Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

So what you are saying is that there is a reasonable limit as to what a company can be expected to do to guard against a rogue employee and that no system of security is completely foolproof?

I agree. This is why I don't hold McLaren liable for Coughlan's actions any more than I would hold Ferrari liable for Stepney's.

 

According to the italian press Ferrari stripped Stepney of the special key giving access to the F1 plans and all data, when Rossn Brawn left in December. It is unclear whether he obtained another key or had an accomplice or accomplices.

 

I was just reading the scandal over Richard Petty's 198th career victory. His engine was found to be over displacement in the post-race technical inspection.

What did they do? Fined him a few points on the championship, but they did NOT void the victory.

They knew that he was closing in on the famous 200 wins, and did not want to spoil the drama.

I wish I just did not know about this.

We are seeing something very similar from the FIA, IMHO. And it is indeed hypocrisy.

 

Interesting. I wonder what will happen if he is found to have been aided by others at the team? He does claim to "know where all the bodies are buried".

 

Stepney is claiming that several other people at Ferrari were planning on moving with him to another team... I couldn't find the article at Autosport but here's a link that quotes it. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=419726

 

you missed the main point that RD KNEW about Stepney by having the "firewall" built BEFORE he asked JT to agree to a pact in June which is like saying I'm shagging your wife behind your back but let's have a beer and be best of friends ... some people are just lowlifes

 

What The Papers Say About The WMSC Ruling
Friday 27th July 2007

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Fleet Street gives its views on the World Motor Sport Council ruling that let McLaren walk free in the Stepneygate saga.


'By any calculation, the decision made at the FIA's headquarters in Paris yesterday was about as far from sporting fairness as it is possible to get.


'Yes, the World Motor Sport Council's illogical conclusion in finding McLaren guilty of fraudulent misdeeds, yet not to punish them, helps Lewis Hamilton's quest for a wondrous world title in his rookie season.


'Yes, it allows one of the most engaging seasons in recent Formula One history to run its natural course.


'But for all those cosmetic reasons, there is no escaping the stench of whitewash wafting out across Paris.' - Jonathan McEvoy, the Daily Mail






'The most striking thing about the dramatic events unfolding in Paris was the furious reaction by Ferrari to McLaren's unexpected let-off by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council.


'The decision not to penalise the Anglo-German team incensed Ferrari, which described the FIA's investigation and decision as "incomprehensible". The Scuderia argued that the FIA had, in effect, "legitimised dishonest behaviour in Formula 1" and that it had set "a very dangerous precedent".


'What is clear is that the Italians had been fully expecting McLaren to feel the full force of the FIA's wrath. The belief in Maranello was that the admission by McLaren that Mike Coughlan, its chief designer, had received a large dossier of secret Ferrari technical information alone made some sort of sanctions inevitable.


'From McLaren's point of view the decision reached in Paris was almost the best they could have hoped for. Under the Formula 1 rules of collective responsibility, it could have faced penalties ranging from a large fine to being thrown out of the championship.' - Ed Gorman, The Times






'After yesterday's ruling McLaren might consider they have got off lightly, despite the implied threat of action in the future. Quite the most draconian penalty ever applied by motor racing's governing body, the FIA, came midway through the 1984 season when the British Tyrrell squad was thrown out of the championship.


'This penalty is still regarded by many within the formula one community as one of the most significant miscarriages of justice the sport has seen. It came as a direct result of the fact that Tyrrell were competing with naturally aspirated engines at a time when most of the top teams had switched to more powerful, but fuel-hungry, turbocharged engines.' - Alan Henry, The Guardian






'Common sense, too rare a commodity in Formula One, prevailed in Paris yesterday when McLaren were given a conditional pardon in the Ferrari-gate affair.


'After the six-hour hearing at the headquarters of the FIA, F1's ruling body, the focus of their attention turned on sacked Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney and McLaren chief designer Michael Coughlan, who are to be summoned to Paris to answer for their actions.


'It was right for the FIA to investigate the moment Coughlan's involvement was revealed. The FIA would argue that by doing so they were acting to protect a rival, Ferrari, from actions that may have had a detrimental impact on their championship challenge. And in formalising their investigation in such a way they were able to control future events by imposing the threat of expulsion should incriminating evidence come to light.


'Ferrari have not done too badly out of McLaren's discomfort. While their great British rivals have been fighting on two fronts, Ferrari put consecutive victories together in France and Britain. A third was on the way before rain changed the course of events at the Nurburgring.


'The playing field levels in Hungary next week.' - Kevin Garside, Telegraph

PLANET-F1