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Chicanegate was an incident which occurred at and following the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix. The incident involved McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen, and occurred at the Bus Stop chicane on lap 42 and at La Source hairpin on lap 43. The incident and subsequent controversy occurred when Hamilton cut the chicane after being forced wide by Räikkönen. Hamilton subsequently gave up the position to Räikkönen, but managed to outbrake and overtake him into the next corner.

The controversy erupted as a result of the decision by the race stewards two hours after the race to penalize Hamilton for having "cut the chicane and gained an advantage," adding 25 seconds onto his time in lieu of a drive-through penalty. McLaren lodged an appeal against the decision, alleging that the FIA race director Charlie Whiting had twice advised them that Hamilton's actions in giving up the position were sufficient. On September 23, a day after the appeal was heard in Paris; the case was rejected by the Court, stating that since drive-through penalties are "not susceptible to appeal", the case was inadmissible.

Opinions on the incident were mixed. The decision was described by former world champion Niki Lauda as "the worst judgement in the history of F1", adding "It's absolutely unacceptable when three [stewards] influence the championship like this." However, current F1 driver Jarno Trulli sided with the stewards, stating that "In my opinion Hamilton got an advantage by cutting the chicane", and going on to add "Had he stayed on the road, he wouldn't have had the speed to overtake the Ferrari. In the same way at Monza someone could cut the first chicane, catch a rival's draft, and overtake him under braking at Roggia."

The main consequences of the incident were the clarification by the FIA of the appropriate action to be undertaken after cutting a chicane as well as a deepening feeling among many F1 fans of a perceived bias by the FIA toward Ferrari and against McLaren, a claim rejected by the FIA. The penalty imposed on Hamilton narrowed of Hamilton's lead in the championship from a previous eight points to two over rival Felipe Massa.

Background


The Grand Prix was the thirteenth race of the 2008 Formula One season. It was held on September 7 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium. Going into the race Lewis Hamilton was on 70 points, six points ahead of title challenger Felipe Massa. Massa's Ferrari team mate Kimi Räikkönen was a further seven points back in fourth.

Hamilton had qualified fastest, ahead of Massa. Räikkönen qualified fourth.

Hamilton and Räikkönen got the best starts at the front of the pack, and by the end of the first lap they were running first and second, respectively. However, coming up to La Source on the second lap Hamilton spun, allowing Räikkönen to pass him within the lap.

By the second pit stops Räikkönen was five seconds ahead of Hamilton, but Hamilton began to close in on Räikkönen during the last stint as a result of the harder compound tyres suiting his McLaren Mercedes. Rain appeared on lap 41, Hamilton then closed the gap on Räikkönen to 0.988 seconds, still six seconds ahead of Massa. Hamilton attempted to pass Räikkönen at the Bus Stop chicane but he cut across the corner. Consequently, Hamilton led out of the chicane but allowed Räikkönen to re-pass him halfway down the straight. Hamilton then immediately passed him again at the La Source hairpin under braking.

Räikkönen then spun again coming out of Blanchimont and hit the barrier, causing him to retire.

Hamilton appeared on the podium and subsequent press conference in the winner's position. When questioned on the incident at the press conference, Hamilton defended his actions: "[Räikkönen] pushed me to the point where I would either have been on the kerb and crashed into him or have to go on the escape route, so I went on the escape route. I understood I had to let him past, so I did. I got in his tow and he was ducking and diving left and right and I did the same and managed to get back to the inside of him. But then he hit me at the apex of the corner but I think I was pretty much gone from there."

- Lewis Hamilton

Penalty


Two hours after the conclusion of the race, the FIA issued a statement indicating that Hamilton had been handed a 25 second penalty for having cut the chicane.

Hamilton was guilty of contravening 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 which states that cutting a chicane and gaining an advantage is subject to a drive-through penalty. As the race had finished, a 25 second penalty was added to Hamilton's time instead.

The result of the penalty was that Massa was promoted to winner of the Grand Prix, and Hamilton was dropped down to third position.

Appeal
On September 9, two days after the race, McLaren lodged an official complaint with the FIA about the incident. In their appeal hearing on September 22, McLaren alledged that they had twice been advised by race director Charlie Whiting that Hamilton had correctly returned the position to Räikkönen. Further, they presented telemetry evidence suggesting that Hamilton had not only crossed the finish line after Räikkönen, but that he was travelling 6.7km/h slower at the time. Finally, they presented the previous case of Vitantonio Liuzzi at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, specifically the FIA's claim that the presiding chief steward at the race, Tony Scott Andrews, had admitted fault in awarding the penalty to Liuzzi, a claim Andrews denied. McLaren went on to use the case as a precedent for the Spa incident.

The biggest issue for McLaren was that drive-through penalties cannot subject to appeal. McLaren lawyer Mark Phillips, QC, attempted to convince the court that since the penalty was in the form of time added on, the case was admissible.

A day later, the Court of Appeal issued its decision, ruling that the appeal was inadmissible.

Reaction
The original penalty received mixed reactions in the world press. Byron Young in Britain's Daily Mirror said that the stewards' decision "mars sport and turns fans away, ... ruins the efforts of even the best competitors, taints the day and leaves fans wondering what exactly they are "fans" of."

However, in Italy, the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport declared that the decision was justified, stating that Hamilton "should have waited at least another turn rather than attacking so soon."

For his part, Räikkönen agreed with the stewards' decision: "From the position where [Hamilton] was, because he cut the chicane, he was [able to pass into turn one]. But if he had would have been behind me through the chicane then it may have been a different story."

- Kimi Räikkönen



Other Formula One drivers believed that though Hamilton had gained an advantage, the penalty was too harsh. Sébastien Bourdais of Toro Rosso said that "the penalty is really rough but in the end it's up to you to give the position back or not. Pretty straightforward." The view was reiterated by his fellow drivers Nico Rosberg and Jarno Trulli.

Former world champion Niki Lauda stated that he did "not understand this completely wrong decision ... It's unbelievable how the best driver in yesterday's race makes no mistakes and only gets six points." He called for the formation of permanent race stewards, instead on the tempory steward system currently in place.

Three-time world champion Jackie Stewart agreed with Lauda, saying that "F1 attracts the largest capital investment in sport ... but it’s being overseen by people who are not doing it full-time and we get inconsistent decisions."

The incident led to a clarification by the FIA, saying that drivers must wait one further corner after cutting a chicane before attempting another overtaking manoeuvre.

Formula One Driver Mark Webber, who is also a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, said that the clarification had made the issue much clearer: "Lewis would probably never ever have had a crack at Kimi around the outside at the first part of the Bus Stop without knowing he had the option of going onto the asphalt part. I think we've got to get on top of the chicanes going forward, and we're not too far away from that at the moment, where drivers know that if you gain a position or gain an advantage, you have to give it back a bit more."

- Mark Webber