Stepneygate: McLaren stripped of all points, fined $100M

[blue8]

*Thread title changed to make it appear in the search results and to avoid spam

Ron Dennis was the source of new spy evidence

McLaren boss Ron Dennis revealed on Friday that he tipped off the FIA about the existence of incriminating emails that ultimately led to his team's $100m fine and exclusion from the 2007 world championship. While the identity of the emails' authors - team drivers Fernando Alonso and Pedro de la Rosa - has been known for some time, it was thought that the whistleblower might have had a more malevolent motive. Alonso, for example, has reportedly been looking for an exit from his 2008 contract, while Flavio Briatore is keen to reunite the reigning world champion with Renault. Dennis, however, told reporters at Spa Francorchamps that he telephoned the governing body on the morning of the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, which prompted the Paris body to reopen the case. "Once I became aware that new evidence might exist, I immediately phoned the FIA to keep them informed," he said in Belgium. Many believe that Dennis' long history of integrity and honesty is reason enough for him to incriminate his own team in such a way. But as reported earlier, a rumour has been swirling all day in the Spa paddock that Dennis actually pre-empted the disgruntled Alonso, who was at the time threatening to take the offending emails to the FIA. It has also been suggested on Friday that former McLaren racer Kimi Raikkonen played a role in the espionage case by telling the FIA that McLaren often listened in on Ferrari's scrambled radio messages at races throughout his five year tenure at the team. Dennis, meanwhile, told reporters on Friday that McLaren had not decided whether to appeal the World Motor Sport Council's sanction. "We have seven days and are carefully considering the company's position once we have a full understanding of the FIA's findings," he said.

[bmagni]

Many believe that Dennis' long history of integrity and honesty is reason enough for him to incriminate his own team in such a way.

[deuces]

what sort of options does ron dennis have for kicking alonso off of the team. i don't doubt that he wants to, but there must be certain penalties involved with his contract that would probably prove to be even more costly to mclaren. when you think about it...alonso already cost them the constructors points when he held hamilton up in the hungarian pits, and now he has been instrumental in costing mclaren ALL of their constructors points. i don't see how ron dennis could want someone like alonso on the team anymore..

[ZfrkS62]

holy mother of dog shit.....i can't believe what i fucking read last night, or any of the info in this thread...

this fucking blows me away.

i was really hoping this would be a clean breakout for a rookie sensation, but i guess it was too good to be true.

The truly shocking thing to me is not that this is happening, but that Flavio isn't accusing the FIA of helping Ferrari to win :roll:

Alonso and De La Rosa ought to have their Super Licenses revoked for their enthusiasm in ripping off Ferrari. I would think that any change McLaren makes to their cars over the next couple of years is going to be placed under a microscope powerful that an amoeba's fart will be visible.

Odd how the New England Patriots just got bent over and fucked for spying on the opposing defense's signals....

WTF is going on in the sporting world?!?!?!

[5vz-fe]

It's so funny that Ron still thinks that they didn't do no wong and they should not be punished if ppl can't prove they gain advantage from it. Simply having the Ferrari document already set a much higher baseline for their testing. How the f**k could this guy be so f**king arrogant.

[novass]

I was just watching the Friday practice coverage of Spa-Fr. and the announcers said there are rumors (though they come from reliable sources) that Alonso was trying to blackmail McLaren with this info. Apparently Alonso said something to the effect that he would go to the FIA unless McLaren named him #1 and/or removed Hamilton from the team. Not sure if any of that is true or if it has been discussed already.

[nthfinity]

In the old day's.... Macca would've been removed entirely from this year's championship.... the cars, the points, the drivers points... none of this pussy-footing around. What makes Alonso, and Hamilton any more worthy of their drivers' points then the guys who race in the 70's, and 80's?

Nothing

Today, F1 is very fragile, and the FIA took it a very pollitically motivated decision to only strip constructor points. F1 is VERY fragile right now, and anything could set off the other teams to join in, and create a new race series not commanded by Bernie Ecclestone, and Max Mosely.

Even the slightest infractions 20 years ago resulted in zero driver points/ zero manufacturer points.... this is a HUGE blow, and they are allowed to continue using the car as is?

[RAMMIUS]

Hahahahaha RD is such a dumbass

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=40683

[blue8]

The tip-off (2 versions of the story)

Dennis' version:
"At the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday all hell broke loose, and it was not until around 11.35pm they (the stewards) moved him (Alonso) five slots," recalled Dennis

"The next morning I phone Fernando's manager to tell him what has happened.

"Fernando arrives and is pretty upset, upset by many things; upset with life, upset with this, that. He was emotional.

"In the conversation that took place he said 'I have something on my email system that is from one of the engineers'.

"There was a discussion. I got Martin (Whitmarsh) in, his manager was there, and he said it again.

"Martin and I looked at each other. I said 'What do you think?' He said 'Fernando should inform the FIA'.

"When Fernando left, I phoned the FIA and told them what happened.

"Half an hour later, Fernando's manager came back and said 'Look, I'm sorry, he was angry', and retracted everything, that it was a load of old rubbish.

"I picked up the phone again. I said 'I've been told by Fernando's manager that it's a load of old rubbish'.

"There was dialogue, we went forward. After the race he (Alonso) came into my office, apologised, shook my hand and said 'let's get on with motor-racing'.

Dennis continued: "When his manager came back and said that Fernando had lost his temper and retracted everything, I accepted it.

"I also accepted his apology after the race. Why? Why not be more aggressive?

"My job is to win the world championship. It's not for people to love and hug me. If I have difficult relationships with people, I have difficult relationships.

"You don't take your guns out and shoot them every which way. We are here to win races. It's not a bloody love in.

"I want to have positive relationships with my drivers, but it's difficult sometimes.

"But I am not going to say things that are detrimental to the interests of this team.

"I will not disclose the exact nature of the conversation I had with Fernando.

"I moved on with the intention of trying to win races, and that is what I intend to still do."

Mosley's version:
"On the morning of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Ron rang me and he said, 'I've just had Alonso in the motorhome and he says he's got information and he's threatening to give it to the Federation," he told ITV.

"So I said, 'What did you say Ron?' He replied, 'I said 'go on and hand it over'.

"I said, 'Ron, you said exactly the right thing.'

"And then Ron said, 'But there isn't any information.'

"So I said, 'So it's an empty threat?'

"And he replied: 'Yes, a completely empty threat. There's no information, there's nothing to come out; I can assure you that if there was something, Max, I would have told you.'"


-- Although his manager denies it, I really think Al0nso will leave or be kicked out of McLaren by the end of the season. To further fuel this insight, Flavio has also delayed (again) the announcement of Renault's drivers next season.

-- Mercedes-Benz, Santander and Mutua Madrilena 'has re-pledged its support to McLaren.'

[ZfrkS62]

^ i think it's a really stupid move for Mercedes to stay aligned with McLaren. They obviously have their powertrain sorted out, why not go to a controversy free team like Redbull? I'm sure they would love to have a competitive car for once. Neither the Ferrari or Cosworth engines are getting them anywhere, so why not go with a known competitive powertrain?

[5vz-fe]

^The engine maybe reliable in Mclaren, but it may not be in another chassis. Merc prolly develope the engine along side the MP4-22 this time.

[RC45]

Originally Posted by ZfrkS62 Odd how the New England Patriots just got bent over and fucked for spying on the opposing defense's signals.... WTF is going on in the sporting world?!?!?!

Quite frankly, I think the "you cant look at other teams signals" and "you cant steal design ideas from competitors " type rules are pretty stupid.

If your team doesnt actually take steroids or stab other players in the eye, or you car isnt actually made of dissallowed materials or is incorrect dimensions then you really are not cheating.

I think what this really shows is just what a bunch of whining pussy layabouts modern sports controlling bodies are

[novass]

Originally Posted by RC45 Originally Posted by ZfrkS62 Odd how the New England Patriots just got bent over and fucked for spying on the opposing defense's signals.... WTF is going on in the sporting world?!?!?! Quite frankly, I think the "you cant look at other teams signals" and "you cant steal design ideas from competitors " type rules are pretty stupid. If your team doesnt actually take steroids or stab other players in the eye, or you car isnt actually made of dissallowed materials or is incorrect dimensions then you really are not cheating. I think what this really shows is just what a bunch of whining pussy layabouts modern sports controlling bodies are

I get your point. Everyone in every sport looks to their competitors to see what they are doing different and try to emulate that. Thats why sports teams look at footage of previous games, etc.

I think the difference here though is that McLaren wasn't just looking at what Ferrari was doing and trying to re-create it, they were flat out copying it and using actual Ferrari data to help them do so. That, I consider cheating. It would be no different than stealing another team's playbook. Certainly everyone in Formula 1 could be guilty of copying their opponents, that is why all the cars look so similar and have similar features, but none of the other teams seem to have resorted to stealing.

[Mattk]

Yeah, what they did was not just gleaning ideas, it was stealing information. That sort of stuff is a criminal offence. I guess the drivers weren't penalised because they weren't directly involved.

[bmagni]

I guess 2007 will be called the year an F1 team had a 1-2-3-4 finish!