Two days after the biggest racing hearing in recent memory, the details of the F1 spying row involving Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and Ferrari are still incredibly unclear.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis was hit with a two-year constructor ban Thursday afternoon, as well as a record $100 million fine for his team.
Just in case that didn't sink in, the FIA, F1's governing body, also confirmed that there would be rigorous checks on the 2008 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car for any Ferrari influence.
The ruling was called harsh but unsurprising by observers—and did nothing to quell the intrigue surrounding the scandal.
The World Motor Sport council heard how McLaren chief designer Mike Coughland and former Ferrari performance director Nigel Stepney exchanged an 800-page dossier on some of the finer intricacies of the F2007 Ferrari F1 car. This charge was never denied by McLaren—nor was there ever a doubt that Coughland had a Ferrari-related dossier in his house.
Of course, this sort of "spying" happens all the time in F1, when engineers, mechanics, or designers switch different teams and bring their knowledge with them. What makes the case more interesting is the other evidence revealed by the FIA on Friday afternoon.
Particularly fascinating is the role of two of the "playing staff" at McLaren—test driver Pedro De La Rosa and current F1 world champion Fernando Alonso.
Both drivers, it appears, knew about the manual. The FIA accessed emails sent by De La Rosa to Alonso on the morning of the Hungarian Grand Prix which indicated that both drivers were privy to information contained in the Ferrari dossier.
Coincidentally, the email was sent the same weekend that Alonso and Dennis had a falling out over Alonso's supposed block of teammate and world championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
Alonso and Hamilton were both promised "immunity" with regard to point penalties in the championship standings—they're the two current leaders—if they presented evidence on Thursday. They both accepted, thus averting the spectacle of F1 having to interrupt a four-way championship battle that may be the best in years.
Alonso is perhaps lucky to get off so lightly, as he appears to have been at least partially complicit in the dissemination of information contained in the dossier.
Does this make him guilty? Possibly. Still, there would have been an uproar had the two drivers had points deducted—which likely influenced the decision of panel.
The fans and pundits come to see the drivers, and they want to see the best take on the best. The FIA have just about given everybody their wish.
As it stands, McLaren looks to lose out on many of the privileges associated with a first- or second-place finish in the F1 standings. If nothing else, the panel managed to hit the team where it really hurts—in their pockets.
In the long run it remains to be seen what impact the ruling will have on McLaren, its employees, and, perhaps most importantly, its drivers. It seems fair to say that the outcome could have certainly been worse for the team.
The panel could have banned McLaren from both this year's and next year's world championships. Thankfully, common sense seems to have prevailed within the World Motor Sport Council and, dare I say, even the FIA.
If there had to be a severe outcome in that Paris courtroom, for F1's sake at least, the right decision was made.
The right decision for the sport, that is. Was it actually THE right decision? More to come in Part 2.
3 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
Whilst overall I agree with the tone and conclusions of the article, I cannot help but wonder if further to the financial punishment, McLaren should have been made to publish the full dossier of their OWN car specifications and designs, thus sending out the message that if you are caught stealing design specifications in Formula 1, you waive your right for your own design privacy.
The reputation of McLaren has been badly tarnished in the eyes of the neutral, but for some reason the partisan British press still tries to blame Ferrari for being the victim. This is a bit like claiming the relatives of the victims of Harold Shipman were at fault for tirelessly campaigning to have him investigated. Let us hope the extent of the recent evidence against McLaren will finally persuade some that there was a case to answer, it was not just 'politics' but a genuine criminal act for which some level of censure had to follow.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
nasty little people who dont have the bottle to sign their names to their comments do not deserve to be listened to t. mainwaring (british)
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terrence mainwaring about 1 year ago
as i pressed the wrong button i had better pressthe right one
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