Button season hangs in balance as BAR await FIA court decision

Alastair Moffitt

Motor racing's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), called on its International Court of Appeal yesterday to disqualify the team for running an underweight car at last month's San Marino Grand Prix.

A decision will be announced today by the court.

The British team are trying to prove they did nothing illegal when the Briton claimed third place in a car which was found to be 5kg under the 600kg weight minimum.

"The FIA asks the court to exclude the Lucky Strike BAR Honda team from the 2005 Formula One world championship and to fine the team at least 1 million," the FIA said in a statement.

A lesser penalty would strip Button of the six points he won in Imola.

The FIA has appealed a decision by the Imola track scrutineers who found Button's BAR conformed with the legal minimum weight limit.

When the car was weighed immediately after the race it was found to be above the weight limit, but it was below the limit when the fuel tank was drained.

FIA scrutineers at the track accepted BAR's explanation but the FIA, suspecting the car was loaded with petrol as ballast, put the case before the FIA International Court of Appeal.

The FIA has come down on cheating in the past.

"If somebody is caught cheating, they will be out of the championship," said Max Mosley, the FIA president, before the start of the season.

"And it doesn't matter who it is whether it's Ferrari, Minardi or anybody in between. It has to be like that."

There has been speculation the FIA was tipped off about BAR's so-called 'secret fuel tank' by former employees, now working for a rival team.

But if BAR were banned that would leave only 18 cars on the grid for the rest of the season and possibly mean top teams having to field a third car on a rota basis to make up the numbers.

"We are hanging on the basic belief that right will prevail at the end," said Nick Fry, BAR team principal.

"At no time was the car light and I don't think we've done anything wrong."

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone insisted that a fine is not enough if BAR are found guilty of deliberately breaking the rules.

"If you can do that why doesn't a team at the beginning of the season give over a cheque and say if I'm caught cash the cheque," said Ecclestone.

"There are a million things you could do. I suppose if they are not excluded from the championship you could say the constructor cannot score points in the championship and maybe the driver is excluded from the points he has now and all the other ones count."