Today Ferrari announced that they will file ...

Published on 19 March 1998 by Verstappen Info Page

Today Ferrari announced that they will file protests, in accordance with FIA regulation, against any form of assisted braking systems. It is clear that this announcement has been made in light of their suspicion against McLaren that they might use such a system. Williams has not made a statement yet about the subject. After the qualifying sessions for the Brasilian Grand Prix it will become clear if Ferrari will indeed file a protest.

The FIA has announced severe penalties for team or other orders that affect the results of a Grand Prix race. This is a reaction ofcourse to the incident between McLaren teammates David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen. David let Mika get past him before the end of the race thus affecting the race results. At the World Motor Sports Council meeting, the 24 council members said: "The World Council is informing the stewards of all future international events that 'any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition' should in future be penalized severely in accordance with article 151(c) of the International Sporting Code." The auto federation rejected a protest by organizers of the Australian Grand Prix.

The FIA has also lifted the ban imposed on Jerez staging another Formula One Grand Prix. The ban was instated following an incident at last year's European Grand Prix when the mayor of Jerez invited local officials on the podium at the presentation ceremony.