Minardi's legal action against the race stewards' decision not to let the
Italian team take part in Friday's practice session in Melbourne resulted in
the FIA threatening to not hold any more World Championship events in
Australia. Minardi gained an interim injunction from the Supreme Court of
Victoria to be allowed to participate in qualifying after the stewards
deemed the cars did not confirm to the 2005 regulations.
Once the ruling was made, Minardi then withdrew its legal case and claimed
that it had made its point. The team spent Friday night converting its cars
to this year's aero regulations. However, it seems that the threat of F1
being withdrawn from Australia in the future was the major influence in
Minardi's about-face.
The FIA released a statement on March 5th which made it clear that it was
not at all happy with the legal proceedings. Formula One's governing body
said it did not have a chance to present its side of the case and was
concerned that Australian law allowed the Judge to overrule FIA officials.
"Yesterday, a Judge in Melbourne issued an injunction ordering that two cars
be allowed to run in Saturday's practice sessions notwithstanding that they
did not comply with the regulations for the 2005 FIA Formula One World
Championship. The team concerned subsequently announced that it had
withdrawn the proceedings and presented cars which complied," the statement
read.
"The Stewards of the Australian Grand Prix and the FIA were given no notice
of these proceedings and were given no opportunity to be present when the
Judge heard the case. A hearing which the FIA could attend was scheduled for
1415 hrs after the sessions had taken place."
"Apparently the Judge thought it right to interfere with the running of a
major sporting event, overrule the duly appointed international officials
and compel the governing body to allow cars to participate in breach of the
international regulations, all this without first hearing both sides of the
case."
"If Australian laws and procedures do indeed allow a Judge to act in this
way, it will be for the World Motor Sport Council to decide if a World
Championship motor sport event of any kind can ever again be held in
Australia."
Minardi team principal Paul Stoddart said the FIA's statement was an "an
ill- judged, ill-timed document" and he thinks it was intended to
discredit himself, his team, and the Australian GP. He claimed that the FIA threatened to cancel the GP
unless he withdrew the legal action. "I agreed in the interests of the
Australian Grand Prix to comply with their request to withdraw," he said.
The Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) released its own statement
acknowledging the FIA's, and said it "shares the concerns expressed in
regard to the way a competitor sought to involve the Supreme Court of
Victoria in issuing an ex parte injunction without notice to the FIA and
CAMS."
"CAMS needs to ascertain the details presented to the judge. The motor sport
judicial process adequately provides for the determination of sporting
matters and the Victorian Supreme Court has confirmed on multiple occasions
that all sporting judicial processes should be exhausted prior to seeking
legal avenues."
Despite all this wordy to-ing and fro-ing, the sport is not above the law
and the FIA threatening to remove its championships from Australia is a
risk. The Australian legal system is very similar to that of other countries
and given the same situation as in Melbourne, other courts would probably
have come to the same decision.
The issue is to be discussed in a World Motor Sport Council meeting on March
30th.
