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Formula One: Irvine back in lead after Ferrari wins appeal

24 October 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
INDIANAPOLIS -- Ferrari has won its appeal against its disqualification in the recent Malaysian Grand Prix, the FIA announced Saturday. Therefore, Ferrari drivers Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher been reinstated in first and second place, and, more importantly, Irvine now heads into the season finale with a four-point lead in the World Championship over McLaren Mercedes driver Mika Hakkinen.

Ferrari also has a four-point lead over McLaren Mercedes in the Constructor Championship. The season-ending Japanese Grand Prix is Oct. 31 in Suzuka. The Ferraris had been excluded because race officials had found that their deflector panels, also known as barge boards, were about one centimeter (.39 of an inch) beyond regulation width. In a hearing in Paris on Friday, however, the FIAs International Court of Appeal found that race officials in Malaysia did not have accurate enough equipment to make the proper measurements.

According to the findings:

1)All dimensions of the turning vane (barge board) were within the 5-millimeter tolerance allowed by the relevant regulations, providing the vane was properly attached to the car.

2)The 10-millimeter dimension referred to in the Technical Delegates' report resulted from a method of measurement which was not necessarily in strict conformity with the regulations.

3)The measuring equipment available to the FIA Scrutineers at the Malaysia Grand Prix was not sufficiently accurate to call into question that Ferrari s statement that the turning vane was indeed properly attached to the car. For the above reasons, the International Court of Appeal decided to overturn the Stewards decision that disqualified the Ferraris of Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher from first and second places in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

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