Top scandals in Formula One: Hamilton’s disqualification for lying to the stewards
Lewis Hamilton wasn’t always the class clown in the early years of his career. When his team coerced him into lying in 2009,
Formula 1 saw several strange circumstances, altercations, and scandals during the 2000s. With BAR being found guilty of using a second fuel tank and McLaren being kicked out of the 2007 Constructors’ and fined $100 million for Spygate, teams were pushing the technical envelope.That was before to the 2005 Indianapolis scandal that severely damaged Formula One’s reputation in the US.
In this tale, we travel back in time to the contentious 2009 season’s first race, wherein Brawn GP made its debut and astonishingly secured a one-two finish, with Jenson Button securing his championship campaign.
With Brawn’s twin diffuser grabbing all the attention, this race saw the introduction of the new key aerodynamic rules, which had simplified and streamlined the vehicles. Even now, there is a lot of interesting debate about whether or not it was legal.
In any case, having invested so much in the 2008 race, Ferrari and McLaren both mishandled the new regulations when the F-60 and MP4-24 both proved to be terrible at the beginning of the season.
But in his first race as the current World Champion, Lewis Hamilton came in third after passing Jarno Trulli’s Toyota in the late Safety Car after the Italian skidded off the circuit.
That was all well and good, but what happened next was ‘Lie-gate,’ which resulted in Hamilton being disqualified from the race and the firing of a long-time McLaren employee.
‘Lie-gate’ controversy
Trulli was running third and Hamilton was running fourth when the Safety Car entered the race following a collision between Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica.
Hamilton overtook Trulli at Turn 4, which technically meant that Trulli had passed Hamilton. As a result, Trulli was given a 25-second time penalty. McLaren called on the reigning world champion via radio to allow the Toyota vehicle to pass again.
This was predicated on proof from team management Dave Ryan and driver Hamilton that there had been no radio communication allowing the Toyota to get back through.
The interview that was found the next time out in Malaysia seemed to refute that, as the radio communications showed Hamilton had lied to the stewards despite the Briton being expressly instructed to allow Trulli to re-enter.
The FIA lifted Hamilton’s disqualification from the Australian Grand Prix and placed a suspended ban on the team, on the condition that similar instances would not happen again.
Ryan was sacked for misleading the stewards and journalists, but Hamilton sincerely apologized to them.
Hamilton almost threw his hat from the willows.
Hamilton admitted years later that the incident almost caused him to consider quitting Formula One. “It was a lot to deal with after everything that had happened,” he stated. “I care a lot about the way people look at me.”
“Hey, maybe I shouldn’t be here in this sport,” crossed my mind. However, McLaren is my ideal team, and I consider myself fortunate to have competed here since the start of my Formula One career. That wasn’t a desire to leave the team at that point; it was just a wish to cease racing because I’ve never wanted to drive for another team. I briefly considered saying, “This is too much to handle.” “How can I recover from this?”
However, Hamilton’s surroundings knew how to help him get through it.
“I love racing, but sometimes it’s just hard to deal with the consequences. I just didn’t know.” Dealing with people who start talking about you the moment you turn your back on them is difficult. It generated bad energy, which I find objectionable.”
But I soon saw that there was more positive energy present and that I was treated with a great deal of respect and support.
I became stronger as a result. It was a truly unique experience. I’ve always claimed that I enjoy the sport, even though I can’t anticipate the future. I enjoy winning, but fairly. For me, integrity is crucial.”
