Ferrari furious with McLaren's reprieve (Autosport.com)

Just released at Autosport.com:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/61159

The last paragraph suggests this is a long way from over:

"Ferrari feels this is highly prejudicial to the credibility of the sport. It will continue with the legal action already under way within the Italian criminal justice system and in the civil court in England."

I guess if either of those investigations throws up more "evidence" (to satisfy the FIA) action could/will still be taken......

Cheers,
Ian

 

Correct. The civil and criminal cases will go forward and likely be concluded after the season is over. If these cases prove anything the FIA can request McLaren to come before it once more for penalty and/or sanctioning. At that point the FIA will know the outcome of the season. If Ferrari comes back to win, the FIA would not have to do anything. If McLaren wins and overwhelming evidence exists, the FIA would feel safe in altering the results after the fact. Either way, the FIA would not be seen as meddling in the outcome of the Championships in the middle of the season. I do not find their current ruling suprising at all.

 

I thought the criminal case was solely against Stepney? How does this implicate McLaren?

 

Is F just posturing with this? I can't imagine they don't have a few skeletons somewhere. They should probably just focus on racing. I wonder what agenda they've got trying to push this further?

PS - I know, they're probably trying to torpedo Mac's chances at the championship. Win at all costs kinda stuff.

 

Its easier for us to let go but for them if they feel Mclaren has cheated and used their IP , i can understand them wanting to continue to push .

Not only about torpedoing Mc points but punish them from the unfaire advantage they benefited from .

 

I dont think it does. It might but at the moment it is just against Stepney. But why isnt it against Coughlan too ??

 

The money trail is usually what ends up spilling the goods in these conspiracy cases. It cannot help but implicate McLaren, as a McLaren employee ended up with the documents.

Now we at least see why Ferrari announced their own investigation a day before the FAI hearing.

And notice that they are now calling MCL "Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes" - not just McLaren. You would not have heard a Ferrari press release putting out the names of a competitors partners and sponsorships before this mess.

 

I believe you are correct.

(I'm not suggesting this happened BTW, but): Lets say the criminal investigation against Stepney in Italy throws up an email that he sent to Lucifer himself, in say, March asking for a job and including a doco titled something like "How to get the best from your new Bridgestone tires....."

That would do a little more than "implicate Mclaren" IMHO

And who knows what the civil case in England might reveal? - Mcl are not out of the woods yet and why I believe the FIA included the 2008 season in their ruling:

"we reserve the right to invite Vodafone McLaren Mercedes back in front of the WMSC where it will face the possibility of exclusion from not only the 2007 championship but also the 2008 championship."

Why'd they include '08? - As I said, this thing has a ways to go yet.

BTW, Mcl just issued a press release saying the decision was "balanced and fair"......

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/61162

Cheers,
Ian

 

Actually, it implicates Honda as we all know that Stepney and Coughlan approached Honda about jobs. Why are they not being dragged into all this? How do we know that the Ferrari (and perhaps McLaren) info was not shared with Honda?

After all Honda never said anything until it was revealed that Stepney and Coughlan had approached them. If anyone is acting like they had something to hide, it is Honda.

 

It is pretty clear Honda didnt know about this document..i mean how many points have they scored yet ?

 

Ferrari should just do an internal investigation, see who else is spying, remember , this happened a couple of years ago. Also Ferrari should start backing off a bit on wanting to crucify McLaren, the shoe could easily be on the other foot in the future.

 

Dude - Please let's no go down the tin hat route again! - I just gave you an (albeit imaginary) scenario in which solid *evidence* is presented that proves RD, personally, had received a very significant piece of information way ahead of anything becoming public - That implicates Mcl. Nothing to do with Honda.

We don't - It certainly appears that Stepney/Coughlan were in league to go and join another team. But they're pretty smart guys and aren't going to *announce* that they have stolen docs to their potential employers. [Makes for a real good character reference ]

Plus, Nick Fry told us that they'd met but nothing "confidential" was discussed - As I said, nothing to do with Honda.....

That's complete BS IMHO. These guys are always "interviewing" around the paddock - It's all about trust - Honda had/has nothing to hide.

Cheers,
Ian

 

I remember they agreed on not pursuing Coughlan with any criminal justice, in return he told them everything he knew (-> "The Coughlan Affidavit" )

 

...FRY should be complaining about being let out of the loop! heheheee...

 

Just give Ferrari the same 780 pages about McLaren car and we are even.

 

PFFT HAHAHAHA ! Thanks for the laugh I needed it......i've been feeling like S*** all day because of this stupid decision the FIA came up with.

 

Indeed now that would be far let Ferrari tour there whole factory and take notes and pictures of everything.

 

right, as long as they don't use any McL technology on their car afterwards

 

me too mate...me too.

Forza Ferrari AND tifosi dapertutto...

 

You see, both teams could say the smoked it but did not inhale.

 

i find it interesting that they found VMcL guilty of breaking a rule yet they (the FIA) did nothing about it. And yet they fine you 10k for going 1km over the speed limit in the pits... interesting...

 

This is a smack on everyone at McC's.
Not too smart at least on the Vodaphone name; dont want to foul potential sponsors.
Also the article states that McC had possesion of the documents; it did not. As we all know. Is this a fair assumption ?
As far as Ferrari persuing this in private courts, it may be wise not to contradict ( read PO ) the sanctioning body's decision in which you compete.
FIA's main concern seems to be damage control for the good of the sport which may be the proper response to an unprovable situation.

 

we´ll see...la vendetta è un piatto migliore servito il freddo

 

You need to prove it in criminal court, but in civil court, you only need to show there is more than a 50% possibility that it's true.....it’s much easier to win in civil court.

 

The documents given to Honda were written backwards.