Ferrari: Hamilton title would be tainted

[www.autosport.com]

Lewis Hamilton will have to thank Ferrari if he wins the Formula One title in China this weekend, according to the Italian team's president Luca di Montezemolo.

"I still think that in the spying affair it was a big mistake not to disqualify the McLaren drivers as well," the Gazzetta dello Sport web site quoted him as saying after Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

"It means that if Hamilton wins the championship, he will also win it thanks to Ferrari because there is a lot of Ferrari in his car."

McLaren were fined $100 million and stripped of all their constructors' points by the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) last month for having Ferrari technical information in their possession.

However, the drivers escaped sanctions because the FIA said they had been granted an amnesty in exchange for providing evidence.

Hamilton, 22, can become the first rookie to win the championship as well as the youngest world champion if he wins this Sunday's penultimate race of the season in Shanghai.

The Briton leads teammate and double world champion Fernando Alonso by 12 points after the Spaniard crashed in Fuji.

Ferrari have won the constructors' championship.


Can't Luca di Montezemolo just face it that Hamilton has done a better job then his driver's?!? I sometime's wish he would simply shut up and go back to Italy to actually do his job!

even if it was a clone to the ferrari, or had ferrari bits... he has still done much better than kimi and massa!


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

Luca is out of order here, there is no proof there is any Ferrari stuff in the McLaren. if Ferrari had been able to build a more reliable car and do less mistakes in strategy, their drivers would have been closer to the title. it's just sour grapes.

---

RIP Jules, never to be forgotten. #KeepFightingMichael

Luca is a nob.
Its crazy to think of how petty some people are when they are contesting a billion £ sport!

---

"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Then they should exclude Kimi and massa because there is also a LOT of ferrari in their cars.

My point is, driver drives the car that team gives to him, it's not drivers responsability if its illegal (coulthard, MS at interlagos 95, driver points stayed, while constructors were wiped away, and that is how it should be

just realised the hypocrisy in Luca's statement. is the Constructor's Championship you just won by default not tainted, Luca?

yeah, thought so...

---

RIP Jules, never to be forgotten. #KeepFightingMichael

Ferrari are just sore losers and Luca talks too much shite.

I agree with Luca,
but I also think he should shut up about it.

i echo danm and Muks thoughts heer. there was no proof McLaren used ferrari parts, and even if they built an exact replica of teh F2007, it wouldnt be faster than it so Hamilton has just done a much better job.

MClaren didnt appeal because they (rightly) felt that teh whole issue should eb put to bed for the good of teh sport. Shame Ferrari dont feel teh same way

Sim

---

All Hail The New York Giants - Winners of Superbowl XXI, XXV and XLII!

"I'd love to know what goes on in that crazy head of yours sometimes, Sim..." - Locke Cole

Ferrari will never let this die, they'll always call this the tainted championship. I daresay that when Hamilton/Alonso wins the championship we'll see another legal challenge by Ferrari.

I think the most interesting thing about his statement, is that he is not happy with Todt screwing up the tire choice. It's definitely the kind of thing that Ross Braun would've not messed up. I think the chance of Todt getting out of Ferrari for next year and Braun replacing him is starting to go from just a rumor, to a big possibility.

Based on McLaren's (namely Lowe's) submissions at the September 13th hearing Montezemolo may have a point.

---

"I still think that in the spying affair it was a big mistake not to disqualify the McLaren drivers as well," the Gazzetta dello Sport web site quoted him as saying after Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

"It means that if Hamilton wins the championship, he will also win it thanks to Ferrari because there is a lot of Ferrari in his car."

He may have a point with the first quote but the second is complete boolsheet.

I am not sure about that.

I'll wait and see whether the court cases can confirm certain suspicions that arose following Lowe's submission about the development of McLaren's brake system during March-May of this year.

---

A lot of Ferrari in the Mclaren? Maybe some Ferrari influenced parts but honestly that statement is ott.

LdM is hyperboling, but as much as i don't trust the FIA it would have been a lot better had they accepted McLaren's invitation to check the 2007 car.

---

I agree. Why are they taking so long to inspect the 2008 Mclaren design? The car must be well into it's development stage by now.

I don't like Hamilton, however his championship is hardly tainted, having beaten the two-time reigning champion.

i dont care for what ferrari say, they are the ones who actually have tainted championships.

I can't stand Luca di Montezemolo, he always makes a big fuss when Ferrari don't win. Also what makes the Constructors Championship not tainted in the way they won it. There is no way that the MP/4-22 could have bits of the F2007 on it before the 2007 season started. If they used anything it was setup info which you can't prove that they used it for the race. And Ferrari used McLaren bits and info too, when I watched the SPEED channel F1 coverage they said that a former McLaren worker who played part in the Zero Keel design now works at Ferrari and helped develop the Zero Keel for the F2007.