McLaren penalised

[VJ]

Today was the verdict of the World Motor Sport Council regarding the acccusations the McLaren would have spied on Ferrari.

The verdict?

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=40651

- The team loses all points and cannot gain point this season
- McLaren is fined $100 million
- The 2008 car must be presented for inspection

The drivers are not penalised: they keep their points, and still can earn points. However, if/when a McLaren driver wins, no team officials are allowed on the podium.

Quite an amazing verdict, little doubt in my mind that they will appeal the case to a higher court.

Jörg

[Dr Mordrid]

Gawd....First the New England Patriots get caught cheating and now McLaren.

Where will it all end?

[RhinoZ]

Wow, that's steep. And it took them this long.

I stopped watching F1 after the days of Prost and Senna. Pole to finish doesn't excite me. But I'm cheering for Hamilton to take the championship.

[VJ]

I stopped watching F1 after the days of Prost and Senna. Pole to finish doesn't excite me.

You might want to check out the qualifying: quite often it is more exciting than the race (of course, they are racing the clock, but the new qualifying format is great fun to watch. Just to summarize:
1. 10 minutes in which drivers can make fast laps, 6 slowest get their positions and cannot participate in the next session
2. another 10 minutes, similarly, the 6 slowest get their position in the grid cannot participate in the next session
3. 15 minutes (with a complex fuel-rule which they are considering to alter because the first 5-10 minutes is just a bunch of cars driving around to burn fuel) to determine the top 10

But I'm cheering for Hamilton to take the championship.

hehe


Jörg

[Fat Tone]

I'd love to know the truth behind all this.


At least Hamilton still gets a chance to shine, but sadly he'll always be tarnished by this.

Edit: fine includes prize money, so its ONLY going to cost them ~$30m

[VJ]

Yep... The statement that "it is not because a mechanic has Ferrari information at home, this information is used by the team" makes sense in a way; esp. considering the fact that the mechanic was searching employment at another team.
Either case (information used by the team or not) is difficult to prove though...
(go BMW? )

Jörg