McLaren facing more sanctions over Australian GP deception

McLAREN face being hauled before the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) for the third time in under two years following their deception in the furore surrounding the Australian Grand Prix.

Sporting director Dave Ryan was yesterday made the sacrificial lamb by the team as he has been suspended for deliberately misleading race stewards investigating the chaos that unfolded last Sunday.

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, initially complicit in the scandal that resulted in him being excluded from the classification at Albert Park, yesterday expressed his sincere apologies.

Seemingly forced to comply with team orders, Hamilton is now in the clear as far as the FIA are concerned, but not so his team.

A spokesman for motor sport’s world governing body said: “We recognise Lewis’ efforts to set the record straight today. It would appear he was put in an impossible position.

“We are now awaiting reports from the FIA observer and stewards before consideration can be given to further investigation of the team’s conduct. We cannot rule out the matter being referred to the World Motor Sport Council.”

Such reports will be assessed by senior members of the FIA, as well as president Max Mosley.

Should a referral happen, the WMSC has a wide range of sanctions open to them if they choose to impose a punishment, from a fine to potential exclusion from the championship.

The latter is a last resort and almost certainly will not happen given Hamilton is viewed as a box-office draw.

Instead, McLaren could again face a severe financial penalty, as they did 19 months ago in relation to the spy saga.

After initially being cleared by the WMSC, further evidence then came to light that resulted in the team being found guilty and fined a sporting record £49.2m (€54.1m).

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh may have taken action by suspending Ryan, belatedly so after on Thursday trying to brazen out the situation, but that may not be enough for the FIA. Observers of the sport will point to the animosity that has long existed between Mosley and McLaren chairman Ron Dennis as reason enough for the organisation to again take the team to task.

Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen wanted to keep expectations at Ferrari in check yesterday despite the Italian team’s one-two performance in the second practice session for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Raikkonen, the race winner at Sepang last year, produced the best time in the afternoon with a lap of one minute 35.707 seconds in overcast conditions.

He was 0.125secs ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa as Ferrari looked to bounce back from last weekend’s disappointing start to the season in Australia.

Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull was third with a time of 1:35.954 while Nico Rosberg finished fourth for Williams.

Mark Webber was fifth in the second Red Bull while the Brawn pair of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button — the winner in Australia last week — were sixth and seventh respectively.