McLaren is today appearing in front of the FIA in Paris for a hearing on all this spy drama. If all the rumours have any truth, then the **** will hit the fan. However, if this were a court of law, then it would take years to even prove anything, so I doubt that the FIA will find anything McLaren doesn't want them to find.

My prediction: No sanctions for McLaren, let Ferrari pursue in the courts if they so wish.

 

The way I see it is that McLaren is not responsible for the actions of an individual that decided to switch teams. If Ferrari wants to sue anybody then it should be the guy that leaked the info, not McLaren.

 

"Save the drama for your momma"

- Richard Davis - Trademark Properties/The Real Deal

 

World Motor Sport Council Decision
26.07.2007

An extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council was held
in Paris on 26 July, 2007. The following decision was taken:

"The WMSC is satisfied that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was in
possession of confidential Ferrari information and is therefore in
breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code. However,
there is insufficient evidence that this information was used in
such a way as to interfere improperly with the FIA Formula One World
Championship. We therefore impose no penalty.

"But if it is found in the future that the Ferrari information has
been used to the detriment of the championship, 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.

"The WMSC will also invite Mr. Stepney and Mr. Coughlan to show
reason why they should not be banned from international motor sport
for a lengthy period and the WMSC has delegated authority to deal
with this matter to the legal department of the FIA."

 

dud

 

The verdic is a load of bull****- yea bull****... Maca is found guilty of having the papers but no evidence he used it ... what kind fuken bull**** is that... let Costa see Macas blue prints and he can point out what his and whats not... fuken bull **** decision.. **** the FIA, oh right right its a consipirasy right... FIA = Ferrari... right....


okayyy im one pissed off tifosi ... phew done ranting

 

Yeah, just read that in F1-live.com. That's some real good news.


http://members.f1.racing-live.com/f1...0726160734.php

Ok, et's get back to racing!


egxpimp: As you can imagine, i'm extremely happy with this outcome, but i'm sure i'd be just as pissed off as you if the tables were turned.

 

The Ferrari press release:

Based on today's decision of the FIA World (Motor Sport) Council:

* The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team has been found to be in breach
of article 151c of the F1 Sporting Regulations (actually the FIA
International Sporting Code) and to have therefore behaved in "a
fraudulent manner and therefore in a manner prejudicial to the
interests of competition or motor sport in general" (the language
quoted is from the ISC, not the WMSC decision),

* The World Council has nevertheless decided that, in the absence of
any definite proof that information that is the property of Ferrari
has been effectively used on the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car
competing in the current championship, it can impose no sanction
without further evidence.

Ferrari notes that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has been found guilty
by the FIA World Council. It therefore finds it incomprehensible
that violating the fundamental principle of sporting honesty does
not have, as a logical and inevitable consequence, the application
of a sanction. Today's decision legitimizes dishonest behavior in
Formula 1 and sets a very serious precedent.

In fact, the decision of the World Council signifies that
possession, knowledge at the very highest level and use of highly
confidential information acquired in an illicit manner and the
acquiring of confidential information over the course of several
months, represent violations that do not carry any punishment. The
fact that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was in possession of such
information was discovered totally by accident and, but for this,
the team would continue to have it. This is all the more serious as
it has occurred in a sport like Formula 1 in which small details
make all the difference.

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.

Maranello, 26th July 2006
Motor Sport Press Office

This morning, two newspapers, England's The Guardian and Italy's
Corriere della Sera, published what they say are quotes from a
Ferrari filing in their London High Court suit against McLaren's
Mike Coughlan and his wife Trudy. The quotes, which we cannot verify
as accurate, hold that McLaren's points advantage is due to the
unfair advantage obtained through the files given to Coughlan by
Nigel Stepney, and that if Ferrari loses the constructors'
championship to McLaren, it will cost Ferrari 5.5 million euros
($7.7 million U.S.) in what we will broadly call prize money, plus
an untold amount in damage to their brand, and losses in sponsorship
and in sales of Ferrari road cars.

Given that, as well as the tone of the Ferrari press release and its
content, we assume it is now merely a matter of time before Ferrari
adds McLaren to the London High Court suit brought against Coughlan.
This issue is, we suspect, a long way from resolution.

We will, obviously, have much more to say about all this, but as Max
Mosley stressed to all parties at the WMSC hearing the need for
transparency following the decision, we are awaiting what we hope,
but do not expect will be a considerable release of documentary
evidence, and an explanation of the rational used by the WMSC -- which
is to say, by Mosley -- to reach today's decision.

Here, then, is today's statement from McLaren, less irrelevant quotes
attributed to Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton:

26th July 2007

Following an appearance by McLaren today at the FIA World Motor
Sport Council in Paris, a unanimous decision has been taken by the
FIA which in McLaren's opinion is very balanced and fair. McLaren
accepts the that the FIA World Motor Sport Council had no
alternative other than to find that there was a purely technical
breach by reason of the possession of certain information by one
individual at his home, without McLaren's knowledge or authority.

McLaren is delighted that the World Motor Sport Council determined
that this information was not used and accordingly imposed no
sanction whatsoever on the team. McLaren looks forward to continuing
its fight in what is the most exciting Drivers' and Constructors'
World Championship in many years.

Ron Dennis, chairman and CEO, McLaren Group: "There is no doubt that
the past 24 days have been challenging and the tremendous support we
have received from our sponsor partners and the public has been much
appreciated. Moving forward McLaren wants to re-affirm our long-
standing commitment to honesty and integrity and re-state that we
believe we have acted correctly throughout. Now, we have Formula 1
World Championships to win. As a result we intend to move on, so as
to maintain the focus and commitment required to do exactly that."

 

No way in hell the FIA will punish Mclaren even if they were guilty! FIA will let the teams and the driver duke it out in the track. Mclaren gets a slap on the hand!

 

UNBELIEVABLE

"Yes, they are guilty -- but no, we will not do anything about it" basically

 

If i understand it correctly, the actual team may or may not have been in possesion of said information, either way the WMSC can not prove that it was used for the teams benefit. All they really have is proof that Stepney gave the info to Coughlan & he had it hidden in his house. I think when they say Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes was in possesion of confidential Ferrari information, they consider Stepney as Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes. I may be wrong though, that's just the way i interpret it.

 

As much as I want Donkey to win this championship, this is BS. Maybe the cars do not incorporate anything in the design, but by studying someone elses design they can find its weaknesses and capitalize on them. I hate Ron Dennis.

 

Stay pissed off if you want. These cars look so much alike nowadays that Costa cannot say what's his and what's not.

Honestly, these teams spend as much time inspecting each other's cars in their pit stalls at every venue, as they spend time in their own pits. You really don't need any blueprints to tell you what you can plainly see and photograph walking up and down pit lane. All the teams do it, so all of them are complicit in stealing each other's designs. How it's done is immaterial in an age of digital photography and software that can overlay photos and make mathemetical comparisons that can be fed directly into a CNC machine.

This is all a tempest in a teapot, and the more Ferrari complains about it the more they paint themselves as whiners. Let's get back to racing.

 

Thanks for understanding bud Oh well it is what it is...i guess if Ferrari lose this year, all in all we only lost to our 'other' car ooh well...

I'm a bit surprised by that response..Hmmm Maca was not competative at all last year, we now know why this year all of a suddent they 'nailed' it right. Oh well lets just get back to racing and i hope Ferrari develope the car faster and better as i know you wish Maca does the same...

[quote]
I don't need your approval to stay pissed off... but thanks for carying

 

OH NO!!! Now Ferrari will actually have to RACE to win the championship!!!

Next up: Hungary

 

The only things you can see and photograph goind down pit lane are aero and geometry. I don't think you really believe what you just said.

 

Ok, hypothetically speaking, if we were to say that McLaren did indeed steal info/specs from Scuderia & that's why McLaren is doing so good this year. We are also saying that McLaren was able to use/apply that info on their cars much better than the people who designed/researched it - Ferrari. That doesn't make too much sense, does it?

 

Ron Dennis doesn't have anything to do with this mess.

My understanding is that Stepney and Coughlan were trying to get Honda to hire them both....they could have used the Ferarri technical info to improve the Honda pile that's been struggling for years.

 

Boy are you wrong !!

Todt: Ferrari would have been penalised

By Michele Lostia and Pablo Elizalde Friday, July 27th 2007, 13:57 GMT


Ferrari would have been penalised by the FIA had they been in McLaren's situation, according to the Italian squad's boss Jean Todt.

The sport's governing body on Thursday found McLaren guilty of being in possession of confidential documents belonging to Ferrari.

The FIA said, however, that there was insufficient evidence that they had gained any benefit from it and so decided not to penalise McLaren.

Todt believes that if the situation had been reversed, Ferrari would have been heavily penalised.

"I wonder what would have happened with the roles reversed," Todt told Corriere della Sera in an interview. "I wonder if they had found in the house of a Ferrari chief designer 780 secret papers, 780 classified documents of another team...

"There would have been cries of a scandal, an exemplary punishment would have been demanded. And it would have been granted, I have no doubt.

"There is not even a sign of logic in this verdict. Either they are guilty or they aren't. McLaren were found responsible of having violated the regulations of F1, of having behaved in a fraudulent manner, but they haven't been punished.

"That's not all: McLaren during the hearing admitted to have received secret material, and that the knowledge of this operation of espionage arrived at the top level, even to Ron Dennis, and there hasn't been any penalization. It's shameful.

"One thing is certain: we at Ferrari can calmly look at ourselves in the mirror. I think others, since yesterday, can't do the same thing," added the Frenchman.

Todt also said the leaked documents have given McLaren a "huge advantage" in this year's championship.

"From this verdict a strange situation comes up: it's like having played poker against a rival who knows your cards," he added. "The advantage is evident, it's huge, even. Well, it was pretended nothing happened.

"I've been in this world for about 40 years, I've seen all kinds of stuff so I don't get surprised by anything, but this state is really at the limit.

"On the job I always try to control the emotions and the feelings. I must be rigorous first of all with myself and then with my co-workers. Every professional action on our part must be carried out properly. This attitude translates into a precise condition: we must be competitive against our rival.

"We come from a disappointing Grand Prix in Germany, especially as far as technical reliability is concerned, so we must immediately get back on the right track."

The Frenchman added that Ferrari have not yet ruled out appealing the FIA's verdict.

"We'll evaluate what to do and then we'll decide," Todt said

 

I'll clarify my statement. I believe RD did not orchestrate this espionage, nor did he approve of using the technical data once he realized it was in the possession of an employee; the material was evidently kept at the employee's home.

 

Ask yourself, honestly... do you think Maca used the information yes or no ? simple as that. No need for a long statement.

 

Haha i find this one funny !

Briatore baffled by FIA verdict

By Biranit Goren and Michele Lostia Friday, July 27th 2007, 10:59 GMT


Renault team chief Flavio Briatore admitted he was baffled by the FIA World Motor Sport Council decision yesterday to apply no penalty to McLaren despite finding them guilty of unauthorised possession of Ferrari documents.

The WMSC found McLaren to be in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code but said there was insufficient evidence to suggest McLaren had used the confidential Ferrari information "in such a way as to interfere improperly with the FIA Formula One World Championship."

Briatore said found the mixed decision baffling, and compared it to Pontius Pilate, who famously washed his hands off the decision to crucify Jesus Christ.

"I don't understand what happened," Briatore told Gazzetta dello Sport, "because to begin with you would only gather the World Council if you had proof. Otherwise, if you don't have proof, you avoid such a meeting.

"So I don't understand what happened: if the FIA admits to have established possession of Ferrari material by McLaren, then why is there no retribution? This verdict reminds me of Pontius Pilate."

Briatore also said the entire affair has been damaging to Formula One as a whole, but he empathised with Ferrari's frustration over the verdict.

"These weeks we've all heard and read what happened, and surely this story has been very damaging for the business of Formula One, also considering the great media exposure it has had," the Italian said.

"If someone had some advantage from the possession of the material, it would have been fair for him to pay the consequences. Besides, I too would have liked to know Ferrari's weight distribution...

"I spoke on the phone with [Ferrari chief] Jean Todt, and he sounded very bitter. I also understand [Ferrari president Luca] di Montezemolo's anger."

 

"Ferrari mocked," headlined the Gazzetta dello Sport. "Incredible decision by the FIA. McLaren found guilty but go punished."

"A shock verdict. The FIA recognise the fact that McLaren violated the sporting conduct code by having in their possession confidential Ferrari documents, but they are absolved. So spying is not shameful."

"A scandalous verdict and freedom to spy," said the Gazzetta's front page editorial.

"Imagine you have had your car stolen and then it is found in the garden of a man who lives near you. You inform the police and they verify the theft. But because the thief shows that he hasn't used the car, he's cleared of any crime. That is exactly what happened to Ferrari.


"It's a scandal, the latest in the world of sport which every now and again gives us another reason to doubt it, and that continues to use different measures to address similar situations, enough to create an ethical emergency that destroys and neglects."

"Political sentence, suspect formula," wrote La Repubblica. "McLaren absolved. How can it be?. That team had 780 pages of Ferrari documents showing completed projects and they are cleared.

"At first sight the decision is incomprehensible, but the FIA's magnanimity can be easily explained.

 

No.

 

And McLaren is to blame when a Ferarri employee gives out documents??? It's not as if McLaren hacked into Ferraris computers and stole it. Ferrari needs to take blame for it's own internal security screwup.