This is so illogical I can't wrap my brain around it. IF McLaren indeed used the 'poached' data, how can the drivers not be penalized for driving an illegal car? To me it's 'all or nothing' Either the 'theft' is/was not a punishable thing or McLaren and the drivers are out.

So "what if" McLaren hired Stepney? Stepney brings his knowledge of Ferrari to McLaren. This happens all the time in F1, lesser team lure away talent form the bigger teams. I don't see this as any different than if Stepney volunteers the data freely.

If Stepney gets in trouble for violating a NDA of some sort, tha't between him and Ferrari. IMO McLaren cannot put their fingers in their ears and sa "lalalalalalalalal" to avoid hearing what someone is determined to tell them.

 

http://www.fia.com/resources/documents/178...sion_130907.pdf

 

the fired mechanic has only one place he can work after getting fired from ferrari.

 

Hmmm so its weight distribution and the gas in the tires...... sounds like that = $100 million. Sorry I'm still thinking this is much ado over things that happen all the time in competitive sports. I believe there is something deeper going on.

 

that document makes it all sound so much more shady than it is.

 

Sonic's?

 

flippin burgers or maclaren

 

When I heard about this fine I almost fell over, that's an impressively big screw-up.

On another note, Senna was the man! I have a couple videos of him putting the NSX through it's paces.

 

Wow. While watching the qualifying rounds for the Belgian Grand Prix, the commentators mentioned that Alonso was basically blackmailing Ron Dennis (the owner of McLaren) that if he didn't make him the undisputed lead driver AND have Lewis Hamilton suspended/sacked by the end of the year that he would bring some incriminating evidence to the FIA.
If this is true, I wouldn't want to be Alonso driving along at high speed in a car that is being maintained by McLaren mechanics who have just been robbed their chance of winning the Constructor's Championship.
I guarantee you if the situation was flipped between McLaren and Ferrari that the penalty would not be this huge. It probably would have been dismissed.

 

hard to say, mclaren were the golden children of the 2007 season. there has been no more exciting news than that of the two-time defending WC and a rookie fighting for the WDC whilst leaving the defending top teams (renault and ferrari) in it's wake. i believe F1 has gained more this year in popularity than it has at any other time post senna.

it must've been very hard for them to penalize mclaren.

reminder of the heirarchy of the paddock last year. Ferrari and Renault were exceptionally good, while mclaren were terrible. if ferrari were terrible last year and made these huge gains this year, the world might no look at them the same way. remember when ferrari sucked (pre-schumi)? no one gave them a break. mclaren-honda and williams-renault were untouchable by the sanctioning bodies.

either way, i think the severity of the penalty is directly linked to the position of Coughlin and his influence of the technical direction of HIS staff. if it were a peon that got ahold of this info, the penalty might not have been so steep. also a reminder that the info wasn't stumbled upon, it was sought after. big difference there.