McLaren Trial

[empy]

i also think the drivers should be punished. much as i like Hamilton, he and Fernanda Alonso were involved - there's just no way they could have known.

for cooperating, they should have served a lesser "sentence". but no punishment altogether is pushing it.

[artpogi]

here's the complete decision of the WMSC

I have read the whole document, IMO Dela Rosa and Alonso should have been penalized to a certain degree, most especially Dela Rosa

[CVT]

i also think the drivers should be punished. much as i like Hamilton, he and Fernanda Alonso were involved - there's just no way they could have known.

for cooperating, they should have served a lesser "sentence". but no punishment altogether is pushing it.

Agree.

I'm rooting for LH (over FA) since he is writing history as we speak...

However, a driver is a champion not because of the driver alone. It's a collective effort by everyone in the team,- represented in the track by the driver and the car. Since the car, which is, say 1/2 of this team, is an anomaly,- then IMO, both LH and FA should be punished. For me, FIA's judgement is showbiz,- political and business, and is not "fair".

And again, as I stated in another thread, all parties were given a certain level of satisfaction.

For Ferrari,- it is the disqualification of McLaren from the world championship this year and the $100M fine; and the FIA's 'recognition' that indeed, McLaren in one way or the other have benefited from the stolen Ferrari documents. I am sure though that this does not stop here as Ferrari is filing legal suits on the McLaren team. The peace agreement between RD and JT earlier in the year is now deemed to be 'treacherous'...

On the other hand, for McLaren, they still have a chance for the driver's championship and they can still race. Participation in the 2008 Constructor's Championship is TBD.

For BE and the F1 Circus,- almost, an "uninterrupted" revenue...

3808:fish:

[Monseratto]

Alonso tried to bluff Ron Dennis into picking sides. But Ron instead called Alonso's bluff and brought the emails to the FIA. I wonder why Ron wants to keep this guy if he knows he can't control him?

Alonso, manager, play down McLaren crisis reports

Widespread reports late on Friday said the espionage saga was re-fired following a furious row between the Spaniard and McLaren's Ron Dennis in Hungary

As they argued about the qualifying pit stop incident, Alonso is believed to have threatened to take the incriminating spy emails to the FIA if Dennis did not give him either number one status or release him from his contract.

Dennis pre-empted the reigning world champion by calling the governing body himself.

Alonso was quoted as saying by the Spanish newspaper As: "I do not believe that the (FIA's) decision was taken only because of this.

"I assume that there was much more information than this, but I am not going to say any more about it. Neither yes or no about anything.
"

But even Dennis had to admit to the World Motor Sport Council on Thursday that his relationship with Alonso is now 'very cold', according to Bild newspaper.

His manager Luis Garcia Abad also played down the reports, including suggestions that Alonso's position at McLaren is now untenable despite the existence of a three year contract.

Asked if the Spaniard would stay in 2008, he answered in the Spanish press: "He has to.

"We have an agreement. We are not negotiating with anybody and our plan is to continue here," he also told the BBC.

[empy]

i also think the drivers should be punished. much as i like Hamilton, he and Fernanda Alonso were involved - there's just no way they could have known.

sorry, typo in the above sentence - i meant to say there's just no way they could not have known

[BoyFerrari]

Now that McLaren as a constructor has been penalized and eliminated from "supposed to be" dirty acts from "a few" of its employees, I think it makes perfect sense that the company do some kind of revenge against the perpetrators.

There was no sportmanship involved when Alonso and Dela Rosa tried to cheat by exploiting stolen secrets from Ferrari, why would there be sportmanship if McLaren denies Alonso the win by tweaking his car so he'll be out pace compared to his teammate?

Alonso cannot win races without his car. And McLaren owns the car he his driving right now. Since this entire contest has dirt all over it, I would rather pick Lewis Hamilton and give him a better car to win for the team, if I were Ron Dennis.

[jeff1101]

There was no sportmanship involved when Alonso and Dela Rosa tried to cheat by exploiting stolen secrets from Ferrari, why would there be sportmanship if McLaren denies Alonso the win by tweaking his car so he'll be out pace compared to his teammate?

Alonso cannot win races without his car. And McLaren owns the car he his driving right now. Since this entire contest has dirt all over it, I would rather pick Lewis Hamilton and give him a better car to win for the team, if I were Ron Dennis.

The only problem with that is that Fernando Alonso now has the full protection of the FIA!

Seems like the FIA is already ahead of Mclaren in this area and is making sure Mclaren doesnt do any funny business in inhibiting Alonso from his drive for the championship.

from F1-live.com:

FIA to monitor McLaren treatment of Alonso
Max Mosley keen to protect the defending champion 16/09/07 00:23


Alonso very much at odds at McLaren Mercedes
Appearances aside, the effects of the espionage scandal and its fallout continue to be felt on the scene of the Belgian Grand Prix.

After disagreeing in the media on Saturday, McLaren boss Ron Dennis and FIA President Max Mosley later stood in front of the team's shining 'Brand Centre' and shook hands for the benefit of photographers.

But after headlines suggested that Mosley continues to question Dennis' integrity and honesty regarding key elements of the disclosure of the new email evidence, it now emerges that F1's governing body is going to keep a close eye on McLaren at least for the balance of the season.

Mosley praised Fernando Alonso on Saturday for his role in shedding light on the extent of knowledge of Ferrari's secrets within the team.

But the FIA President says he now fears for possible retribution against the Spaniard from within his ranks, after Alonso's evidence directly led to the record $100m fine and exclusion from the constructors' world championship.
Cliquez ici...


"If they do anything wrong against Alonso, they will have to answer to us in Paris and we will do what is necessary," Mosley is quoted as saying by the Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The Briton said he fully supported Alonso's actions, in direct contrast with some sections of some that have accused him of maliciously attempting to blackmail his bosses.

"He was the only one on his team who did the right thing," Mosley said. "With Alonso's emails we obtained certainty (about the case)," he added.

Of course Mclaren can still try to do that but then again after the spy scandal and the increased scrutiny they are under after the penalty I believe they would think twice...

As for some who question Alonso's morals in not going to the FIA sooner I think Mclaren (Ron Dennis et al) should be the one faulted for having its drivers put in the "predicament" of ratting against their team or doing the right thing. I dont think Alonso was any happier in doing what he did, but then again Im sure he was doing the right thing.

[empy]

wag na lang nila lagyan ng gas yung auto ni FA, hehe

[squatt3r]

tsk tsk akala ko talagang gumaling McLaren this year. yun pala kumukuha ng leakage hehe

[CVT]

Just want to share this as the author is thinking in the same line as myself on this F1 scandal..... IMO, it's unquestionably a competitive advantage....

3808:fish:

from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Sorry, Lewis, but you shouldn't even be at the races
by Jeff Powell

A GRUBBY little farce took place in a small town in Belgium yesterday. Formula One motor racing showed the world it is no longer a sport, just a hoarding on wheels, advertising the greed of men already so absurdly rich they need not a car, but a pantechnicon, to take their money to the bank.

Lewis Hamilton had blown a gust of fresh air through British sport. He provided daring and a welcome dash of success to go with it.

Yet permitting this young Englishman to continue his pursuit of the world drivers' championship in a machine built on cheating is a betrayal of the cavalier gentlemen of the track who preceded him. The same applies to his garage-mate Fernando Alonso.

Two of the finest of those legends disagree. Stirling Moss and Jackie Stewart believe it would have been folly to ruin one of the most compelling championships for years by stripping the drivers of points as well as the manufacturer of their vehicles.

But even the FIA president can see the immorality of his council's contradictory decision to throw McLaren out of the constructors' championship yet grant immunity to the men who sit at the wheel.

Max Mosley disassociated himself from that majority verdict by saying: "If you are outside the rules, you are not in the game."

If McLaren have gained an advantage by espionage and deceit — and the judgment declares they did — the drivers should be suspended also. Instead Hamilton and Alonso were to be seen hurtling around Spa, even though in no other mass-audience sport is the competitor so reliant on external combustion and technical wizardry.

Thoroughbred racing is not exactly the least corrupted of sports yet if the winning horse is found to have been doped, the jockey does not keep the Derby victory.

The same should apply to McLaren. It is of no consequence whether or not Ron Dennis knew what his underlings were up to, nor that he decided to blow the whistle. He is the boss, he is responsible.

For the record, Ferrari, whose secrets were stolen by McLaren, took first and second places in yesterday's Belgian Grand Prix. That is likely to be a Pyrrhic victory, since their pilots trail Hamilton and Alonso on points.

To have knocked Hamilton out of the championship race, which he leads by two points, may have seemed Draconian to many but there are more important considerations, not least the integrity without which no game is worth playing.

By letting Bernie Ecclestone keep his commercial circus flying they have cast F1 as a straw before the slipstream.

If Hamilton wins his title, it will be worthless and only the petrol heads will be watching those last three races on television. For sports lovers, it is a sordid turn off.