| Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton will not be docked points |
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| Written by Zico Kelly | |||||||
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Thursday, 05 July 2007
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 Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has today stated that there is "no way" Britain’s Lewis Hamilton will be docked points in the Ferrari-McLaren spy row. Sportbet.com has made Lewis Hamilton +180 odds to win the British Grand Prix.There have been fears Britain's rookie sensation, who leads the drivers' standings by a massive margin of 14 points, could find himself penalised in the wake of the scandal which has rocked the sport in recent weeks. That would be a sickening for anyone who wagered on Hamilton at his odds of 6 to 1 before his win at the Canadian Grand Prix. Motor racing's governing body, the FIA, are due to launch an investigation into allegations Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney leaked design secrets to McLaren's chief designer Mike Coughlan. But Ecclestone stressed that while the teams, if found to have breached the rules, could lose points in the constructors championship, 22-year-old Lewis Hamilton's tally will be unaffected. He said in The Times: "Firstly, they [the FIA] have got to prove that if any information was given by Ferrari, it was used. And if it was used, did it affect in any way the performance of the car and, if so, where?" Ecclestone has every confidence in the FIA's ability to get to the bottom of the affair. "It will be dealt with in the correct manner," he said. "What is important is that there are no mistakes made. If somebody is saying 'you did something wrong', we need to make sure we know what we are talking about. We don't want to go in there firing a gun with no bullets in the chamber." Ecclestone believes the full story has yet to emerge saying, "We don't know the McLaren side of things or the guy who allegedly took the drawings - is it him personally? Or is McLaren involved? Ron [Dennis, the team principal] says it's not McLaren - he's completely transparent - and if it's the guy himself, did he buy them? Did he know they were stolen when he received them? Because he is in just as big trouble as the person who stole them, isn't he?" Sportbet.com has posted Formula One betting odds to win the British Grand Prix: LEWIS HAMILTON: +180 FERNANDO ALONSO: +225 FELIPE MASSA: +225 KIMI RAIKKONEN: +225 NICK HEIDEFELD: +2300 ROBERT KUBICA: +4000 GIANCARLO FISICHELLA: +4000 HEIKKI KOVALAINEN: +4500 JARNO TRULLI: +6000 NICO ROSBERG: +6000 MARK WEBBER: +8000 DAVID COUTHARD: +8000 FIELD (ANY OTHER): +500                        |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 05 July 2007 ) | |||||||