Racing fans have lengthy wait ahead before championship is finalized

Motorsport's governing body FIA said on Tuesday that they had been informed by the Secretariat of the International Court of Appeal that the UK National Sporting Authority had sent a notification of appeal on behalf of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.

 "The McLaren appeal is against the decision of the Stewards of the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix, made at 21.35 hrs on October 21st 2007, that it was inappropriate to impose a penalty," FIA said in a statement.

 Stewards had earlier decided that there was insufficient evidence to penalise the BMW and Williams teams for alleged fuel temperature irregularities.

 McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who were leading the drivers' championship with 107 and 103 points respectively going into Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix, saw Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen take the world championship with 110 points after his win.

 Hamilton and Alonso finished on 109 points after finishing the race in seventh and third place respectively.

 Had Williams' Nico Rosberg and the BMW drivers Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld been disqualified, Hamilton would have won the championship as he would have moved up to fourth and would have received five points instead of two.

 Hamilton told British media though on Tuesday that he did not want to win the championship on a protest. "I am still young enough to win the championship on the track.

 "I am sure the team had a good reason to protest the decision, but for us drivers the championship is finished. Kimi Raikkonen did a fantastic job in the two final races."

   Earlier his team-mate Alonso had said that it would be very embarrassing if Hamilton won the championship as a result of a protest.

 Mercedes motorsport head Norbert Haug said that they had not decided to protest to win the championship, but to ensure that clarity on the issue is ensured.

 "We want to get a definitive guideline on what is acceptable and what not," he said.

 Should the protest go against BMW and Williams, it is not certain that Hamilton would automatically receive the points for finishing fourth, the teams could also lose the points they received only in the constructors' championship.

 And should Hamilton be pushed up, it seems likely that Ferrari would appeal against that decision, so Formula One fans will, in all probability, have to wait a while longer before they know who the 2007 world champion is. By Jens Marx, dpa