That´s a lot money isn´t

Ron's Statement

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The most important thing is that we will be going motor racing this weekend, the rest of the season and every season. This means that our drivers can continue to compete for the World Championship. However having been at the hearing today I do not accept that we deserved to be penalized in this way.

Today's evidence given to the FIA by our drivers, engineers and staff clearly demonstrated that we did not use any leaked information to gain a competitive advantage.

Much has been made in the press and at the hearing today of e-mails and text messages to and from our drivers. The World Motorsport Council received statements from Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Pedro de la Rosa stating categorically that no Ferrari information had been used by McLaren and that they had not passed any confidential data to the team.

The entire engineering team in excess of 140 people provided statements to the FIA affirming that they had never received or used the Ferrari information.


We have never denied that the information from Ferrari was in the personal possession of one of our employees at his home. The issue is: was this information used by McLaren? This is not the case and has not been proven today.

We are also continually asked if McLaren didn't use the information, what was the reason for Stepney and Coughlan collecting all this data about Ferrari? We can only speculate as neither Coughlan nor Stepney gave evidence at today's hearing, but we do know that they were both seeking employment with other teams, as already confirmed by both Honda and Toyota.

There will be no issue for the 2008 season as we have not at any stage used any intellectual property of any other team.

We have got the best drivers and the best car and we intend to win the World Championship.



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I think they can easily achieve that for real even if it has to say Ferrari on the 2007 trophy at the end of the year

I hope the FIA spend their $100 Million wisely.

Let's hope they show the Ferrari a clean pair of heels at Spa through the best corner in Motor Racing.

Show 'em how it's done H

Dave

Here's the full text of the decision

http://www.fia.com/resources/documents/17844641__WMSC_Decision_130907.pdf

Of course nothing like this has ever happened before

I wonder how many staff each team has on the payroll gathering this kind of data on the opposition at each and every race

Pretty sad turn of events. my first thoughts were that the fine was harsh
I then read the emails No contest........
Okay they didnt build a Ferrari and paint it silver but in a world where 100ths of second count any information is like gold dust.
I dont understand and it hasnt been explained what or rather Why Nigel Stepney did the dirty deed £$? not yet clear ?
Alonso is in a dodgy position in the team I dont expect to see him there next season
To take Maclaren out of the system next year would be very bad for the enjoyment of the sport and mean red car domination again
the more combatants in the mix the better.
The art of checking out the rival teams has always been there
At the risk of sounding an old josser When I was a lad you could roam the paddock and get detailed shots of cars externals suspension engines exhaust systems brake layout and I did just that .
That was the way the SPORT was run
'fraid its no longer a sport just a megga money spinner I'm glad to watch it for the excitment but it sadden me when events likethis cloud the tracks

Yes, that is odd. But the FIA made arrangements that if the drivers would come forward with evidence they would not be sentenced. But if McLaren is guilty because it benefited from illegal information then the drivers no doubt also benefited from this.