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Interviewed after the race, Ron suggested that the by-now bald tyres on the two Ferraris were illegal, and that a protest was in order - the possible penalty, disqualification.
The disqualification did come, but in a form nobody expected - illegally-sized barge boards. Whether the FIA was tipped-off remains a mystery, but what is certain is that the controversy raged long after the championship officially finished at Suzuka.
The bargeboards on the red cars were discovered to be 1 centimetre wider than was officially allowed. There seemed to be no argument - the cars were illegal, Hakkinen would be installed as the 'winner', and consequently the championship had been decided then and there.
On this last point, cynics suggested, lay the basis for the success of Ferrari's appeal. Title showdowns are always good for ratings, and particularly because Japan is a flyaway race, the viewing figures would be seriously diminished if the title was already decided. Hence, something had to be done.
That something was the re-instatement of both Ferraris, much to the chagrin of Ron Dennis. To this day, Max Mosley is absolutely adamant that Ferrari won on the basis of its appeal, and not because there was a title at stake. Ron Dennis, for his part, is equally adamant that forces beyond those of the FIA Tribunal were at work. There is one other thing that needs to be known however, and that is that Ferrari was allowed to look at its cars, even though they had verbally admitted that their car was illegal - instead, they intended to appeal on a punishment-not-fitting-the-crime basis. On this point, the rules are explicit: unless the team in question admits to the infringement in writing, the car must be impounded until the appeal is heard. Ferrari was therefore able to look at its cars, and on the evidence available, changed the basis of its appeal. The end result is, of course, history.
All in all, it was an ugly resolution to a race which had marked a rapid return to form for Ferrari, although it did prove to be a suitably contentious lead-up to the title showdown, two weeks later, in Japan. This weekend's race will be face a mammoth task if it is going to match the inaugural race for controversy, but we live in hope that it will prove to be more exciting in terms of on-track action.

So, what happens in the race? Schumacher tries to knock Villeneuve off the track to win the title and get away with it again just like he did in 1994 against Hill.

However, he just so happened to hit the toughest part of Villeneuve’s car – the sidepod! Ha, ha

If Villeneuve would have knocked him off, I am sure the punishment would have been much harder.

Anyway, the international media as a whole chose to avoid reporting this and completely side-stepped pressing the FIA into conceding why Schumacher was given such a lenient punishment. I, myself, was only aware of Schumacher receiving this lenient ‘driving’ punishment in November 1998 – 12 months after he got it! This proves that the media tried their very hardest to overlook this pathetic punishment, and this is just another example of the FIA – Bernie Ecclestone and Max Moseley – bending over backwards for Schumacher & Ferrari.

If anyone is in any doubt about what is said above, then they should have looked at the arrogant smile on Eddie Irvine's face when walking away free from the court room - it was written all over his face that they got away with it

After the controversy of Ferrari's 'illegal' barge-boards came another revelation - but it came several weeks after the race. This revelation - which you may still be unaware of due to the international media deliberately avoiding it

During the same Grand Prix, Ferrari were accused of using a form of Traction Control by an anonymous source in the F1 paddock. The anonymity of this individual should not detract from the believability of what he said because he is spot on.

If you have access to a copy of the 1999 Malaysian GP, then watch the rear-wheels of Michael Schumacher's car when he exits the slower corners on the track - especially the first and last corners. If you look closely, you can see his wheels and car rear-end exit in an ultra smooth manner. Also, if you look at Hakkinen who was right behind him, you will notice how differently and slowly he exits the same corners compared to how Schumacher does.

There was also a website similar to mine that included footage of Schumacher exiting the slower corners. Unfortunatley, the site has moved base and I have lost track of it.

Not only does this quote prove that Ferrari actually used traction control, it proves that Moseley is prepared to indirectly voice his partiality towards them, and, most importantly, the simple fact that he is prepared to "have a quiet word with them" instead of banning them from the race and punishing them for an infringement (banning them would have made McLaren the 1999 Constructors' Championships!).

So, in giving that quote, he is basically saying that Ferrari got away with an illegality and that he and the FIA are going to do nothing about it. So, you can rest assured that Ferrari are extremely unlikely to ever get banned on ANY illegality ever again in the near and probably distant future.

This is serious stuff people.

If only the mass media would tell the motorsport world the truth and bring Ferrari and the FIA to justice!

Take Brazil 2000, for example. David Coulthard finished in a strong second place, but after the race, his car was deemed illegal by the FIA due to a ‘supposed’ front-wing irregularity. The race stuards and the FIA said that Coulthard’s front wing was 5mm shy of the required dimensions. However, what had really happened was that his front-wing had been slightly damaged during the race, and because it was damaged, it was dragging on the ground throughout almost the whole race. If his car had genuinely been in an illegal condition, then that would have warranted the disqualification – but the stuards/FIA deliberately avoided what really happened in order to help Ferrari as much as they possibly could and maximise their chances of winning both championships purely for money-making purposes.