So the politics are done, at least for now. The World Motor Sport Council held an "extraordinary" meeting to discuss the fate of McLaren Mercedes after the "liargate" incident at the Australian Grand Prix. To recap, at the end of the race at Melbourne a safety car was deployed and under the safety car conditions Toyota driver Jarno Trulli went off the track. Lewis Hamilton passed Trulli for third place, but was unsure if this was legal (under the sporting regs it is entirely legal to overtake a car if said car goes off the track). Lewis contacted his team to let them know that he had let trulli back in front, but he wanted to know if third place was his. The team tried to contact Charlie Whiting, race director, but no answer came quickly enough, and the race ended. Afterward, Lewis was asked if the team had told him to let Trulli pass and he said no (semantically this is correct, if you listen to the tapes he said he had let Trulli pass and asked if that was okay, and the team told him to hold position because they were seeking an answer from Charlie). A huge kerfuffle erupted and eventually McLaren employee Dave Ryan was selected as the sacrificial lamb and was fired. The stewards decided that McLaren had lied to them, and therefore disqualified the team's results.
So today McLaren had their meeting with the WMSC to determine a fate that many claimed had already been determined. The team was disqualified from the race in which the infraction was committed. But in F1, and especially when dealing with McLaren, it is a necessity to kick a team while they are down.
Thankfully, though, the WMSC saw reason. They handed out a suspended three race ban, which means that if McLaren screws up again they will be banned for three races, but so long as they fly right and stay within the rules, then the punishment already meted out is all that will stand. Finally, we can put politics behind us and get back to the racing we all enjoy.
Speaking of which, I have to say that I really enjoy the track at Bahrain. It has a decent amount of elevation change, and it is apparently very hard on the brakes. Jenson Button won the race, making it three out of four for Brawn GP. Lewis Hamilton, aforementioned of the council meeting, has found some speed in the MP4-24 Mercedes, posting a fourth place finish, marking three consecutive points finishes for the Brit with the slow car.
Ferrari is still stuck in their own personal doldrums, with Kimi Raikkonen's sixth place finish at Bahrain coming in as the team's first points finish of the season. 2008 Championship runner-up Felipe Massa has only finished in the top ten once (a ninth place finish at Malaysia) and has already retired from 50% of the races this season, a very inauspicious start.
Another team suffering greatly at the moment is BMW Sauber, who looked impressive in pre-season testing, but has yet to put it together on the track. Lead driver Robert Kubica has run all four races, obviously, but his finishes are less than inspired (14, Ret., 13, 18, respectively). Nick Heidfeld has scored the only points for the team this season. Hey, at least they still have more points (4) than Ferrari(3).
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