McLaren Fined and Penalised; Hakkinen Keeps Points

World champion Mika Hakkinen was confirmed as Austrian Grand Prix winner on Tuesday but his McLaren team were fined $50,000 and docked 10 constructors' points for a technical infringement.

The ruling by the race stewards, meeting in London nine days after the event, meant that Hakkinen remained eight points behind world championship leader Michael Schumacher.

But it also ensured that Schumacher's Ferrari team, 1999 champions, regained the lead in the constructors' title race from McLaren.

Ferrari have 92 points while McLaren, who celebrated a one-two finish in Austria with Finland's Hakkinen leading home Briton David Coulthard, fall back to 88.

Hakkinen's win at the A1-Ring was left in doubt after the FIA scrutineers detected a missing seal on an electronic control unit on his McLaren and launched an investigation.

The stewards announced in a statement issued through the FIA that McLaren and not Hakkinen had been punished.

"As it is the duty of the team to ensure that their car complies with the conditions of eligibility and safety throughout practice and the race, the stewards of the meeting impose a fine of $50,000 on the team," a statement said.

"And because of the exceptional circumstances of this case only deduct the points awarded to car number one in the constructors' championship."

McLaren, who had been confident that Hakkinen would be confirmed as winner, were given the right of appeal.

Coulthard Stood to Gain

Ironically, had the FIA disqualified Hakkinen it would have benefited his teammate Coulthard most by handing him the win and leaving him two points behind Schumacher.

The electronic unit was examined by FIA experts, in the presence of McLaren representatives, last week and a report sent to the Austrian Grand Prix stewards.

The stewards said that the FIA's technical delegate had declared in the report that he was "satisfied that the absence of this one seal from the ECU could not have resulted in the team or their supplier being able to alter the configuration of the unit in order to run unapproved software".

But the seal was mandatory and the team was clearly in breach of Formula One regulations.

It was the second time this season that McLaren had fallen foul of technical rules and lost points.

In the Brazilian Grand Prix in March, Coulthard was stripped of second place and six points after his car failed a post-race inspection because the front wing was five millimetres lower to the ground than regulations permit.

Hakkinen could perhaps count himself lucky, given past experience, although there are precedents either way.

In 1997, Hakkinen and McLaren were both stripped of their points on appeal -- with the team again fined $50,000 -- for fuel irregularities at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Hakkinen finished third in that race but was still punished, despite the FIA recognising that both McLaren and their fuel supplier had "acted in good faith" and that the non-conformity of the fuel was unintentional.

In 1995, Schumacher and Coulthard finished first and second in Brazil, only for their cars to fail a fuel test. Their Benetton and Williams teams lost the constructors' points but the drivers had theirs restored on appeal.