McLaren chief rubbishes Ferrari bias claims ahead of Hamilton hearing and puts his trust in the FIA – again.

One year on from the trauma and intrigue of ’spygate’, McLaren’s Ron Dennis will find himself before motorsport’s supreme governing body, the FIA, once again next week as he and his team attempt to vindicate Lewis Hamilton of wrong doing in the Belgian Grand Prix.

Martin Whitmarsh, CEO of F1 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes gives a short ‘tongue in cheek’ interview on the team’s preparation for the Singapore Grand Prix, directly from their Woking headquarters.

Ron Dennis has confirmed that Lewis Hamilton will attend the International Court of Appeal in Paris on 22nd September where the team are appealing against the retrospective 25 second penalty which was given to the driver at the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend.

Heikki Kovalainen: “In today’s tricky weather conditions I struggled to keep temperature in the brakes, and in the opening stages of the race I had problems with my extreme-wet tyres. First I thought it would improve after a few laps, but it didn’t.

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
“A really close session; I missed pole by just .076 seconds. My first attempt in Q3 wasn’t perfect and further rain later in the session made it almost impossible to improve. On my final run, I gave it everything but there wasn’t enough grip to beat Sebastian Vettel. But congratulations to him on his first pole. Nevertheless, second on the grid is still a good basis for tomorrow; our car has shown good pace in both the wet and the dry so I’m feeling confident.”

McLaren have conceded that seeing Lewis Hamilton stripped of victory in Belgium was a crushing blow, and have vowed to fight back in Monza this week.

FIA said Hamilton’s pass was ‘okay’ - twice

McLaren were twice told by race control that Lewis Hamilton’s controversial pass on Kimi Raikkonen in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix was ‘okay’.

Hamilton was stripped of his Belgian GP win after stewards dealt him a 25-second time penalty for cutting a chicane during his battle with Kimi Raikkonen in the closing laps.

Doubt has been thrown over whether McLaren can appeal Lewis Hamilton’s retrospective drive-through penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend.

McLaren-Mercedes have confirmed that they will lodge an appeal against stewards’ decision to penalise Lewis Hamilton for cutting the chicane during his battle with Kimi Raikkonen in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.

“We have no option other than to register our intention to appeal,” a McLaren spokesperson said in Spa-Francorchamps.

McLaren-Mercedes are adamant they can take the fight to rivals Ferrari at the forthcoming ‘power circuits’ of Spa and Monza, despite the Scuderia’s ominous advantage in the speed traps at Valencia.