[sperry]

Originally Posted by Nick Koan

Now the FIA is saying that further action may be taken against Hamilton, which of course has the more sensational rumormills (like crash.net) saying that he's likely to be excluded from the championship this year.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...02145024.shtml
http://www.crash.net/formula+one/new...exclusion.html

Now, that's a bit far I think. Even if they feel he lied, this penalty should be enough and a stern warning not to do it again, or risk losing all points for the season.

What a joke.

First, the driver's testimony shouldn't have jack shit to do with the stewards'/FIA's decisions. They expect the teams to say things that would lose them championship points? I know I wouldn't trust their testimony anymore than I could throw an MP4-24. The FIA's investigation and resulting decision should be based entirely on observed facts... not on testimony from anyone that has anything to gain or lose based on the resulting decision. Otherwise you have to create an environment of fear to scare folks into telling the truth (which is exactly what the FIA is doing w/ threats of exclusion from the championship, and their big penalties, etc).

Second, this should have never happened because the stewards should have sorted it all out before pulling the SC in at the damn race!

I can't believe that NASCAR is so far ahead in this aspect. They have consistent rules for handling full course yellows and pace cars, and when they go green, there's no more discussion... the field is set, and it's set correctly 99.9% of the time. And even in that 0.1% of the time when they screw it up, it's up to the driver to make the pass to correct the situation... which may be unfair, but at least it's consistent and not up for further review a week after the damn race. With all the video cameras, GPS data, track loops, and track officials all over the place, there is NO excuse for getting this wrong. The stewards are flat out incompetent.