BAR race ban dents Button’s title aspirations

A two-race ban for infringing rules at Imola has taken the polish off what was otherwise promising to be an interesting season for the BAR Formula 1 team.

In Barcelona today in preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix, in which the cars cannot now take part, British driver Jenson Button has effectively had to relinquish any dreams of success for this year’s chances at a title bid. He told reporters that he thought, “our chance of winning the championship is pretty much gone”.

The BAR team abandoned hopes of having the ban overturned and the two-race absence for the team will cost millions of pounds after BAR failed to convince FIA senior officials that their car had adhered to all the rules at Imola.

Button and team mate Takuma Sato will return to the European Grand Prix on May 29 at the Nurburgring with nil points in a car that must be 5.4kg heavier to meet the stipulations underlined by the Imola scrutineering debacle.

But it is not all bad as BAR could have been thrown out of the Championship altogether, if FIA President Max Mosley’s calls had been heeded.

As the ruling stands following the FIA’s challenge to its own stewards, the two-race suspension is the harshest penalty to be dished out for over 20 years.

Post race inspections are likely to be stiffer, and while there has been no suggestion of impropriety by other Formula 1 teams, the constructors will have to take more notice of the implications if a car is found to have strayed ‘across the line’ in technical compliance.

BAR were penalised for breaking rules relating to weight and fuel after the Imola race.

(SP)