While it is true that the
FIA has requested an inspection of the engine that helped propel
Lewis Hamilton to victory in Sunday's German Grand Prix, it is understood that the checks are only part of a routine programme.
Hamilton claimed pole position and appeared to be romping to victory at Hockenheim before the safety car was scrambled for
Timo Glock's accident. What appeared to be a gaffe on pitwall by
McLaren's tacticians left the Briton back in fifth place after he was forced to make a green flag stop, but put himself back on the top step of the podium by passing both
Felipe Massa and
Nelson Piquet Jr in the closing stages.
While the Briton's rivals may be eager to learn the outcome of the inspection - which will take place the day before the Hungarian Grand Prix gets underway - Spanish newspaper
As confirms that it is merely a part of the governing body's routine policy of checking the components of engines now that the technology freeze has been put in place to keep costs down. Engines are selected at random, and Hamilton's just happened to be drawn after its Hockenheim success. The report claims that the full range of checks was unable to be completed immediately after the German race, hence the need for McLaren to present the V10 in Budapest.
While
Ferrari will be particularly keen to know if there is an untoward reason for Hamilton's ability to out-run both Massa and
Kimi Raikkonen at Hockenheim, it acknowledges that the real reason will be McLaren moving ahead of it in development over the past few rounds. As a result, the Scuderia worked on various ideas during the recent
Jerez test in an effort to peg the Woking team back.
"After carrying out many tests over these past few days, we think we have understood the cause of our problems," world champion Raikkonen admitted, "In the last day, our car has improved a lot and we are ready for the next few races. Our rivals look very strong, but there is still time for us to recover."
