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Formula One: Hamilton disqualified from Australian GP for lying
After meeting with Lewis Hamilton in Malaysia ahead of this weekend's Formula One Grand Prix, the FIA has excluded the defending Formula One world champion from the results of last weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix--and not, directly, for an on-track incident.
The FIA determined that Hamilton lied to the FIA stewards in Melbourne about his actions behind the safety car toward the end of the race. Just as the "SC" boards were being shown, Jarno Trulli went off the track under pressure from Hamilton, who overtook the Toyota. Concerned that he might have made the pass under yellow, the McLaren-Mercedes driver slowed behind the safety car and moved over, effectively giving Trulli no choice but to repass him for third position. However, Hamilton is said to have denied that such was the case during a post-race investigation by the stewards, who handed Trulli a 25-second penalty for passing under yellow, which promoted Hamilton to a third-place finish.
But in Malaysia, FIA stewards Steve Chopping, Olafur Gudmundsson (both of whom had been in Melbourne) and Surinder Thatti reviewed McLaren radio transmissions that showed that the team had instructed Hamilton to move over. The stewards concluded that Hamilton and his team had acted "in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the stewards."
Hamilton and his car were excluded from the Australian results, and Trulli's Toyota was reinstated in third place behind the Brawn GP cars of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. McLaren said it will not appeal the decision.
PRESS RELEASE: Penalty Imposed On Driver No. 1 Lewis Hamilton And Competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
At the first hearing following the Australian Grand Prix, the Stewards did not have the benefit of the radio exchanges between driver No. 1 Lewis Hamilton and his Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, nor did they have access to the comments to the Media given by Lewis Hamilton immediately after the end of the race.
From the video recordings available to the Stewards during the hearing, it appeared that Jarno Trulli’s car left the track and car No. 1 moved into third place. It then appeared that Trulli overtook Hamilton to regain third place, which at the time was prohibited as it was during the Safety Car period.
During the hearing, held approximately one hour after the end of the race, the Stewards and the Race Director questioned Lewis Hamilton and his Team Manager David Ryan specifically about whether there had been an instruction given to Hamilton to allow Trulli to overtake. Both the driver and the Team Manager stated that no such instruction had been given. The Race Director specifically asked Hamilton whether he had consciously allowed Trulli to overtake. Hamilton insisted that he had not done so.
The new elements presented to the Stewards several days after the 2009 Australian Grand Prix which led to the reconvened Stewards Meeting clearly show that:
a. Immediately after the race and before Lewis Hamilton attended the Stewards Meeting, he gave an interview to the Media where he clearly stated that the Team had told him to let Trulli pass.
b. Furthermore, the radio exchanges between the driver and the Team contain two explicit orders from the Team to let the Toyota pass.
The Stewards, having learned about the radio exchanges and the Media interview, felt strongly that they had been misled by the driver and his Team Manager which led to Jarno Trulli being unfairly penalised and Lewis Hamilton gaining third place.
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