The judgement is in. Jenson Button and Takuma Sato are banned from racing in the next two grand prix. It’s better than the team being thrown out of the championship but it’s still a bitter blow to a team who had good hopes of being up there with the top teams.

Did they cheat or was it a misunderstanding? It’s hard to say; the FIA say one thing, BAR say another. I’m tempted to believe the FIA but I still disagree with the penalty. Barring a team from racing is not only punishing the team, it punishes the fans. We want to see good competitive racing, and losing a competitive team, even for only two races, reduces the excitement level of a sport already suffering from lack of excitement.

Remove their points from the last race, give them a heavy fine, make them start from the back of the grid for the rest of the season, but let them race.