McLaren Will Not Appeal Hakkinen's Penalty (original) (raw)

McLaren Will Not Appeal Hakkinen's Penalty

Sunday September 30th, 2001

Mika Hakkinen and his McLaren team have confirmed that they will not appeal against his qualifying reprimand and that he will start from fourth on the grid for the United States Grand Prix.

Hakkinen had qualified in second place for the race, but the race stewards at Indianapolis ruled that he illegally exited the pitlane when the red light was still on during warm-up this morning, and he was stripped of his fastest time in qualifying as penalty.

Finn Hakkinen claimed he did not see the red light, but the result is his loss of a front row position as he bids for his second win of the season.

Published at 17:50:57 GMT