BAR to appeal against stewards' ruling

SPIELBERG, MAY 13. Kimi Raikkonen's fourth-place finish in the Austrian Grand Prix was thrown into uncertainty on Monday after the British American Racing (BAR) team appealed against the result.

A spokeswoman for the International Automobile Federation (FIA) said the results, with the exception of the top three finishers, would remain unofficial pending a formal hearing.

An initial appeal by BAR was rejected by race stewards some four hours after the end of the race but, the FIA said it had received a notice of intention to appeal against that decision. The appeal is likely to be heard later this month.

The FIA said in a statement that BAR had complained that Raikkonen, whose fourth place had given Sauber the 100th point of their formula one history, had overtaken illegally under a yellow warning flag.

The driver concerned was Brazilian Luciano Burti, in a Prost, between turns three and four on lap 66 of 71 and BAR had presented video evidence to back their protest.

Raikkonen was heard by the stewards at the A1 ring and the 21- year-old Finn told them he had seen the yellow flag and that Burti had ``slowed considerably, which had caused him to brake''. The FIA said the stewards viewed the video evidence but concluded that because the marshals had not reported anything, no incident had taken place. ``It is apparent in the videos available that the camera angles of this particular incident cannot be deemed to provide conclusive evidence,'' it added.

- Reuters

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Section  : Sport
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