Hamilton makes his case at Belgian hearing

PARIS (AP):

Lewis Hamilton and his McLaren bosses made their case at a hearing yesterday in an effort to get back the driver's Belgian Grand Prix victory.

"I think it went well," McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh told The Associated Press after the daylong hearing at Formula One headquarters. "It's now up to the International Court of Appeal. But I think they're confident of our facts."

A decision is expected today.

Team appeal

The hearing followed the McLaren team's appeal of a 25-second time penalty given to Hamilton at Spa earlier this month when the British driver was judged to have gained an advantage by cutting a chicane on his way to victory.

After the penalty, the win was awarded to Hamilton's main championship rival, Felipe Massa of Ferrari, while Hamilton was bumped down to third. Hamilton's lead over Massa in the drivers' standings is now down to one point after last weekend's Italian GP.

"Based on the evidence we saw at the time and from subsequent analysis, we believe any advantage was ceded and therefore it's even more reason to get those points back," Whitmarsh said.

Three judges appointed to the International Court of Appeal will decide whether McLaren's appeal is justified. The judges must decide if Hamilton sufficiently surrendered the advantage he had gained when cutting the chicane.

If he wins the appeal, Hamilton's F1 championship lead will be increased to seven points with four races to go, after he regains four points and Massa loses two.

Made arguments

At yesterday's hearing, lawyers for McLaren, Ferrari and FIA presented their arguments at the morning session. In the afternoon, Hamilton was asked to give his point of view.

"I think for Lewis, he'd rather be doing other things than sitting around in a court for the day, but I think he did a great job," Whitmarsh said.

Hamilton did not speak to reporters after the hearing, heading straight for his car when he left FIA headquarters. He flies to Singapore today ahead of F1's first-ever night race Sunday.

Hamilton was duelling with Massa teammate Kimi Raikonnen at the closing stages of the Belgian GP and cut across the Bus Stop chicane to overtake the Finnish driver.

Hamilton immediately allowed Raikonnen to reclaim the lead before overtaking him at the next corner for the eventual win.