Irvine makes surprise appearance at Ferrari appeal
PARIS, Oct 22 - Briton Eddie Irvine, fighting to retain his chances
of winning this year's Formula One world title, made a surprise appearance
on Friday at the appeal hearing over Ferrari's disqualification from the
Malaysian Grand Prix.Irvine joined Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt,
technical director Ross Brawn and other team technical experts at the International
Automobile Federation (FIA) hearing before five judges.The judges were
named by FIA as chairman Jose Maceda e Cunha of Portugal, Austrian Gerhard
Nurscher, Philippe Roberti de Winghe of Belgium, Greek Vassilis Koussis
and Jan Van Rosmalen of the Netherlands.Irvine won Sunday's Malaysian Grand
Prix with Ferrari's other driver Michael Schumacher second but both were
disqualified after a technical inspection showed their cars infringed design
rules.The decision meant Finn Mika Hakkinen, who placed third in the race,
was promoted to first place, giving him enough points to retain his world
title before the last race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix on October
31.Should Ferrari succeed in their appeal, Irvine would start the last
race four points ahead of McLaren driver Hakkinen with the title still
at stake.
Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine, left,
is lead inside the FIA offices in Paris Friday, Oct. 22, 1999,
Neither Irvine nor any of the other Ferrari representatives spoke as
they fought their way through a media scrum outside the Hotel Crillon on
the Place de la Concorde where the hearing is being held. Schumacher did
not attend.Motor racing sources said Irvine, who arrived early in the morning
in Paris, had not been expected even by his team.McLaren director Martin
Whitmarsh and Paul Stewart, chief operating officer of the Stewart Formula
One team, also attended.Stewart said on his way in: "The rules must be
respected.''The appeal decision, due to be announced by FIA at 0900 GMT
on Saturday, will affect the constructors' title and standings as well
as the drivers' title.At issue is the size of the barge boards on the Ferrari
cars. The boards, fitted behind the front wheels to improve air flow and
stability, were one centimetre too short in Malaysia.Ferrari, who arrived
with Swiss lawyer Henri Peter, are expected to argue that the technical
fault was a simple oversight and gave the car no race advantage.One of
the Ferrari delegates carried a suitcase, thought to contain one of the
barge boards.