Comments on: McLaren out of ’07 championship and fined $100m

By: Roger Battig

Roger Battig — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:06:27 +0000

Interesting article.. Would love to see more of this.. Awesome blog btw! Subscribed

By: Markus

Markus — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 10:34:41 +0000

Having read the FIA transcript, it seems most likely to me that most of McLaren didn’t use the Ferrari information, but that SOME of it certainly circulated and found its way into testing and setup work.

Quite ironically, the key culprits appear to be Alonso and De La Rosa – who are getting off scot-free.

On the other hand, the one who appears to have been most active keeping Ferrari information out of the company, Ron Dennis, gets punished (and in accounting terms as well as in reality, not receiving $ 100m is quite as damaging as being asked to pay them, in fact – see the Turkey example – it might have been better for McLaren if the fine had beeen a payable to FIA that they could have ignored, rather than a withholding about which they can do nothing).

This doesn’t do much credit to FIA.

By: Keith Collantine

Keith Collantine — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:03:19 +0000

The full FIA verdict on McLaren

By: Ben Goldberg

Ben Goldberg — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:48:17 +0000

Jpeg, if I were you, I would get your facts straight. That timeline is very inaccurate. In the Canadian GP in 1999, Michael Schumacher crashed out of the race. So did Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, all in the last corner, giving that wall the nickname “Wall of Champions”. I would check your other dates also, because others are way off.

By: Cooperman

Cooperman — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:16:14 +0000

Does anyone know when the FIA are planning on announcing their findings? I would have thought they’d have done it by now.
Maybe they’re as uncertain about their conclusions as everyone else…

By: Robert McKay

Robert McKay — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:03:47 +0000

Fair enough Wanderingmind. What would really help right now is the FIA publishing the promised transcript and explaining WHY Mclaren have been punished. If it is simply for having the data, then the punishment is too harsh. If it is for using the data to gain a competitive advantage, then the drivers benefited from that competitive advantage either knowingly or unknowingly but either way they should still have their points stripped for consistency. If the team is held accountable for the actions of one person, and the drivers are part of that team, then they have to lose the points.

By: Wanderingmind

Wanderingmind — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:38:03 +0000

Let us not assume that the punishment is for McLaren using a dodgy car. The punishment is probably for breaking the letter of the law. And for their designer having access to Ferrari information. Considering that, I suppose this is fair.

If the car actually was dodgy, then yes, punishing the drivers too would make sense.

I don’t think it was, though. Even Ferrari has never claimed that publicly.

Ross Brawn has said that having access to Ferrari information would make a car faster by up to .5 seconds. Perhaps that is true if it was McLaren data too. In F1, every bit of info you have – technical or otherwise – may make a difference, and we are in position to judge exactly how much.

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:52:48 +0000

Exactly Robert, the FIA are trying to get the best of both worlds by punishing the team (and pleasing Ferrari), but not punishing the drivers (and pleasing the British press).

The other drivers are bound to be unhappy though as they are bound to feel the winner of the championship (which is going to be a McLaren driver, realistically speaking) has done so by cheating, and that’s the way it will look for years to come I would think.

By: Robert McKay

Robert McKay — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:27:36 +0000

“As for drivers keeping points – the only sensible (though controlversial) option.”

No, it’s not, and I’m a Mclaren fan. If the FIA thinks the team gained from the Ferrari data, and the car is thus dodgy, then the position of the drivers in those cars is also dodgy and not representative. If Mclaren were using a 4-litre engine and the drivers shopped the team to the FIA, would they be allowed to keep their points with a car that was clearly outside the regs? No. The FIA has potentially allowed a driver to win a championship in a dodgy car as long as he grassed up his team. And the only reason they did that is that they knew if Hamilton and Alonso were removed from the WDC the backlash would have been so huge the sport would possibly have collapsed. The punishment is a fudge.

I’d rather have seen Mclaren banned altogether, because it at least would have said the FIA had the conviction to do something it felt it had to even if it ruined the season climax. But they didn’t.

By: Cooperman

Cooperman — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:14:03 +0000

Advice to McLaren: Follow the example put forward by the organisers of the Turkish Grand Prix. Pretend that the fine doesn’t exist and eventually it goes away.

That should save you about $100m.