From GMM
“Allowing McLaren to get away with running Hamilton's car too light in Canada, which is a performance advantage, would set a precedent whereby cars are regularly fuelled to stop on the circuit after a final flying lap,” GMM wrote earlier Saturday evening. Yet, later in the night, it has emerged that Hamilton got away with a simple slap on the wrist and a $10,000 fine. Stewards were looking into whether Lewis Hamilton should be penalised for an incident at the end of qualifying when a McLaren engineer asked the driver to stop the MP4-25 at the side of the track by the end of his in lap. The radio call, broadcasted live on television, informed Hamilton that the reason for the stoppage was to ensure there is enough fuel in the tank for the FIA to test a sample. "The FIA don't take kindly to you not having enough fuel to get into the pits at the end of the lap -- they'll be taking a look at that," predicted BBC commentator Martin Brundle. McLaren did not mention the incident in its post-session press release. The stewards deemed the incident a breach of a Race Director's Note stating that drivers must complete post-qualifying in laps within a maximum time. An official reprimand and $10,000 later - for a breach of Article 15.1, the sporting regulation that states that the race director "may give instructions to competitors by means of special circulars", the grid order for Sunday's Canadian grand prix will stand. Team boss Martin Whitmarsh said: "We've accepted it, we'll pay it, and we'll move on." He indicated that he thinks the stated regulation about needing enough fuel in the tank for a fuel should take precedence over Charlie Whiting's note of June 11. "We thought that was the dominant requirement rather than an FIA memo," said Whitmarsh.
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