Comments on: Todt: ‘FIA would have punished Ferrari’

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 11:52:23 +0000

I still can’t understand why the FIA confirm McLaren had the thing yet that doesn’t warrant any punishment – as Journeyer says even a fine would have been sufficient surely!

By: Journeyer

Journeyer — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:49:53 +0000

Knut, would they have ruled differently? The cynic in me says yes, they would’ve.

By: Knut

Knut — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:40:25 +0000

But I wonder, if this hadn’t been mcLaren, boy wonder Hamilton’s team, would they have ruled differently?

Say if Honda had been in contact with this information, would FIA have given them a 2 race ban, point deduction or disqualification?

Seems the “nays” we heard of in the news where more focused on not giving Hamilton and Alonso a point deduction.. I do understand it from a PR perspective.. but I was quite astonished they spoke in public before the ruling.

By: Number 38

Number 38 — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 04:49:46 +0000

Ho hum ….. yawn
All this article did was draw in some new posters ….. WELCOME mates!

By: Journeyer

Journeyer — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 04:23:34 +0000

Norbert, there’s a problem here. McLaren must be innocent until proven guilty, that’s a foundation of law. Ferrari carries the burden to prove that McLaren DID use the info to their benefit or that McLaren allowed Coughlan to continue stealing or using the Ferrari dossier. Coughlan could have acted alone here (the motive being his planned defection to Honda), so it cannot be automatically assumed that he was stealing the info for McLaren’s benefit.

BUT, on the other hand, McLaren should have been punished for admitting they knew of the stolen info but did not tell the FIA about it. A very heavy fine would suffice.

If McLaren are proved to have used the stolen info, disqualification from 2007 and 2008 is the only penalty that can be meted out.

By: Norbert

Norbert — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:18:28 +0000

“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.”

Well, wonderful! Where does everyone draw the line with all of this? For sure, a 1 cm difference in a bargeboard may be critical, but we are speaking of a great amount of design data here. A “pointing in the right direction” with data can make a lot of difference in the future. The thief certainly wasn’t in possession of this data for late night reading during his retirement.

Being realistic, this is a theft of knowledge and design not just a bending of the rules that already exist.

Saying that there may be a calling of the parties before the “judge” in the future means little after the “master plan” which could lead to improvements by the thieving party in the slightest undetectable manner here is what is the point I think. Pointing someone in the “right direction” rather than copying existing technology is the point here. Helping future development by theft is the question here if the development takes place during this season or the next.

As the slightest development now makes a critical difference in winning or being second, old doctrine of punishment is also outdated quickly. The slightest thief of knowledge in this sport can have winning consequences today, and the next seasons.

Who would expect the offending team to show a great improvement in the near future that would be detectable given what was stolen? Only a fool would do this given the present press coverage, but what has it done to point that team in a direction that would give an advantage in the future that is well hidden? That is what will not be detectable given the present theft.

The punishment has to fit the times now, and any theft of knowledge should be dealt with harshly. A “wait and see” attitude is ridiculous in this situation today. F1 should be saying that there will be a great penalty here. The harshness will be determined as more information is learned.

By: Journeyer

Journeyer — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:39:20 +0000

Completely unnecessary from Todt. But he won’t be punished for it, a fine at worst.

The more he says stuff like this, the more I wonder what’s going on behind the scenes.

By: Nikos Darzentas

Nikos Darzentas — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:02:37 +0000

…I just read some articles regarding the story, and in fact Ferrari appealed to win the argument, for missing a 1cm piece in their bargeboards that had been passed as legal in the previous GP

By: Nikos Darzentas

Nikos Darzentas — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:46:22 +0000

Phil, you’re right, I just checked, Maranello is currently in a grade 3 shock, which passes the threshold and can be used as evidence in a court of law!

can anyone verify the Malaysia ’99 story? or send a link to a Youtube video with Todt pointing with a pen to the illegal bargeboards?

By: Tommy B

Tommy B — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:29:53 +0000

HAHA Whats he on, Ferrari escape everything!! the FIA always punish teams that arent ferrari