McLaren taking it to Court of Appeal

(13-Jul-98) - McLaren team chef Ron Dennis is unhappy with the result of
the British Grand Prix which saw Michael Schumacher win the race in the
pitlane.

Initially the team filed an appeal against the result where 10 seconds was
added to Michael Schumacher's time. This was first thought to be due to the
fact that Schumacher finished the race before actually taking the penalty,
but the Stewards later explained that this was because the rules don't
allow a Stop & Go penalty when there are less than 12 laps remaining.
According to Article 57 of the Sporting Regulations 10 seconds will then be
added to the drivers time.

But McLaren claimed that if Schumacher would have come in for a real 10
seconds Stop & Go penalty earlier, it would have cost him much more
time, including the time to drive in and out of the pitlane, which would
have handed the win to Hakkinen. The Stewards however dismissed the appeal
saying that everything went according the rules. The Stewards even withdraw
the penalty because they found out that it was handed too late to Ferrari.
According to the same Article 57, the stewards have to hand a penalty
within 25 minutes after the incident for which the penalty is given.
"The notification was not displayed on the timing monitors. Under the
circumstances the time penalty imposed cannot apply and is therefore
rescinded. The results are amended accordingly," according to an
official statement of the Stewards.

But McLaren was still unhappy with the race result and they have now lodged
an appeal at the FIA. The official statement reads: "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. 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 will now have to confirm their appeal within seven days before it
proceeds to the International Court of Appeal.

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