Norbert Haug has justified McLaren-Mercedes’ decision to proceed with its appeal against its confiscated constructors’ points for the Hungarian grand prix.
The competition director for the Woking based team’s carmaker partner, Mercedes-Benz, stated last Sunday that his personal position was “quite clear that we should drop it”.
McLaren is going through a tumultuous period; engulfed in the espionage scandal, trying to handle spiralling ill relations between its drivers, and locked in the battle with Ferrari for the world titles.
But it emerged on Wednesday that McLaren had decided to press on with the appeal against the Hungarian stewards’ verdict, after they ruled that the team should not score any points in Budapest for its involvement in Fernando Alonso’s controversial qualifying pit stop.
If successful with the appeal, the Ron Dennis-led outfit stands to gain a further 15 points to its lead over Ferrari in the teams’ chase. Conversely, the International Court of Appeal could also increase McLaren’s penalty.
Haug said in an interview with the Cologne newspaper Express: “Should those 15 points in the end make the difference between places one and two in the constructors’ world championship, this would mean the loss of many millions of dollars, in addition to the title itself.”
