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Stewards: Hamilton Deliberately Misled Us!

The Jarno Trulli penalty saga continues today with a new episode, this time starring stewards as the main characters. In a statement issued on Thursday, stewards confirmed that Lewis Hamilton "deliberately misled" them, a thing that infringed the International Sporting Code, as GMM reports today. Following the statement, Jarno Trulli, who was demoted from third position to twelfth place, regained the podium.

It all started after the Australian Grand Prix when Jarno Trulli finished third but was handed a 25- second penalty for overtaking Lewis Hamilton under Safety Car. After initially contesting the decision, Toyota decided to drop the appeal saying that it would probably be quickly rejected.

“Having considered recent judgments of the International Court of Appeal and referring to the Sporting Code it is believed that any appeal will be rejected on a procedural point such as that defined under article 152, paragraph 5 of the Sporting Code. Based on this Toyota Motorsport has decided that it would serve no benefit to pursue this course of action,” said the statement issued by Toyota.

However, Trulli insisted he had no other option during the race as Hamilton suddenly slowed down when he got back to the track. Team boss Tadashi Yamashina also expressed his frustration, emphasizing that Toyota did extremely well in the weekend.

“This is an extremely frustrating way to finish a challenging weekend. Already we were disappointed to be starting from the pitlane after we were informed yesterday about the problem with our rear wing. We responded to that in a fantastic way and we showed that our car has genuine performance,” argued Yamashina.

Stewards are now claiming the 24-year-old driver Lewis Hamilton and his team "acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the stewards".

Following the Australian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel received a penalty as well after causing an accident in the penultimate lap with Kubica.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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