: "Whilst the team would normally not comment on such speculation, Lewis has asked us to correct one important matter of untrue critical commentary. It has been reported that Lewis used the 'F word' to Ron Dennis over the team radio immediately after the qualification session had been completed. The team have investigated this claim and reviewed the radio transmissions and we can categorically confirm that Lewis did not use the 'F word' at any time during any conversation with the team."

"The team and Lewis are extremely disappointed that the use of the 'F word' appears to have been invented and repeated to the media," it concluded.

Source
 
That just completely goes against what the team were saying a few days ago when Dennis confirmed that such an exchange did take place.

Still - its good to see McLaren finally regaining control of the situation now and hopefully it will all be defused by the time we hit Turkey. I hope very much Hamilton and Alonso can agree to tolerate each other because otherwise they're just leaving the goals wide open for Ferrari to take advantage.

lol, this thread has 234 replies, almost double the posts of almost any other race thread we've had this year!
 
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That just completely goes against what the team were saying a few days ago when Dennis confirmed that such an exchange did take place.

Actually no, it goes against what the media have reported:

After being held up, Hamilton was furious and is reported to have told Dennis over the radio: ?Don't ever f****** do that again!?

Dennis replied, ?Don?t f****** talk to me like that,? to which Hamilton responded, ?Go f****** swivel?.

Dennis later admitted that his language and the response had been ?100% materially wrong?.

Source

Ron Dennis saying his words were '100 materially wrong' does not equal a confirmation - it's also unclear as to whether Dennis was referring to himself or Lewis when he '... admitted his language...'.

But yes, it's good to see McLaren and the drivers trying to move on - provided they keep it together and don't drop the ball they'll have both titles.
 
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