McLaren wants more details!

McLaren still hopes to receive clarification on the issue of fuel temperature regulation, after the FIA International Court of Appeal dismissed the British team’s case on this matter.

McLaren has filed an appeal against the decision made by race officials during the Brazilian Grand Prix who chose not to disqualify the BMW Sauber and Williams teams. This decision was related to an irregularity in fuel temperatures.

In a statement made by the FIA, the governing body said that the appeal lodged by McLaren was inadmissible and thus follows the FIA’s decision to dismiss the team’s case.

McLaren F1 team principal Martin Whitmarsh stated that he hopes the verdict will nonetheless provide clarity on this obscure part of the regulations.

« In the interest of the rule and the rule of consistency in clarifications, we introduce our appeal. We have not yet seen the official report of the decision made by the FIA International Court of Appeal, and we hope clarifications will be provided, » stated Whitmarsh.

« It is important to emphasize that the investigation by the FIA experts into the Brazilian Grand Prix was not initiated by an action from McLaren, but by a report written and made public by the FIA’s technical delegate. The latter considered that BMW Sauber and Williams had violated the regulations.

« Our call was simply a logical step in the process undertaken by the FIA technical delegate responsible for the written report at the time, » he stated.

« We hope that the issue of the temperature of fuels used during races will be resolved for next year. But we look forward to working with the FIA and the various teams on clarifying the issues to prevent such a situation from happening again in the future. »

The decision of the Court of Appeal also ended the possibilities of Lewis Hamilton being awarded the world championship title, instead confirming Kimi Räikkönen for Ferrari as the official holder of this title.

And the Briton in any case declares that the result is fair.

« As I said, Kimi deserves to win the 2007 championship, and neither I nor anyone from the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team had the desire to take the title away from him. That was not the team’s goal in pursuing this appeal in the Court of Appeal, » said Hamilton.

« I am looking forward to the 2008 season, to meet Kimi and all my other competitors in the race again. We hope to be able to do better than a second place, » concluded Hamilton.