FORMULA 1: BAR On "Holiday" For Next Two Races

By James Neilson

Jacques Villeneuve could be forgiven for having a celebratory beer over the plight of BAR Honda this season. If anything, at least for the last week, it’s taken the 1,000-pound gorilla that is the motorsports press off his back.

On Wednesday the FIA handed down their verdict after BAR was found to be using fuel as a ballast to get their cars up to the minimum weight.

Originally BAR’s explanation was accepted by the race stewards at the San Marino Grand Prix. But after a hearing with the FIA Court of Appeal, that decision was overturned and BAR will now have to sit out the next two races, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix. The team is also on a six-month 'suspended ban' (i.e. probation) for the next year.

It’s a rather surprsing decision given BAR team boss Nick Fry’s comments after meeting with the FIA ealrier in the week.

"Generally I’m very happy with proceedings," Fry said to a throng of reporters awaiting him outside the FIA Court of Appeal. "I am very, very proud of what all the team members did. I think they presented themselves absolutely superbly and with huge professionalism and integrity."

It’s doubtful Fry is as "upbeat" about the proceedings now. In comments earlier in the week he steadfastly maintained their was no intentional deception on the part of the BAR team and that the hearings will prove it. In retrospect, he was way off.

While saying he was willing to accept the FIA’s decision he did maintain that there were two conditions that would force him to look into other avenues of appeal.

"I think we’d only consider that civil action in two circumstances. One, if the requested penalty of being thrown out the championship is actually imposed, because then we’d really have nothing to lose," Fry said to the scrum. "And secondly if there was really a suggestion that we have cheated, because we have not. That really goes to the core of the operation of our team, and we’d have to refute that."

Well, condition one never happened - BAR’s ban is a temporary one. However, it seems pretty clear from the FIA’s verdict that they believed BAR had attempted to unfairly manipulate the rules, stacking the deck in their favour.

It will be interesting to see, in the next few weeks, whether or not BAR decides to accept the FIA’s verdict.

It’s doubtful we’ve heard the last of this story.