Hamilton’s Appeal Rejected – Heidfeld 2nd!

Today the FIA court of appeal have rejected Lewis Hamilton’s appeal. This is great news for Nick Heidfeld because as a result, he officially retains 2nd place in the Belgian Grand Prix.

The FIA ruled that Hamilton gained an unfair advantage from cutting a chicane and handed him a 25 second penalty following the race. This dropped Hamilton into 3rd place and moved Nick Heidfeld into 2nd. Here’s the exact information as it is known…

“Having heard the explanations of the parties the Court has concluded that the appeal is inadmissible,” the court of appeal said.

The full press release..

At the Grand Prix of Belgium, run on 7 September 2008, and counting towards the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Stewards of the meeting imposed a drive-through penalty upon the driver of car No. 22, Lewis Hamilton, for a breach of Article 30.3 (a) of the 2008 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations and Appendix L, Chapter 4, Article 2 (g) of the International Sporting Code.

As the drive-through penalty was imposed at the end of the race, 25 seconds were added to the driver’s elapsed race time in accordance with Article 16.3 of the FIA 2008 Formula One Sporting Regulations.

Article 152 of the International Sporting Code states that drive-through penalties are “not susceptible to appeal”.

The competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes appealed the Steward’s decision before the International Court of Appeal in a hearing in Paris on September 22nd.

Having heard the explanations of the parties the Court has concluded that the appeal is inadmissible.

The International Court of Appeal was presided over by Mr Philippe NARMINO (Monaco), elected President, and composed of Mr Xavier CONESA (Spain), Mr Harry DUIJM (Netherlands), Mr Thierry JULLIARD (Switzerland) and Mr Erich SEDELMAYER (Austria).