McLaren lodge appeal

(13-Jul-98) - Michael Schumacher's victory in the British Grand Prix will
remain provisional for the time being after the McLaren team decided to
appeal against their protest on the result being rejected.

McLaren had claimed that Schumacher should have stopped for a 10 -second
stop-go penalty well before the end of the race because he had overtaken
under the yellow flags. Schumacher stopped on the final lap and had
10-seconds added to his race-time.

But the stewards rejected McLaren's claims and also rescinded the 10-second
penalty because Schumacher's Ferrari team had been informed of the penalty
more than the mandatory 25 minutes after the incident took place.

McLaren remained unhappy about the situation and, although they refused to
comment at length on the situation, they lodged an appeal to the sport's
governing body, the FIA, and issued a brief statement.

"The team is obviously very disappointed by the current situation. It
is clear than an incident occurred on lap 43 which, in previous cases,
resulted in a 'stop-go' penalty," read the statement."

"This is why we protested the result and we will now pursue the matter
further through an appeal to the FIA International Court of Appeal."

"In view of the initation of this process, it would be inappropriate
to discuss any of the issues pertinent to this appeal at this time."

McLaren have seven days to confirm their appeal with the FIA before it
proceeds to the International Court of Appeal.

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