Mercedes Shows Envy Towards Renault's Reversed Ban

Now that Renault were granted permission to participate in the upcoming European Grand Prix at Valencia thanks to the reverse-ban decision issued by the International Court of Appeal on Monday, there must be at least one team a bit frustrated with the verdict.

Although he admits the initial one-race ban handed to Renault following the incidents in the Hungarian Grand Prix was harsh to begin with, Mercedes' motor sport director Norbert Haug revealed he would have liked McLaren to also be the subject of such a fortunate overturn of decision.

As every Formula One fan already knows by now, McLaren Mercedes has been one of the most penalized teams in the sport in recent years. However, the Woking based outfit was involved in scandals far more complex than Alonso's losing a wheel during an F1 race, which explains the tough penalties received by the British outfit since 2007 onwards.

“The penalty was too severe. One week after Henry Surtees' fatal accident, and then Felipe Massa (being injured) on Saturday, it can happen that on Sunday you say: 'We must have a draconian penalty'. But it is good that you can then think about it again with the appeal,” said Haug during a teleconference with the German media, as reported by the GMM news agency.

“It's good to see that a harsh punishment is sometimes reversed. I would like to know what that's like,” jokingly added the Mercedes representative.

McLaren have recently been involved in the famous “lie-gate”, for which they themselves been punished with a suspended 3-race ban by the FIA. At the time, many believed this was a light decision from the ruling body, considering the Woking based team were recidivist after the spy-gate 2 years ago.