Ferrari, BMW, Williams - A Three Against One Fight to McLaren in The Court
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Nov 16, 2007
McLaren
Formula one: Ferrari have slated rivals McLaren at an appeal over the result of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
McLaren objected to Williams and BMW not being penalised for using fuel that was too cool in the season finale.
The FIA’s ruling is expected today and if it upholds the appeal, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton could depose Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen as world champion.
If Williams’s Nico Rosberg and BMW Sauber pair Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld are disqualified, the Englishman who finished seventh, could be moved up to fourth and would gain enough points to overtake Raikkonen, who won the race.
Ferrari’s Nigel Tozzi said: “McLaren are shameless hypocrites devoid of any integrity.” ThisIsAberdeen.co
The lawyers had the track to themselves, so to speak. In the sixth-floor conference room of an American law firm in London, they went at it politely but ruthlessly as they fought over the destiny of this year’s championship.
At issue was whether or not the stewards were right at the Brazilian Grand Prix last month not to disqualify the Williams and BMW drivers, Robert Kubica, Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg, despite finding that the fuel put into their cars at pit-stops was colder than allowed under the rules.
It seemed a bad fight for McLaren to have picked as they found themselves outnumbered three-to-one by the assembled lawyers representing Ferrari, BMW and Williams. BMW’s man, Ian Meakin, accused McLaren of “naked opportunism” in trying to pursue an illegal appeal by the “back door”. Ferrari’s Nigel Tozzi, QC, went much farther, as might have been expected, suggesting that McLaren might be seen as “shameless hypocrites, devoid of any integrity”. But Tozzi, who has already scored one big win against McLaren this year when he played a key role in handing them the biggest fine in sporting history (about £500,000) for possessing Ferrari technical secrets, was treading a fine line himself as he condemned McLaren’s case. TimesOnline.co
