Oliver White
The possible scuppering of Kimi Raikkonen’s championship has been finalised in the Finn’s favour. Although Raikkonen magnificently won the Brazilian Grand Prix with a little help from his team mate Felipe Massa, the legality of the BMWs and Williams put the celebrations on hold. Their cars were scrutinised with fuel temperatures lower than the mandatory 10 degrees less than ambient temperatures. However, the stewards have announced that no penalties would be handed out, thus confirming Raikkonen as the 2007 Formula One World Champion.
Fuel samples of both teams during the course of the race were made public after Kimi’s celebrations on the podium, putting the party on hold for the deserving race winner. However, stewards have decided that the result should not be changed. And giving that both teams involved didn’t really involve themselves in the race at the front, the decision is correct. For sure BMW played a significant role in Lewis Hamilton’s race, but ultimately Formula One is about the fastest driver. Also, there wasn’t significant evidence to prove that BMW and Williams had cool fuel.
In view of the matters referred to above, the stewards consider that not withstanding the presumptions referred to above there must be sufficient doubt as to both the temperature of the fuel actually ‘on board the car’ and also as to the true ambient temperature as to render it inappropriate to impose a penalty. Stewards Statement.
Today is Kimi’s day, and the Finnish driver did well coming from third in the standings before Sunday to first come the afternoon.
Kimi Raikkonen is World Champion.
Well deserved WDC for Kimi!
And an attaboy goes out to you Oliver for keeping us entertained with your F1 thoughts during the season…not suking up, just giving you your dues. It takes a lot of commitment and effort to write like this for the whole year…
Thanks Luis. 🙂
The FIA once again demonstrated that decisions are taken according to who is friend and who is foe.
McLaren gets slapped with the loss of points and a 50 m fine for something that was never proven.
But 4 drivers keep their points in spite of doctored fuel. Mosley must be very happy to be able to slap R.Dennis once again.
McLaren should just pull out of the Ecclestone circus and start a new F1. This season has been a shame and a shamble. A waste of excellent and honest drivers (not Alonso, and now it seems neither Raikkonen).
The problem is that the ambient temperature is supposed to be checked by an independent verifier, and it seems the verifier could not confirm the ambient temperature was high enough to put the investigated cars in the danger zone. It’s not just a question of bias.
Seems a little silly to me. One of the most technologically advanced sports in the world and they can’t measure temperatures properly.