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Ralf in the dock for multiple collision at German Grand Prix
Paris, Aug 20: Williams F1 driver Ralf Schumacher hopes his team will win their appeal against a penalty imposed on him by the FIA
Paris, Aug 20: Williams F1 driver Ralf Schumacher hopes his team will win their appeal against a penalty imposed on him by the FIA
Ralf Schumacher spoke to the press on Tuesday (August 19) after attending a hearing concerning Williams's appeal against a decision by stewards to blame the driver for a multiple collision at the German Grand Prix.
Appearing at a hearing to appeal against a penalty imposed on him by the sport's governing body, Schumacher denied making any post-race statements admitting he displayed a lack of caution before the crash with Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren.
Schumacher said no one was to blame for a pile-up at the start of the race on August 3 and the crash was a normal motorsport accident.
The hearing in Paris was broadcast live on television in Germany. The decision by the ruling body, FIA, is due to be announced on Wednesday.
"At the end of the day we tried to make our point in a reasonable way. I hope that that came through and now I just wait for tomorrow and hopefully we'll get the right decision," said Schumacher after the hearing.
Supporting Schumacher's case with film and graphics of the crash, Williams officials argued that the German was ahead of the other two drivers when the accident happened.
Stewards said after the race in Hockenheim that Schumacher had admitted in a brief hearing to not paying attention to the position of the other cars during his manoeuvre and penalised him for what they called an avoidable crash.
If the penalty stands, Schumacher will have to drop 10 positions from his qualifying spot at the start of his next race, the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 24.
Asked how much of a blow the penalty would be, Schumacher replied: "I don't think about it yet, but certainly it is a bit difficult, especially in Hungary to overtake but let's wait and see what happens."
Williams officials said Barrichello and Raikkonen were in Schumacher's blind spot and their driver could not have seen the crash coming. He drove exactly the same line into the first corner at Hockenheim the two previous years, the team said.
Schumacher collided with Raikkonen and Barrichello as the three cars left the grid. Three other cars were caught up in the wake of the crash and forced to abandon the race, which was won by Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya in a Williams.
Barrichello told the panel that Schumacher had crashed into him, not the other way around. Williams officials pointed out Barrichello was the only one of the three who braked before the crash, suggested he was the only one who saw it coming.
Raikkonen, also appearing before the panel, rejected suggestions from Williams officials that he could have avoided the crash by driving on, or to the left of, the white line on the left shoulder of the track.
Schumacher is in fourth place in the championship with 53 points, 18 behind the leader, his brother Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari. Raikkonen is in third with 62 points and Barrichello is fifth with 49.
Bureau Report
"At the end of the day we tried to make our point in a reasonable way. I hope that that came through and now I just wait for tomorrow and hopefully we'll get the right decision," said Schumacher after the hearing.
Supporting Schumacher's case with film and graphics of the crash, Williams officials argued that the German was ahead of the other two drivers when the accident happened.
Stewards said after the race in Hockenheim that Schumacher had admitted in a brief hearing to not paying attention to the position of the other cars during his manoeuvre and penalised him for what they called an avoidable crash.
If the penalty stands, Schumacher will have to drop 10 positions from his qualifying spot at the start of his next race, the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 24.
Asked how much of a blow the penalty would be, Schumacher replied: "I don't think about it yet, but certainly it is a bit difficult, especially in Hungary to overtake but let's wait and see what happens."
Williams officials said Barrichello and Raikkonen were in Schumacher's blind spot and their driver could not have seen the crash coming. He drove exactly the same line into the first corner at Hockenheim the two previous years, the team said.
Schumacher collided with Raikkonen and Barrichello as the three cars left the grid. Three other cars were caught up in the wake of the crash and forced to abandon the race, which was won by Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya in a Williams.
Barrichello told the panel that Schumacher had crashed into him, not the other way around. Williams officials pointed out Barrichello was the only one of the three who braked before the crash, suggested he was the only one who saw it coming.
Raikkonen, also appearing before the panel, rejected suggestions from Williams officials that he could have avoided the crash by driving on, or to the left of, the white line on the left shoulder of the track.
Schumacher is in fourth place in the championship with 53 points, 18 behind the leader, his brother Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari. Raikkonen is in third with 62 points and Barrichello is fifth with 49.
Bureau Report