FIA man involved in decision to penalise Hamilton

Reproduced from Planet F1
Monday 23rd June 2008

Although the Magny-Cours stewards have insisted that their decision to hand Lewis Hamilton a race-wrecking drive-through penalty during the French GP was the result of a "clear" infringement, conspiracy theorists are bound to have noticed that Max Mosley's close associate, Alan Donnelly, was part of the decision-making process.

The penalty, which both Hamilton and McLaren, along with a number of neutral observers, deemed unjust, was the third the Englishman has endured this season and the second McLaren suffered over the weekend after Heikki Kovalainen was deducted five grid-places after being adjudged to have "hindered" Mark Webber.

While Ron Dennis' hint that McLaren, no friends of the discredited FIA President Mosley, felt they were being victimised was played down by his number two Martin Whitmarsh, it has emerged that Donnelly, Mosley's 'official representative' at grands prix and a consultant to the FIA, 'led' the stewards when they studied footage of the incident. In January, it was announced that retiring permanent steward Tony Scott-Andrews would not be replaced and his place would instead by filled by Donnelly acting as a 'administrator'.

There is, of course, no suggestion that Donnelly and the Magny-Cours stewards were anything but impartial when the judgement was made. As well as working for the FIA, Donnelly is the Executive Chairman of a Sovereign Strategy, a company that lists both the FIA and Formula One Management Ltd among its clients. It has previously boasted of working for Ferrari but has since removed the announcement from the client list on their website.

According to ITV, who supply coverage of F1 in Britain, the only footage of the Hamilton incident provided by the FOM TV host broadcast was an on-board shot from the Englishman's McLaren that apparently showed Hamilton past Vettel before he approached the Nurburgring chicane.

They claim that 'No exterior shot of the incident was offered', but cite the FIA reporting that 'its stewards, led by Max Mosley's number two Alan Donnelly, had access to the circuit's closed circuit TV cameras when making their decision'. The Times reports that the stewards adjudged Hamilton's offence to be "very clear".

It is unclear, however, why this footage has not been made available.