Lewis Hamilton’s bid to become Formula One’s first rookie world champion remained on track on Friday after stewards cleared him of blame for a collision in Japan last weekend. ”No penalty is imposed upon him,” they said in a statement. The 22-year-old McLaren driver met stewards at the Chinese Grand Prix to review video footage of a collision during the rain-soaked Fuji race.
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/ 19 September 2007
McLaren boss Ron Dennis has not been on speaking terms with Formula One champion Fernando Alonso since last month’s Hungarian Grand Prix, it emerged on Wednesday. In a transcript of a ‘spy hearing’ that last Thursday, Dennis revealed the extent of the rift with a driver he described as a ”remarkable recluse”.
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/ 16 September 2007
Kimi Raikkonen won the Belgian Grand Prix for the third time in a row on Sunday, leading a Ferrari one-two to revive his title challenge. Brazilian Felipe Massa finished second, 4,6 seconds behind the Finn, with McLaren’s double world champion Fernando Alonso third to cut teammate Lewis Hamilton’s overall lead to two points.
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/ 14 September 2007
Formula One’s governing body published emails between McLaren drivers on Friday that it said proved the team had made use of information leaked from title rivals Ferrari. McLaren were stripped of their 2007 constructors’ points on Thursday and fined a record -million after a hearing into a spying controversy.
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/ 9 September 2007
Double world champion Fernando Alonso led a McLaren one-two in the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday to cut team mate Lewis Hamilton’s lead to three points with four races remaining. Hamilton (22) had another highly impressive afternoon but the British rookie was doomed to follow in the Spaniard’s slipstream.
Formula One’s governing body cast fresh doubt over McLaren’s title hopes on Tuesday by sending to appeal a controversial ruling in a ”spy saga” involving that team and Ferrari. Max Mosley, president of the International Automobile Federation, agreed in a letter to the head of the Italian Automobile Club’s motorsport commission that the matter should go to the Appeal Court.
Formula One’s governing body could puncture McLaren’s championship bid on Thursday and slam the brakes on Fernando Alonso’s and Lewis Hamilton’s own title aspirations. The ”spy saga” that has gripped the sport for weeks, with leaders McLaren stunned by revelations about their now-suspended chief designer Mike Coughlan and leaked Ferrari data, comes to a head in Paris.
McLaren’s Fernando Alonso won a wet and wild European Grand Prix on Sunday to cut championship-leading teammate Lewis Hamilton’s lead to just two points. While Spain’s double world champion celebrated his third victory of the season, after a wheel-banging thrust past Ferrari’s Felipe Massa just four laps from the finish, Hamilton’s run of nine podiums in a row came to an end.
Ferrari have accused former technical manager Nigel Stepney of passing secrets to Formula One rivals after searching the house of a senior McLaren employee in England. Championship leaders McLaren had earlier announced that their employee, who was not identified, had been suspended pending an investigation into the receipt of classified information.
Formula One’s governing body cleared McLaren on Wednesday of using illegal ”team orders” in their one-two victory in Monaco last weekend. ”It is clear McLaren’s actions during the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix were entirely legitimate and no further action is necessary,” the International Automobile Federation said in a statement.