F1 » Hamilton blasts FIA Spa penalty 'wrong'

I''m no Hamilton fan, but that penalty was just plain ridiculous!

Not debating who deserved to win the race, but honestly, anyone who believes Hamilton would have been ahead of kimi at La Source if the run off area was gravel rather than tarmac is kidding himself. Kimi had the racing line: instead of backing off and taking the corner BEHIND kimi, he chose to go straight and have better acceleration up to the hairpin.

Its a tough decision.. maybe heavy handed, especially in light of kimi crashing out, but SOMETHING has to be done about driver cutting chicanes because ''they cant fit''. Im sure if there was gravel there Lewis would have tucked in behind kimi just fine. The asphalt run offs are a joke.

No point in appealing mate.
The jury is already rigged against you.
Nothing will change until the manufacturers set up their own series, and give the FIM the boot.

''I was accelerating so that I didn''t lose too much ground, because I thought that would be unfair'' but cutting the corner is hardly fair

In doing so he cut the corner and accelerated too, lewis u didnt have to do that. cos u would of passed him anyway. it was harsh, but he did cut the corner for little or no reason. blaming kimi who didnt do anything wrong doesnt help his cause.

he has to learn to be more patient. it is harsh but its not the first time he has done it so now he might learn.

i do think lewis deserved the win, because massa certainly didnt. but the title race could now get good and a little fiesty too. cos so far up til today racing wise its been dull

The FIA penalty is totally ludicrous. It is now officially illegal to overtake a Ferrari during a Grand Prix.
If the McLaren appeal is not accepted then it will prove how biaised the FIA are towards Ferrari.
It sucks!

John, you may well be right, but the run-off areas ISN'T gravel so the rules must be applied to the circuit that exists rather than what ifs.

The reason many tracks are using asphalt run-offs is because in many past incidents, gravel doesn't actually stop a fast car, because it will actually skim over the surface, before crashing heavily into whatever wall there is after the gravel. Asphalt is a much better surface for stopping an errant car. Look at the Paul Ricard circuit that is owned by BE, all run-off's are asphalt.

If the FIa have any backbone, they will overturn the stewards insane decision.

the run off around the chicanes should be filled with gravel, otherwise its too easy for driver who gets squeezed (as hamilton did bt kimi) to say 'oh i couldnt make it, i accelerated up the run off so i wouldnt lose too much time'.

i remember hamilton being given a penalty in canada doing the same thing to sutil (where he didnt even give the position back). its not just about the position - accelerating out of the run off area gave hamilton the track position he needed to fight with kimi at the hairpin. had he had to negotiate the chicane normally, he would have lost time as he went way too deep off the racing line - the asphalt run off just gave him an easy escape route.

Ferrari refuse to comment - that makes a bloody change as they comment on everything. It goes to show that they are prepared to accept the points weather it is fair or not.
I used to be a Ferrari fan last year, but I gave that up as a bad joke as they were the cheats not mclaren. This year we have no spy scandal just blatent cheating. Hamilton has a right to be aggrieved as this stinks of corruption. Ferrari are too embarised to comment and know that this will all get swept under the carpet like it usually does. The only way to hit the FIA is boycott the races.They dont give a **** what anybody thinks anymore, which is obvious by their actions.

The run-off areas are safer than gravel in case something like that happens. I haven't seen the footage yet, but if Kimi was a sitting duck, then I don't think cutting the chicane was really an advantage. If he didn't do it there, he'd have done it slightly further up the road.

I genuinely believe Ferrari would not get the same treatment, but this is another example of F1 dragging itself through the mire. I wouldn't blame McLaren for boycotting, because everything they do seems to warrant some kind of frowning upon, especially when compared to a certain rival.

Good on you Mr Hamilton, that bunch of sell effacingprats known as the FIA (Ferrari International Assistance) have done it yet again. If it is Ferrari they get away with anything, McClaren are penalised as a matter of course. I was amazed at that clown Blundell saying that they had acted correctly at Valancia I wonder what his comment will be now. It is time that the FIA was stocked by independants instead of Ferrari payees. If the insist on Ferrari winning at any cost then why bother having a race as only Ferrari can succeed.