I do not want to hear any Ferrari "fans" protesting in future that the FIA are not massively biased towards the Italian team. After Massa's illegal fine for an undeniably dangerous release from the pits in Valencia, the stewards decision to penalize Hamilton by the addition of 25 secs to his finishing time at Spa is clear evidence that the FIA ignore their own rules to ensure that Ferrari wins the championship.
The stewards are claiming that Hamilton "gained an advantage" by short-cutting the final chicane. In fact, Hamilton returned that advantage by immediately allowing Raikkonen back into the lead - exactly what he is required to do according to the rulebook. To do this, he had to slow down and this means that Raikkonen must have been going faster as he passed the McLaren driver. Any advantage in position or momentum for Hamilton is immediately lost, therefore.
The whole incident is worth studying in detail because the facts indicate that, if anyone should have been penalized, it was Raikkonen. F1 Fanatic has a link to a video of it all and I took a few stills from it to illustrate my points. Let's have no quibbling about who was ahead at what point.
Approaching the chicane, Hamilton has moved to the outside and now is actually ahead of Raikkonen. So far, so good.
A shot from a different angle of the two just a few yards further on from the first still. Hamilton is clearly ahead and not just by a nose.
Hamilton has stayed to the outside and now turns into the corner. In true Coulthard-esque style, Rakkonen leaves his braking late and inserts his car into the inside of the first section of the chicane. Hamilton could have asserted his rights as the man ahead and just turned into Kimi (as some have done to Coulthard this year) but reasons that discretion is the better part of valor - he gives Raikkonen room.
Having muscled his way into the inside of the corner, Raikkonen is now slightly ahead as they hit the apex. All quite legitimate so far.
Kimi retains his slight lead as they approach the second part of the chicane. But he is moving over on Hamilton, not allowing him the room that Lewis had given him in the first section.
So far does Kimi move over that Hamilton (who has no option but to leave the track at this point anyway) is actually bumped off and into the run-off area. Some are saying that Hamilton should have braked and fallen in behind Raikkonen at this point. Apart from the fact that this was impossible, the distance to the next corner being so short, why is he expected to give way when Raikkonen has not? Already it is being suggested that the rules for McLaren are different from those that apply to Ferrari.
On the start straight, Hamilton has slowed to let Raikkonen through again and is now moving to be directly behind the Ferrari. Raikkonen now has the place back and Hamilton is not level or ahead of him, as he had been at the entry to the chicane. How can this be "gaining an advantage"? Lewis has lost any momentum he had from his more direct route and is now going slower than Raikkonen and behind him. Some are saying he should not have slipstreamed the Ferrari from this point and I can only ask why. Nowhere in the rules does it say he has to let the car in front have enough of a gap to break the tow - he must merely hand back the place he gained.
The video needs to be watched at this point because it becomes extremely interesting. Hamilton tucks in behind Kimi but does not move left or right having gained any advantage from the tow - it is Raikkonen who suddenly moves left to get the better line into the hairpin at La Source.
Hamilton just keeps going in a straight line and is able to outbrake Raikkonen to claim the inside line at the corner. By the time they reach the braking zone, Hamilton is clearly ahead and Raikkonen has no option but to tuck in behind.
At this point, Kimi does a naughty. The Ferrari lurches forward to tap the rear of the McLaren. They are both lucky to get away scot free from this but I question whether it was an accident.
My conclusion has to be that the stewards have looked for a way to penalize Hamilton so that Ferrari can get another win. There is absolutely no justification for a penalty in the incident and they are talking nonsense when they say that Hamilton gained an advantage. He did not.
But, if this matter of gaining an advantage is so all important, how about considering the next stills from the video? These clearly show Raikkonen gaining an advantage by using a run-off area but we hear nothing of that from the stewards.
Hamilton is disappearing into the distance as they enter this corner. For no apparent reason, Raikkonen takes to the huge run-off area as he enters the corner.
As Raikkonen regains the circuit after the corner, he is visibly closer to Hamilton. He has used the wider line through the run-off to maintain greater speed and so closed the gap. Now that is gaining an advantage illegally.
But, of course, it's a Ferrari that is doing it, so that is okay. Quite frankly, I am so disgusted with the FIA's continual manipulation of the rules to favor Ferrari that I am close to giving up on the sport. It is only the faint possibility that I might end up a thorn in the side of that corrupt organization that keeps me going.