McLaren suspends key technical employee in ferrari probe

I trust the most recent comments (senna21, Carol, Senna1994) involving libel, defamation of character and little minds, were not being directed at me. I only offered up, as speculation, a thought that had crossed my mind, after reading Andreas' comments regarding the possibility of Stepney's deep dissatisfaction in the Ferrari camp as being the root cause, for the passing of trade secrets to the enemy.

First it was the sabotage of the fuel at Monaco ???

Stepney gets suspended....

Then we find out that the wind tunnel took a sh*t also ???

Then Stepney gets implicated in passing secret documents to Coughlan ???

More at 10:00......

 

...well, thats true too...most engine/aero info will be worthless in a diff car/chassis...

but if this was a continuated "share" it might have affected the design of rear suspension and may well explain why McLaren is so good on mechanical grip... so quickly!...look at renaults!...they have struggled with the car AS one would understand from such a leap...and they were real quick last year to the very end.

this is not the usuall way around rules...like mass dampers or flexy wings that may be/may not be legal...

 

Quite the opposite: If McLaren had stolen the secrets of mechanical/aero grip from Ferrari, the McLaren would be just as bad as the Ferrari on low downforce tracks.

 

As per norm quite right but its getting messy

 

Well, if I received these documents and I happened to be an intelligent bloke, which I will assume Coughlan to be and IF the secrets that were passed were useless or even near useless, I would have burned them, just about as soon as I assessed their value. I sure as hell, wouldn't want to be caught with my proverbial shorts around my ankles as they have been

 

Dont worry bill365, the were aiming at me... but he just want to sound like he´s in charge...let him play.

...and remember this forums are made just for THAT you call "I only offered up, as speculation, a thought that had crossed my mind"...PLEASE keep that up!


...IF they want to sound SO smart and PRECISE, then dial up and ask Colajanni what the heck happened for real...

 

right again BUT...I dont think it so flat and cause/effect...I guess they also have their thing going, they can improve what they´ve got already cooked...or even using some different point of view helps more than just your own opinion...

but I´ll agree thats WAY too much speculation even for myself...

...IMO and from what I can see and feel through...it looks like McLaren came a Lloooonnnng way too quickly, even compared to some top rivals like Renault

another thing IMP (so I dont get flamed)

Is McLaren less "scuared" in designing suspensions than us just because we have been around with bridgestone like forever in F1 and McLaren have had 2 changes?...that might be another flame war thread...

 

The only rubbish and nonsense is the above statement.

 

agreed Bill, if I receive info that is useless re the competition then I bin it straight away, and then if it is useful I question whether it is ethical to use it, most times it isn't (can't think of a situation it was ! )

I don't care how you look at this, McClunken are implicated and RD is offering Coughlan up, now we see if he let's the cat out of the bag or wears the entire rap with Stepney .... of course my RD bias may be showing thru

This whole thing stinks and goes way beyond barge boards which old whinging RD had a go at, this is downright industrial espionage, I'm just surprised it hasn't happened sooner

 

I actually met Mike Coughlan back in 1999, he vaguely knew my Dad through a mutual non motorsport interest. As a result I had a tour of the Arrows factory and visited one of their tests at Silverstone. Thought he was a really nice guy personally. I had a long chat with him about his time at Ferrari where he had been number 2 to John Barnard in the Design office. I believe that he had followed Barnard to Arrows and then stayed on when Barnard left.

I wonder if any of this information has to do with the rule clarification about moveable floors that came out at Barcelona? It was Mclaren that instigated the clarification and it affected Ferrari more than any of the other teams

 

John,
I couldn't agree more.

 

I suppose Mr. Dennis and you are old pals, that you'll be posting the bond if he gets pinched and of course called upon to give character witness at the trial ??

 

...that was nnnice...

 

"Interestingly, the date of Stepney’s alleged sabotage – the week preceding the Monaco Grand Prix – coincided with a series of three consecutive victories for McLaren."


"As the affair looks set to dominate paddock talk in the forthcoming race, an FIA spokesman said they are monitoring the situation.

'We have received information on this matter which we are examining at the moment,' he said today."

No comment.

 

WOW! this is an interesting development, I hope you boys continue to keep us aware of any new scoops.

 

Let's assume it is all true: Regardless if the information passed on being useful or useless, this shouldn't happen in the first place. Even if the datas collected can not be applied directly onto the MP4-22(?), to know what Ferrari is working on is going to be an advantage. Plus, in today's high tech era, a little pointer here and there is all you need as most of them are all working on something similar, even if they are not exactly the same.

Also, it almost seems like RD/McLaren suspended their chief designer a little too quickly. I would think that RD/McLaren would give him at least some benefit of doubts and do some investigation of their own before suspending him. Does RD/McLaren not owe him at least that much for his years of loyal services? Afterall, his career and his reputation is on the line here. It just seem like RD/McLaren already knew that he is quilty and wants to distant themself from him ASAP and as much as possible.

All speculations I know, just wondering out loud and want to see what the rest of you think of it.

 

Hmm...Kinda makes the NASCAR stuff, of the last two weeks, look like Romper Room.

The Democrats and Republicans, are they implicated anywhere in this?

An old Roman proverb says, "That the FISH, stinks from the HEAD, not from the TAIL!" May be a lot more to this, as the facts become known. I hope not, for the sake of F1 Racing.

Ciao...Paolo

 

I can hear the shredder going flatout in RD office from here

 

I tend to disagree. What did Mike Coughlan have to do to further his career? Isn't technical Director at McLaren International considered one of...

If not the top job in the Pit Lane?

This I do agree with.... But let me ask you this...

What if it was Ferrari's most prized possesion going into this season....

What could it be???

How about Bridgestone tire data....

 

+1

I'm sure they've executed a fast comprehensive survey of all the McLaren offices and out back, there's an incinerator with incriminating ashes at the bottom.

+1

Well, McLaren waited until after the search warrant yielded the Ferrari documents. At that point they didn't really have a choice.

If Coughlan received the papers in April and still had them in July, I can't help but think, that they must have been somehow relevant to his work for McLaren. That in a nutshell is industrial espionage, theft of intellectual property, it is criminal.

 

that, or they thought "this Coughlan guy is a bloody genius "

I can see RD squirming out of this and the UK press defending him to the hilt , you can't trust a man with his eyes next to each other

I love this whole episode, ol' Teflon Ron will deny any wrong doings and the tribes will be split even further apart

Ferrari 1-2 @Silverstone anyone ??

 

If the information let McL in on what Ferrari was working on I can see how that would give them an advantage. By knowing Ferrari's problems from the inside would give McL the knowledge to exploit this (these) weakness(es).

Why would they keep the data (evidence)? Must be something pretty valuable and complex that couldn't be easily memorized or duplicated in some other way. Or just stupidity.

What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.

 

I agree with most of you. Tifosi12 you are wrong on this one. There is going to be a linching and at the end of the rope will be RD. Maclaren will not be able to explain this one. They came on too strong too fast this season and it left me realing as to why Renault fell behind so far when the Macs were put to the same tests and that was to find a way to make the Bridgestones work on their chasis. I think this is either going to go all the way and sink the Macs season by way of exclusion or the FIA is going to cover it up so the whole of F1 dosnt look like idiots again. By cover it I mean they will mussle the Mac engines to a point that the Ferraris will win the constructors and WDC.

 

I would think that, if any significant action is taken by the FIA, it would be to strip McLaren of any points gained since April or May.

Now that would have to hurt !!!!

 

It has been said many times and needs to be said again. Exactly what is the point of getting any infomation about a rivals car when your car is totally different(if that even truly happened)? The McLarens are a different team this year, with two different drivers. If they caught up, so be it. To say it's because of some information from Ferrari that many have disregarded as useless, is simply stupid. I'd be willing to bet this isn't the first time this has happened or the last. This is just the first time we've heard of it. The FIA isn't going to exclude anyone, as they should not.