WMSC decided to suspend McLaren for three race

McLaren Mercedes were invited to attend an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris today to face charges of multiple breaches of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code - essentially fraudulent conduct which brings the sport into dispute.

Today a statement from the FIA WMSC announced that the Woking-based squad has received a suspended three race ban for its actions, a light sentence that essentially reflects the team’s efforts to apologise to the governing body and fans of the sport.

“Having regard to the open and honest way in which McLaren Team Principal, Mr Martin Whitmarsh, addressed the WMSC and the change in culture which he made clear has taken place in his organisation, the WMSC decided to suspend the application of the penalty it deems appropriate," the statement read.

“That penalty is a suspension of the team from three races of the FIA Formula One World Championship. This will only be applied if further facts emerge regarding the case or if, in the next 12 months, there is a further breach by the team of article 151c of the International Sporting Code,” it concluded.

The whole sorry ‘lie-gate’ situation dated back to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton was instructed by the team to allow Jarno Trulli to pass him whilst behind the safety car. Trulli had made an error and slipped off the circuit allowing Hamilton to initially gain the position.

Following the race the stewards deemed Trulli’s pass illegal on Hamilton and handed the Toyota driver a 25 second time penalty dropping the Italian from third to a non-points scoring position. It later emerged that Hamilton had deliberately let Trulli past and the time penalty was retracted.

There were five charges against the McLaren Mercedes team. Firstly, on 29th March they told Australian Grand Prix stewards that no instructions were given to Lewis Hamilton to allow Trulli pass when behind the safety car. This was untrue. Secondly, the team ‘procured’ Hamilton to confirm this untrue statement to the Melbourne stewards.

Thirdly, the team knew that as a result of its actions, Trulli would be stripped of his third position and the team made no attempt to rectify the situation. Fourthly, on 2nd April a second meeting with the stewards in Malaysia saw the team continue with its untrue statement despite being allowed listen to team radio instructing Hamilton to allow Trulli past. Finally, the team again ‘procured’ Hamilton to continue with his false statement.

Sporting Director Dave Ryan, present with Hamilton in the stewards’ hearings, took the fall for McLaren with the team announcing on 3rd April that he had been suspended from his position. Four days later when acknowledging the 'invitation' to attend the World Motor Sport Council meeting, the team announced that the long-serving Ryan had been sacked.

Hamilton meanwhile was busy making his apologies to the media in Malaysia claiming he had been 'misled' by Ryan. It was uncomfortable viewing as the defending champion deflected all calls that he had deliberately lied to the stewards.

“I went into the meeting. I had no intention of... I just wanted to tell the story of what had happened and I was misled," he said. "That’s just the way it went.”

“I’m not a liar, I’m not a dishonest person,” he claimed. “I’m a team player and every time I’ve been instructed to do something I’ve done it. This time I’ve realised it was a huge mistake and I’m learning from it. It’s taken a huge toll on me.”

Back at the Woking base Ron Dennis announced on 16th April that he was severing all ties with the race team to focus on the road car division of the company. Many saw this is an action to try to appease the sport's governing body, given the long-running feud between Dennis and FIA President Max Mosley.

"I admit I'm not always easy to get on with," Dennis said at the time. "I admit I've always fought hard for McLaren in Formula One. I doubt if Max Mosley or Bernie Ecclestone will be displeased by my decision. But no-one asked me to do it. It was my decision. Equally, I was the architect of today's restructure of the McLaren Group. Again, no-one asked me to do it. It was my decision."

The team regrouped, completed the Chinese and Bahrain Grand Prix before Martin Whitmarsh travelled alone to Paris today to give his account of the team’s actions.

While McLaren certainly has a lot to learn from 'lie-gate' the same can be said for the FIA stewards who initially took the words of two individuals to penalise a rival driver without checking the facts thoroughly.