The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : U.S. GP: Disciplinary hearing today

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Wednesday, Jun 29, 2005

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U.S. GP: Disciplinary hearing today

PARIS: Motor racing faces a potentially divisive meeting on Wednesday when seven Formula One teams which refused to race in last week's U.S. Grand Prix over the safety of their tyres are hauled before a disciplinary hearing.

Reports have suggested teams could boycott future races if they get severe penalties for their role in the U.S. Grand Prix fiasco.

But Max Mosley, president of F-1's governing body the FIA, has warned: ``the governing body will always win.''

Mosley says punishment could range from a reprimand to a ban for life — but he thought the punishment would fall between those two extremes.

``If it emerges that the guilt of certain teams is of a certain level, then a ban will be justified,'' he said. ``There are various other possibilities — points being deducted, a fine or reprimand.''

Minardi boss Paul Stoddart said it would be wrong to hand out ``draconian bans'' to the seven teams at the hearing.

``Would we race after a penalty? I think we'd have a meeting and you wouldn't guarantee it,'' Stoddart said.

``It could be anything — I have heard unofficial reports of what it might be, ranging from a $2.5 million fine to a suspended ban, to all kinds of possible things. I would hope Max would come to his senses but who knows?''

Mosley blamed for fiasco

Stoddart, who blamed Mosley for the fiasco, said the teams would fight a ban all the way through civil courts.

Mosley has defended his decision to block a plan to build a chicane at the circuit's final corner which could have solved the problem at Indianapolis where Michelin found their tyres could not withstand the pressure of the banked curves.

Mosley said the FIA could not change its rules just because some teams had not taken the right equipment to a race.

But Stoddart, whose team uses Bridgestone tyres and did race in the U.S., admitted that while Michelin had erred, it had made every effort to solve the problem.

``They chartered a private jet and flew in replacement tyres and found they had the same problem. That was force majeure in my opinion. At that point what we needed was crisis management and what we got from Mosley as usual was management in crisis.''

Stoddart denied Mosley's claims that to have put in a chicane would have led to legal and insurance problems in the U.S.

The seven teams face losing constructors' world championship points or punitive fines when they appear before the FIA world motorsport council on Wednesday.

Williams, McLaren, Renault, Sauber, Toyota, BAR-Honda and Red Bull are facing charges of bringing the sport into disrepute.

Any points' penalties would damage the championship ambitions of Renault and McLaren, as well as Williams and Toyota in joint fourth place.— AFP

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