F1 spy controversy

[pistonbroke]

Keep yer pecker up  

well done Ron

[Carl]

I'm intrigued by this whole afair and genuinely can't work out who's side I'm on.

[Charlie-speedsport]

Italy always was mafia run!!!!!!!!!!!  

[Guest]

I loved the bit "Magistrates representatives visited the motorhome..........." (see other thread!)  I believe the McLaren transformation is based around 6 articulated trucks

If McLaren can be a fault for receiving the information, surely Ferrari are equally to blame for letting the information go in the first place.

Different if McLaren can be found to have used it though.

[cast iron]

IMHO Even if they have used it, it would need to be proved that the guilty party in the Mclaren camp told the team it was a rip off design and not his own work ?  

[Andrew]

Are we gonna have a pre lit Mclaren?    

[FW500]

If the Ferrari documents accidentally blew through the window and landed onto a desk in McLarens offices then fair enough. If, however, the documents were obtained deliberately by McLaren (Which I suspect to be the case) then it's not really Ferrari's fault - in the same way it's not Warner Brothers fault if you decide to pirate a copy of Harry Potter.

If McLaren really did obtain these documents then IMO it's one of the dirtiest acts the sport has seen. I really hope it turns out to be a storm in a teacup as it's fantastic to see Lewis winning races and winning the championship, but for me it would certainly take the edge off it if he won the world championship whilst driving for a team that would stoop to this sort thing.

Sorry McLaren fans - I know there's are a lot on here, and I know Ferrari are no angels too.

[pistonbroke]

In bygone years the saying was  If you can't beat em join em !

Red cars ruled the roost until a certain John Cooper designed and built a rear engined lightweight and won 2 world championships 1959/ 60 with Jack Brabham at the wheel !

Did the FIA dole out penalties to Ferrari , Lotus , BRM , Lola , Mclaren etc.  for copying the idea ?  

The first three named went on to produce winning cars while cooper became extinct .

It was always thus ! Disk brakes from Jaguar , Ferrari with spoilers , Lotus with ground effects . the list goes on and on .

Makes me wonder why all the fuss    If you ask me Ferrari are just using this a tool to discredit Mclaren

in the hope of gaining championship points .

What's the betting that a certain Mr Schumaker is behind this political outcry ?

The tacktics seem familiar we have seen them before .

"win at any cost"  

[peterg]

QUOTE

If, however, the documents were obtained deliberately by McLaren (Which I suspect to be the case)

 I don't think there is any evidence that McLaren obtained this document.... all the evidence at the hearing pointed to it being Stepney (or someone else at Ferrari) delivering the document into Coughlan's possession. The two of them were trying to set themselves up for a joint move to another team hence the talks with Honda etc.

It would be difficult to prove that McLaren had used the information just by having a similar part on their car as all the top teams use professional photographers and it's been said elsewhere that they have been known to blow the picture up to lifesize to get accurate measurements  

I'm all for them being dealt fairly but in all honesty I really don't think Ron Dennis would ever condone this type of behaviour in his team  

[Martin Keene]

If the Ferrari documents accidentally blew through the window and landed onto a desk in McLarens offices then fair enough. If, however, the documents were obtained deliberately by McLaren (Which I suspect to be the case) then it's not really Ferrari's fault - in the same way it's not Warner Brothers fault if you decide to pirate a copy of Harry Potter.

If McLaren really did obtain these documents then IMO it's one of the dirtiest acts the sport has seen. I really hope it turns out to be a storm in a teacup as it's fantastic to see Lewis winning races and winning the championship, but for me it would certainly take the edge off it if he won the world championship whilst driving for a team that would stoop to this sort thing.

Sorry McLaren fans - I know there's are a lot on here, and I know Ferrari are no angels too.

As Pete said McLaren didn't obtain these documents they were handed over by a Ferrari employee, Stepney if speculation is to be believed, but I'm yet to be conviced by that, so Ferrari have to take as much of the blame for this as McLaren. Assuming of course McLaren did not use any of the information in the documents.

[neilb]

If the Ferrari documents accidentally blew through the window and landed onto a desk in McLarens offices then fair enough. If, however, the documents were obtained deliberately by McLaren (Which I suspect to be the case) then it's not really Ferrari's fault - in the same way it's not Warner Brothers fault if you decide to pirate a copy of Harry Potter.

If McLaren really did obtain these documents then IMO it's one of the dirtiest acts the sport has seen. I really hope it turns out to be a storm in a teacup as it's fantastic to see Lewis winning races and winning the championship, but for me it would certainly take the edge off it if he won the world championship whilst driving for a team that would stoop to this sort thing.

Sorry McLaren fans - I know there's are a lot on here, and I know Ferrari are no angels too.

As Pete said McLaren didn't obtain these documents they were handed over by a Ferrari employee, Stepney if speculation is to be believed, but I'm yet to be conviced by that, so Ferrari have to take as much of the blame for this as McLaren. Assuming of course McLaren did not use any of the information in the documents.

How much info did Kimi take to Ferrari when he left McLaren, Kimi was under contract with Ferrari for 12 months before leaving.

Sorry but if a Warner Brothers director comes to your door with a copy of Harry Potter and you watch it then it's their fault for not controlling their staff.

[Martin Keene]

I can see where your coming from with the driver argument, and the same is true of any member of staff who moves between teams. However, there's a big difference between a staff member taking the knowledge that is in their head to another team, and a team member preparing a 780 page, if the stories are to be believed, porfolio of highly confidential information and sharing it with a member of staff from another team. Be it for their own gain of colluding to join a third team as a partnership or otherwise.

[neilwillis]

All is fair in love and war.  What's different here is that someone got found out.   Let's face it, there are proper channels for protecting commercial secrets, it is called the patent system.

I recall a company in the UK that lost out to the government whyen they designed a system for handling ammunition by making the entire flat bed on the truck into a platform that could be lifted on and off the truck.   They didn't get the contract to supply the vehicles, but the MoD stole the idea, and now the vehicle is seen everywhere, but the company concerned went bust.

This whole business has been blown totally out of proportion, and Ferarri are milking it for all it's worth.  

A comment during the build up to Monza said it all ...  If it had been Super Agura, and (I forget who the other team named were) , no one would have batted an eyelid!

[Mark Stanton]

I care not a jot               Just goes to show how interesting F1 "racing" is if the topic of converstion is about who nicked what and who read it                

[pistonbroke]

But you care enough to read and comment  

Ho! and waste a load of emmo's