Zoom The appeal process has begun

A decision of the stewards following the Belgian Grand Prix saw 25 seconds added to Lewis Hamilton's overall race time, the result of which saw him drop down from victory to third place. The win therefore went to second-placed Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

The stewards considered that Hamilton had not properly allowed Kimi Raikkonen to regain his position after the McLaren driver temporarily overtook Raikkonen's Ferrari while taking avoiding action at the Bus Stop chicane.

McLaren had soon informed the FIA that it would appeal the decision, and has now confirmed the procedure with the following statement:

Martin Whitmarsh said:
"Following our decision to register our intention to appeal the penalty handed out to Lewis Hamilton by the FIA Stewards at the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix, we hereby confirm that we have now lodged notice of appeal. Lewis describes the incident as follows."

Lewis Hamilton said:
"In the closing stages of the race I was catching Kimi consistently, lap by lap, and with three laps remaining I got close enough to attempt to overtake him on the entry to the last chicane. I managed to get slightly ahead of him in the braking area for the first apex of the chicane. He fought back approaching the second apex - but, in doing so, he left no room for me on the inside line. The only way for me to avoid a collision was therefore to cut inside the second apex. "

"I came out of the second apex in front of Kimi and so I momentarily lifted-off on the straight, to ensure that Kimi got back in front. The team also came on the radio and instructed me to allow Kimi to repass, which I had already done. As a result, Kimi crossed the start/finish line ahead of me and 6.7km/h quicker than me."

"After allowing Kimi to completely repass, I crossed from the left side of the track to the right side of the track, passing behind Kimi in the process. I then attacked Kimi on the inside of the first corner, and successfully outbraked him."

Martin Whitmarsh added:
"From the pit wall, we then asked Race Control to confirm that they were comfortable that Lewis had allowed Kimi to repass, and they confirmed twice that they believed that the position had been given back in a manner that was 'okay'."

"If Race Control had instead expressed any concern regarding Lewis's actions at that time, we would have instructed Lewis to allow Kimi to repass for a second time."

Statement ends

D.B. © CAPSIS International