Appeal hearing: McLaren just wants to clarify the rules…

McLaren F1 leader, Martin Whitmarsh, believes it would be bad for F1 to see Lewis Hamilton triumph for the 2007 season due to a decision made by the Court of Appeal.

But he says that McLaren’s appeal was necessary to clarify the rules.

« It would certainly not be good to see Hamilton declared the winner a month after the end of the season, but we are taking this action primarily to fully understand the rules of procedure and operation, » said Whitmarsh to autosport.com.

« We ourselves lost the constructors’ championship title in 1999 in front of the international court of appeal, which was ultimately awarded to Ferrari. We were upset, but we accepted it. »

Whitmarsh admitted that he would have preferred to see the title decided on the track, and believes that a decision in favor of Hamilton during the hearing would not necessarily be a victory for McLaren.

« I do not want to anticipate the verdict of the FIA International Court of Appeal judges, » added Whitmarsh.

« Moreover, it depends on what you mean by the word victory. As a motorsport fan, I wouldn’t be satisfied to see the title awarded to Lewis by an appeal decision. Better to have a real battle on the track! »

However, Whitmarsh defended McLaren’s decision to appeal, saying that it is essential to clarify the regulations.

« We were mystified by the decision of the race stewards and the FIA. According to the FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer, Rosberg’s Williams and the BMW Saubers of Kubica and Heidfeld had been refueled with fuel that had been cooled to a level below what we believe the regulations allowed, giving a performance advantage, » he said.

« The FIA decided not to exclude the cars from the final standings of this race. We do not understand why this is the case, and we still do not understand now. »

« A clarification, which we consider essential, must be undertaken not only for ourselves but also for all our competitors. The goal is to allow all F1 teams to clearly understand the limits they have regarding fuel temperature for the 2008 season, » concluded Whitmarsh.