|
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF APPEAL (I.C.A.)
of the
FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE L'AUTOMOBILE
05.05.2005
Appeal submitted by the Fédération
Internationale de l’Automobile, on the grounds of Article
185 of the International Sporting Code
CASE
Decision n° 49 taken by the Stewards of the Meeting
concerning car n° 3, competitor Lucky Strike BAR Honda
(driver Jenson Button),
after the San Marino Grand Prix on 24 April 2005 counting
towards the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship
Hearing of Wednesday 4 May 2005 in Paris
The FIA INTERNATIONAL COURT OF APPEAL, composed of Mr Xavier
CONESA (Spain), elected President, Mr Erich Sedelmayer
(Austria), Mr Pierre Tourigny (Canada) and Mr Vassilis
KOUSSIS (Greece),
Meeting in Paris on Wednesday 4 May 2005, at the
headquarters of the Fédération Internationale de
l’Automobile, 8 place de la Concorde, 75008 Paris,
Ruling on the appeal brought by the FIA against decision n°
49 taken by the Stewards of the Meeting of the San Marino
Grand Prix on 24 April 2005, having refused to take any
action against the competitor Lucky Strike BAR Honda who
they considered was not in breach of the FIA Regulations as
regards the weight of the car,
Having heard:
For the FIA, appellant, represented by Mr Pierre de CONINCK,
Secretary General of the Sport Division, assisted by Mr
Sébastien BERNARD, Head of Legal Affairs, and Mr Charlie
WHITING, Head of the Technical Department,
For the Respondent, the Motor Sports Association (MSA),
represented by Mr Terry Lankshear, Secretary General, acting
both for the MSA and for the competitor Lucky Strike BAR
Honda, assisted by Mr David PANNICK QC, Lawyer at the London
Bar, Mr Simon TAYLOR, Solicitor in London, and Ms Caroline
McGRORY, Lawyer,
For the knowledgeable parties, Mr Geoff WILLIS, Technical
Director, Lucky Strike BAR Honda, Mr Craig WILSON, Chief
Engineer, Lucky Strike BAR Honda, Mr Nick FRY, Chief
Executive Officer (Lucky Strike BAR Honda), Mr Ron MEADOWS,
Race Team Manager (Lucky Strike BAR Honda), Mr Alistair
GIBSON, Chief Mechanic (Lucky Strike BAR Honda), Mr Darren
BEACROFT, N°1 Mechanic (Lucky Strike BAR Honda), Mr Chris
FRY, Team Truck Driver (Lucky Strike BAR Honda), Mr Yasuhiro
WADA, President Honda Racing Development, Mr Otmar SZAFNAUER,
Vice-President Honda Racing Development, Mr Nick BROOKES,
Director British American Tobacco, Mr Jo BAUER, FIA Formula
One Technical Delegate, Mr Kris de GROOT, FIA Formula One
Technical Team, and Mr Alan FULLER, FIA Formula One
Technical Team,
Having acknowledged that the procedure was in order and the
appeal admissible, the rights of each of the parties having
been duly examined, both in the proceedings which preceded
the hearing and during the hearing itself, the appellant,
the competitor and the knowledgeable parties having been
duly heard and having provided all the detailed explanations
requested from them during the hearing and having received
answer, with the help of a simultaneous translation system
which did not provoke the slightest criticism on the part of
the competitors,
WHEREAS the appellant the FIA has requested the
International Court of Appeal to cancel the decision taken
by the Stewards because it did not respect the technical and
sporting regulations of Formula One as well as the rules of
the International Sporting Code,
WHEREAS for its part the defendant argued that it conformed
to all the relevant rules above,
WHEREAS Article 1.9 of the same Technical Regulations
stipulates that the weight of the car “is the weight of the
car with the driver wearing his complete racing apparel, at
all times during the event”, and must not be related with
the weight of the car in ‘running order’ as defined in
article 1.10.
WHEREAS with regard to the weight of the car, Article 4.1.
of the Technical Regulations, without mentioning the fuel,
requires that at all times during the event, whether or not
the driver is weighed separately, the weight must not be
less than 600 kg,
WHEREAS in this regard, the requirements of these
regulations are supported by Art 77-a-4 and 77-b of the
Sporting Regulations of Formula One which anticipate that
the car must be weighed with the driver at the time of the
practice, and that after the race every car crossing the
line shall be weighed with the weight of its driver added,
with paragraph c of the same article specifying that if the
weight of the car is less than the minimum weight required
by Article 4.1. of the Technical Regulations, the car will
be excluded from the event, save where the deficiency in
weight results from the accidental loss of a component of
the car,
WHEREAS, taking into account these requirements, the car, at
all times of the event, must weigh with the driver a minimum
of 600 kg and that Lucky Strike BAR Honda tried to argue
that the car must be weighed with the remaining fuel in the
tank after the race, which is not supported by any rules of
the Code and Regulations, and leaves the FIA as well the
competitors in a regrettable state of uncertainty,
WHEREAS the only interpretation possible which can give any
guarantee in this regard should be, as is contained in
Article 4.1., that the weight of the car with its fuel tank
completely empty at the end of the race, must weigh at least
600 kg, and this interpretation flows from Articles 1.9,
4.1, 77-a, 77-b and 77-c of the Sporting and Technical
Regulations above,
WHEREAS the defendant Lucky Strike BAR Honda was unable to
satisfy the requirements of Article 2.6, which states that
“It is the duty of each Competitor to satisfy the FIA
technical delegate and the Stewards of the Meeting that his
automobile complies with these regulations in their entirety
at all times during an Event”.
WHEREAS, the presentation of the team of fuel consumption
data cannot guarantee that the vehicle complied at all times
with the minimum weight requirements of Article 4.1,
WHEREAS, after having been drained of all its fuel, vehicle
N°3 of the Lucky Strike BAR Honda weighed 594.6 kg, and
therefore did not conform to Article 4.1 of the Technical
Regulations, the only way in which the vehicle could meet
the requirement of the minimum weight of 600 kg was to have
used fuel as ballast, which does not conform to the
requirements of Article 4.2,
WHEREAS the evidence submitted to the Court confirmed that
both vehicles competing for Lucky Strike BAR Honda in the
event concerned had the same specification fuel tanks,
WHEREAS the inspection revealed that on top of the 160 grams
of fuel that was emptied, 8.92 kg of fuel still remained in
a special compartment within the fuel tank and a further
2.46 kg remained in the bottom of the fuel tank. These
quantities remained in the vehicle after the BAR Honda team
had confirmed “That’s it” when asked if the draining process
was completed,
WHEREAS it is not possible for the Court to find, on the
basis of the evidence that it was provided with, that Lucky
Strike BAR Honda deliberately committed fraud, their actions
at the time of the emptying procedure of the vehicle after
the event, and the fact that they did not use their right in
accordance with Article 2.4, to address a request for
clarification on the rules to the Technical Formula One
Department of the FIA, show at the least a highly
regrettable negligence and lack of transparency,
On these grounds
As to the form,
DECLARES and RULES that the appeal brought by the FIA is
admissible
As to the content,
INVALIDATES the decision N°49 of the Stewards at the San
Marino Grand Prix on 24 April 2005,
Giving a new RULING,
DECLARES and RULES that the Lucky Strike BAR Honda team
failed to comply with Articles 1.9, 4.1, 4.2, 2.6 of the
Sporting Regulations and also violates Article 151-c of the
International Sporting Code,
EXCLUDES Lucky Strike BAR Honda team from the event in
question,
SUSPENDS the Lucky Strike BAR Honda team from the next two
events in the FIA Formula One Championship,
SUSPENDS the team for a period of six months after the
above-mentioned two events, with this penalty suspended for
a period of one year,
LEAVES it to the sporting authority to draw the consequences
of the present decision while rectifying the classification
of the event accordingly,
LEAVES it to the Lucky Strike BAR Honda team to pay the
costs, which will be calculated in accordance with Article
190 of the International Sporting Code,
The PRESIDENT
Feedback can be sent to
feedback@autoracing1.com
Go to our
forums
to discuss this article
|
