Will the championship be decided in a boardroom?
One could write about how important this Sunday’s race at the Nurburgring is, but the truth is that the championship could practically be decided on the following Thursday, in the FIA’s boardroom in Paris.That is when the FIA’s World Motor Sport...
One could write about how important this Sunday’s race at the Nurburgring is, but the truth is that the championship could practically be decided on the following Thursday, in the FIA’s boardroom in Paris.
That is when the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council hears McLaren representatives answer to the charge of having “had unauthorised possession of documents and confidential information belonging to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, including information that could be used to design, engineer, build, check, test, develop and/or run a 2007 Ferrari Formula One car."
At the core of the accusations are 700 pages of Ferrari technical drawings found at the residence of McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan, who has since been suspended.
It is a very serious charge and if convicted, McLaren could be excluded from the championship. Lesser penalties could include race bans, a reduction of the team’s constructors championship points, a reduction of points won by drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, a fine or a reprimand.
McLaren currently lead the constructors championship by 25 points and Hamilton and Alonso lead the drivers' table. Whatever happens this Sunday, McLaren would still be in the lead in both championships. Ferrari occupy both second places.
McLaren continue to strongly insist that they have done nothing wrong. “The team wishes to make it very clear that the documents and confidential information were only in the possession of one currently suspended employee on an unauthorised basis and no element of it has been used in relation to McLaren’s Formula 1 cars," McLaren said when the charges were announced.
But the council does not decide to convene such meetings lightly, and the team clearly has a lot of explaining to do.
Coughlan submitted a confidential sworn statement to the FIA and Ferrari last week and according to reports in Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper (Is this another Ferrari leakage?), he claimed to have shown the documents to “several” employees at McLaren. All kept their distance from the documents and told him to destroy them.
But such a revelation, if it is true, could sink McLaren. Had its employees seen the documents, or known about them, the team will have a problem arguing that this was a plot by Coughlan and possibly Ferrari’s former engineer Nigel Stepney to gather information ahead of a move to another team, possibly Honda. And if those McLaren members of staff were not in the plot, why had they not immediately reported that documents had been leaked? Teams are, after all, responsible for the actions (or inaction) of their staff.
Even if the technical information did not go into McLaren’s cars, did the team profit from other information, such as information about the circuits as they suited Ferrari?
Did McLaren get to know of the Ferrari (irregular) “moving floors” from the documents? Had that been the case, this episode goes right to the beginning of the season.
Of course, it is likely that more will come out before, and during the hearing, particularly from the McLaren side. One should not rush to judgment. Indeed, McLaren have already described the Italian media reports as inaccurate and misleading, insisting that none of its staff (other than Coughlan) knew of the leaked Ferrari information before July 3. But this episode has been damaging to F1 however one looks at it. Even if McLaren are acquitted, the shadow of doubt will remain. If they are found guilty and punished (as they have to, should that be the case) the thrill would have been sucked out of the races.
For McLaren the consequences could be long lasting. They will not only lose technical staff (and possibly drivers such as Alonso who is unhappy anyway), but they will lose credibility and probably, the many millions of dollars that goes with sponsorships. Could it even hasten a Mercedes takeover of the team, complete with new branding under the three pointed star?
That is when the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council hears McLaren representatives answer to the charge of having “had unauthorised possession of documents and confidential information belonging to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, including information that could be used to design, engineer, build, check, test, develop and/or run a 2007 Ferrari Formula One car."
At the core of the accusations are 700 pages of Ferrari technical drawings found at the residence of McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan, who has since been suspended.
It is a very serious charge and if convicted, McLaren could be excluded from the championship. Lesser penalties could include race bans, a reduction of the team’s constructors championship points, a reduction of points won by drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, a fine or a reprimand.
McLaren currently lead the constructors championship by 25 points and Hamilton and Alonso lead the drivers' table. Whatever happens this Sunday, McLaren would still be in the lead in both championships. Ferrari occupy both second places.
McLaren continue to strongly insist that they have done nothing wrong. “The team wishes to make it very clear that the documents and confidential information were only in the possession of one currently suspended employee on an unauthorised basis and no element of it has been used in relation to McLaren’s Formula 1 cars," McLaren said when the charges were announced.
But the council does not decide to convene such meetings lightly, and the team clearly has a lot of explaining to do.
Coughlan submitted a confidential sworn statement to the FIA and Ferrari last week and according to reports in Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper (Is this another Ferrari leakage?), he claimed to have shown the documents to “several” employees at McLaren. All kept their distance from the documents and told him to destroy them.
But such a revelation, if it is true, could sink McLaren. Had its employees seen the documents, or known about them, the team will have a problem arguing that this was a plot by Coughlan and possibly Ferrari’s former engineer Nigel Stepney to gather information ahead of a move to another team, possibly Honda. And if those McLaren members of staff were not in the plot, why had they not immediately reported that documents had been leaked? Teams are, after all, responsible for the actions (or inaction) of their staff.
Even if the technical information did not go into McLaren’s cars, did the team profit from other information, such as information about the circuits as they suited Ferrari?
Did McLaren get to know of the Ferrari (irregular) “moving floors” from the documents? Had that been the case, this episode goes right to the beginning of the season.
Of course, it is likely that more will come out before, and during the hearing, particularly from the McLaren side. One should not rush to judgment. Indeed, McLaren have already described the Italian media reports as inaccurate and misleading, insisting that none of its staff (other than Coughlan) knew of the leaked Ferrari information before July 3. But this episode has been damaging to F1 however one looks at it. Even if McLaren are acquitted, the shadow of doubt will remain. If they are found guilty and punished (as they have to, should that be the case) the thrill would have been sucked out of the races.
For McLaren the consequences could be long lasting. They will not only lose technical staff (and possibly drivers such as Alonso who is unhappy anyway), but they will lose credibility and probably, the many millions of dollars that goes with sponsorships. Could it even hasten a Mercedes takeover of the team, complete with new branding under the three pointed star?