• Monaco Grand Prix

Mercedes ponders Schumacher appeal

ESPNF1 Staff
May 17, 2010 « F-ducts set to return in Turkey | »
Before the storm ... Michael Schumacher waves to the crowd followed by team-mate Nico Rosberg at the finish © Sutton Images
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Mercedes has not decided whether to proceed with its appeal against the decision of the stewards at the Monaco Grand Prix to penalise Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher was dropped from sixth to 12th after his move was deemed to have breached rule 40.13 and he was issued with a post-race drive-through penalty that translated to a 20-second addition to his finishing time. With Mercedes believing Schumacher was free to pass Fernando Alonso on Sunday, it immediately lodged notification of its intention to appeal the decision. That, in lieu of a drive-through, is not appealable, but the decision is.

Following the notification, Mercedes has 48 hours to formalise the application to appeal to the FIA's Court of Appeal.

"No decision has been taken as yet," a spokeswoman for Mercedes said.

"My race would have been pretty normal without the decision of the stewards afterwards," Schumacher said. "The result in the very end, which put me back to 12th place for now, was obviously disappointing for me and I can fully understand that we are appealing the decision. Our understanding was that the 'safety car in, track clear' message meant we were back to racing conditions, so I went for it and overtook Fernando."

"With regard to the penalty given to Michael, we believed that the track had gone green and the race was not finishing under a safety car when article 40.13 clearly would have applied," said team principal Ross Brawn. "The reason for the safety car had been removed, the FIA had announced 'Safety Car in this lap' early on lap 78 and the track had been declared clear by race control.

"This was further endorsed when the marshals showed green flags and lights after safety car line one. On previous occasions when it has been necessary to complete a race under a safety car, full course yellows are maintained, as in Melbourne 2009. On the last lap, we therefore advised our drivers that they should race to the line and Michael made his move on Fernando for sixth place. We have appealed the decision of the stewards."

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