Not wanting to go into the McLaren appeal hearing in Paris too much but this little nugget in the Times caught my eye:

McLaren had submitted papers in advance of the hearing making clear they were going to rely on the Liuzzi-Sutil case at the Japanese GP last year as a precedent. In this case the stewards handed Liuzzi a time penalty which was then found to be open to appeal. Responding to McLaren’s submissions, Charlie Whiting phoned Tony Scott Andrews, the chief steward at Fuji, on Friday, to ask about that decision. Whiting then informed the legal department at the FIA that Scott Andrews had indicated in that phone call that he was mistaken about the time penalty and had confirmed, in as many words, that it should have been a drive-through(which, of course, could not be appealed).

The FIA lawyers then wrote to McLaren’s lawyers at 6.30pm on Friday informing them that Scott Andrews had made a mistake. “Having checked with the permanent chief of stewards who signed the Decision in Japan, we wish to inform you that there is an error on the face of the Decision document,” the FIA told McLaren. McLaren’s lawyers did not take this at face value and sought out Scott Andrews who was officiating at Brands Hatch on Sunday. When informed of what the FIA had alleged, Scott Andrews was outraged. He described the FIA’s e-mail to McLaren as “grossly inaccurate and misleading” and said Whiting had never asked if he had made an error in Japan. “Had he done so, the answer would have been ‘no’”, Scott Andrews wrote in a lengthy submission which was read to the court by Phillips.

What a sport…