Wednesday, 23rd July 2008

There were no team orders affecting the result of the German Grand Prix, according to McLaren, despite Lewis Hamilton easily disposing of team-mate Heikki Kovalainen in his run to victory.

"Article 29.2 of the 2008 Sporting Regulations states that ‘a driver may remain in his car throughout refuelling but, unless an FIA-approved race refuelling system is used, the engine must be stopped.' We refuelled Heikki's car during the Q2 session using a churn while his engine was still running, but we reasoned – incorrectly, as it happened – that we were operating within the regulations because we were using an [FIA] approved Intertechnique nozzle to deliver the fuel.

"Having discussed the matter with the stewards, we accepted that we were in breach of the Sporting Regulations. Clearly, though, we received no performance advantage from doing this and accepted the stewards' judgment as totally fair.”

Having twice been docked grid positions for allegedly blocking other car during Saturday's high-pressure session, Kovalainen and the crew escaped with a €5000 fine.

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