14/04/2009
FEATURE BY MIKE LAWRENCE
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The debacle known as 'Lie-gate' could have been avoided if Lewis Hamilton and Jarno Trulli had bothered to learn the rules about conduct under a safety car.
Even if Hamilton had tried to sucker Trulli, then Trulli should have known better than to fall for it. Jarno said he thought Lewis had problems with his car, but it is often sensible to err on the side of caution. As it was, Lewis was seeking advice, which is like a footballer calling to the bench to clarify the offside rule.
It would have helped had there been an official to speak to McLaren. Charlie Whiting was busy with the Vettel/Kubica incident and there was no deputy. The employment of the safety car is often because there has been an incident, so no surprise there. It's like running a football match without a referee.
That overtaking move initially cost Jarno a 25 second penalty and his team was not inclined to appeal the decision. Toyota believed that their man had goofed. All Lewis had to do was to say, "I had no guidance, but I gave Jarno the opportunity to pass. It was his decision." Sorted.
At the very worst, Hamilton would have been fourth, he would have lost just one Championship point. It would also have been a fair result; Trulli had started from the pitlane because Toyota's rear wings had been deemed illegal. He had done well to get to fifth before Vettel and Kubica had their moment.
The wording of the FIA's invitation for McLaren to attend a hearing of the WMSC in Paris stresses the team's involvement in procuring its driver to give false testimony. This makes Lewis appear to be the fall guy. Perhaps it is a way of preparing to administer a lesser punishment because Lewis is that rare thing, a star, and motor sport can ill afford to lose him.
The fact is, however, that Hamilton went along with a deception. Had he stuck to the moral high ground that he claims is his normal stance, his name would not have been besmirched and Dave Ryan would still have a job.
There was nearly an hour between the ending of the Australian GP and the meeting with the stewards, nothing was done in the heat of the moment. Lewis had already told the media that he had let Jarno through, neither of them knowing the rules, but Hamilton and Ryan had a different story for the stewards.
This begs the question as to whether McLaren had decided on a line to take. If a line was decided on, one must then ask who was party to the decision.
Dave Ryan was a senior member of the team, more important than many of us realised, but he did not have the clout of Martin Whitmarsh or Ron Dennis. Ryan has shouldered all blame and one thing the WMSC must determine is whether he acted alone.
It is also odd that the stewards called in two people with something to gain. There were impartial officials around the circuit who could have been consulted. Like there being nobody to take McLaren's query, it is another instance of bungling, not that it absolves Hamilton and Ryan.
What is bizarre is that Hamilton and Ryan stuck to their story three days later in Malaysia when confronted with conclusive evidence. When that happens, most people do not plough on, they look for the best possible way out. In a court of law, you usually get a lighter sentence if you plead guilty.
Hamilton and Ryan did not commit perjury, that requires an oath to have been sworn. I maintain, however, that in a moral sense, it was perjury. It was certainly bearing false witness.
In the context of a sport, it is assumed that an oath is not necessary, it is assumed that all concerned are people of good will. It was always going to be a very sad day when that assumption is no longer held, and that day has come in Formula One. Our sport has lost one of its last remaining vestiges of moral integrity and all over one World Championship point.
It was not a question of arguing over a technicality, or a loophole in the rules. It was not a question of trying to put on a spin, which most of us do when filling in an accident report for our insurance company. Hamilton and Ryan told direct lies even when confronted with conclusive evidence.
When perjury is committed in a court of law, a defendant will often do so to save his bacon, a witness will sometimes do so because of intimidation, bribery, or personal loyalty. I have never heard of anyone committing perjury because they were misled.
Lewis put on a great show for the media, but he did not say the important thing, that he told direct lies to gain an advantage over a rival. He was the innocent, contrite, multi-millionaire who had been led astray. He lied to stewards on two separate occasions and then said he was not a liar, and expected us to believe him.
Some sections of the British press have been speculating about Lewis jumping ship, the impression given is that he has been wronged. The people who have been wronged are those who turn up to work for McLaren every day, whose jobs have been jeopardised by Lewis being 'misled'.
Anthony Hamilton, who is also Lewis's manager, claims that Lewis was contractually obliged to support the McLaren line. Nice one, Anthony, but wrong. No contract between employer and employee may require the latter to tell a lie or commit an illegal act. Such a contract would be invalid before the law.
Sir Jackie has been talking about 'moral' clauses in contracts and says they are usual. Anthony Hamilton has gone on about imaginary clauses that require a driver to lie, but has said nothing about the clauses which allow a driver to refuse an illegal instruction.
The 'moral' clause was seized on by the press, but mainly to suggest that Lewis considered invoking it to leave McLaren. The subtext is that the British press would love to see Hamilton paired with Button at Brawn GP. It is just as well that none of the hacks wrote off Button. Pitpass never did, we continually emphasised that Jenson scored the most points of any driver in the latter half of 2006.
Anthony Hamilton appears not to have grasped the seriousness of what Lewis has done. He has been coming out with excuses, been on the phone to Uncle Max, been letting it known, off the record, that Lewis may walk. He has running around like a headless chicken while failing to address the essential point: Lewis lied.
Apologists say he is young. From about the age of ten on, we know the difference between right and wrong and stop blaming an imaginary friend.
Neither Hamilton or Ryan were contractually bound to lie because there can be no such contract. There may be pressure, there may be a sense of personal obligation, but there can be no binding contract.
Sorry Lewis, but you attempted to rob a fellow-competitor of his place and points. That is a form of cheating that has never happened before in Formula One and it must be nipped in the bud. The FIA is slanting the charges towards the team, no love lost between Max and Ronzo, but Lewis did not have to lie.
Bernie Ecclestone who, these days, hardly lets a day go by without a newspaper interview, has said that since the number of points a team scores relates to the cash they receive, to try to rob Toyota of a point is tantamount to fraud. A point has a cash value.
Dave Ryan has been sacked and some people consider him to have been sacrificed. We do not know that this is the case. Ryan lied as well and he was not obliged to. After 35 years of loyal service to McLaren, Ryan has been branded a 'rogue employee.' Funny that did not show up before now.
Because Ryan no longer works for McLaren, he is not obliged to give evidence to the WMSC. Some might consider this to be convenient.
The one person involved who may be called before the WMSC is Lewis Hamilton, though the charges are mainly against McLaren who 'procured' his cooperation. Max knows all about procuring.
What is to be done? This season has turned out to be a cracker. In terms of the Show, it would be disastrous to lose McLaren - Heikki Kovalainen has done no wrong, nor have the hundreds of men and women employed by the team. Lewis is the World Champion and he needs to be in the field to give it credibility. Do not deprive rivals of the chance to beat Hamilton and McLaren, that detracts from them.
My suggestion is that both Hamilton and McLaren are deducted points. The sport does not need the sort of publicity which would go with a huge fine. In the present economic climate, a multi-million pound fine would be politically inept, not that it would deter the FIA from shooting itself in the foot.
Hamilton and McLaren would have minus points, but not Kovalainen, who is blameless. Hamilton and McLaren could still race, and win points, and perhaps pay off the deficit. They then could begin to climb their respective championships. We may end the season reckoning that Hamilton did well to finish in the top eight, but he would have had to work for it.
This would be appropriate since the sorry saga began over a World Championship point.
Lewis's reputation has been besmirched, but the lies came from his own mouth. Despite what some people say about it blighting his whole career, it will be forgotten, just like Michael Schumacher being excluded from the 1997 World Championship, for a move on Jacques Villeneuve at Jerez, is largely forgotten. Memory in motor racing is shorter than a London/New York/Paris nanosecond, the time between the traffic lights turning green and the driver behind honking their horn.
In the meantime, the best thing that Lewis and his Dad can do is to shut up, they are only making things worse. Every time they open their mouths, it's another story in the papers. Never explain, never complain, just accept punishment with dignity.
Mike Lawrence
mike@pitpass.com
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