Rate this article:
Greenlight Andretti Green Danica Patrick 1st Win 2008
This is a replica of the racecar used during the 2008 Japan race in which she won her first race ever!
Our Price: 1/18th Scale - $45.95 ($41.36 Member)
Ducati Red Team Logo Hat
100% cotton. Embroidered. Adjustable strap.
Our Price: $36.00 ($32.40 Member)
Formula 1 2009 Calendar
Every month is accompanied by a superb action shot from the 2008 season, with essential information about the sport.
Our Price: $16.95 ($15.26 Member)
Written by:
Adam Cooper
RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
09/22/2007 - 07:00 PM
Paris, France
The WMSC transcripts revealed some fascinating details about "Stepneygate" - including some which weren't supposed to be made public... (LAT Photo) » More Photos
McLaren's recent announcement that it will not appeal against the World Motor Sport Council's decision on the spying affair did not come as a big surprise, because over the course of the Belgian GP weekend Ron Dennis made it increasingly clear that such a scenario was likely.
"I want to chill out a little bit, I want to calm down, I want to get my head in a clearer perspective," he said after the race, in which his team had been trounced by Ferrari. "I want to discuss with our shareholders what is the right thing to do. As I said several times this weekend I'm very much committed to F1 as an individual.
"I think this has not been great for F1, it certainly hasn't been great for McLaren. Obviously it has created a lot of news, which has not always been positive to say the least. I think closure is the thing that we should consider. I do want to put myself in a better frame of mind to take a point of view myself, and then share it with my associates.
"There are a lot of loose ends. I'm sure that not everybody has the same opinion that I have. I think it's in the interests of F1. I do feel that the transcripts of the World Motor Sport Council and a careful examination of their findings will allow people to see what took place. I have got to take responsibility for people that have worked in one capacity or another for our company. It goes with the job. I think it's important to try and move forward… That's where my mind it is at the moment."
It took Ron another five days before he confirmed that he would not be pursuing any further action on the matter, and thus would swallow the mind-boggling $100m penalty, not to mention the loss of what would have been the team's first constructors' title since 1998.
So was McLaren really guilty? I'm really not so sure, and I am certain that the scale of the penalty, considering the lack of concrete
We got a better idea of what it was all about last week, when the FIA posted transcripts of both the July and September hearings on its website. Much was made of the fact that they would be censored by Ferrari and McLaren, and that any sensitive technical information would be removed. Sure enough, they appeared with big black lines through the interesting stuff.
The funny thing was when I saved the files to my PC and then copied them into a new document the black lines disappeared and the "secret" stuff was suddenly very visible, every word of it. I have to say I laughed till it hurt when I realized what had transpired.
Get the inside story of the people, science and history of Formula 1 each month in RACER. Tony Dodgins looks into the complex issues behind the McLaren/Ferrari spy scandal in our October issue, on sale now.
I presume someone at the FIA soon found out about because for a while the links were down, and when they started up again that little gremlin had been sorted out…
The technical stuff wasn't terribly exciting anyway, but there was much of interest in the 40,000 words from the September hearing, and in case you haven't had time to look, here are some of the interesting bits.
Ferrari was represented by a British lawyer with an Italian surname, Nigel Tozzi. Here is how he introduced the team's case:
Page 1 of 3
