'Mistaken' McLaren will not appeal FIA decision

Thursday 2nd April 2009

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'Mistaken' McLaren will not appeal FIA decision

'Mistaken' McLaren will not appeal FIA decision

McLaren have decided against appealing the decision to throw both the team and Lewis Hamilton out of last Sunday's Australian GP.

In the wake of Thursday's FIA hearing in Malaysia, it was announced that McLaren and Hamilton were to be excluded from the race results, thereby costing the team six World Championship points.

According to a statement from the FIA, McLaren and Hamilton had acted in a "manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the Stewards at the hearing on Sunday 29th March 2009."

And although McLaren won't be appealing the decision, the team says they in no way meant to mislead the FIA but rather made a 'mistake'.

'McLaren understands that the Stewards made their decision on the basis of reviewing radio transmissions between the driver and the team," McLaren said in a statement.

'The team mistakenly believed that the radio transmissions had been reviewed by the FIA on Sunday 29th March 2009, and consequently did not believe it was necessary to discuss them with the Stewards on that date.

'Nonetheless, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Team now regrets that it did not do so, accepts the Stewards' decision and will not appeal.'

New McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh added that although the team made a mistake in not providing more detail to their testimony, they do not believe any additions would have changed the stewards' ruling.

"We have made a mistake in that we did not share as much information with the stewards as we could have," said Whitmarsh. "The feeling within the team was that this information would not have altered the stewards' verdict.

"I believe it was a harsh decision. Experience has told us you've got to accept these decisions. These things come along, and you have to build on your concentration for this weekend and the races to come."

Whitmarsh was also quick to defend his driver after the FIA used the term "deliberately misleading" in their statement.

"There's no indication that Lewis lied," Whitmarsh said.

"There was no lie within that hearing. We the team made a mistake, that we didn't supply a full account of a radio conversation we believe was being listened to in any case and we don't believe was material to the decision being made by the stewards."

Related Links
Hamilton disqualified from Aussie GP results

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