Originally Posted by Gannex
Ferrari have said very little about the nature of their complaint against Nigel Stepney, but a Ferrari spokesman has told Reuters that "it is not related to any event; it is related to his behaviour." A pattern of revealing Ferrari's secrets would be "behaviour", whereas sabotaging the cars at Monaco would, to my mind, be an "event". I take Ferrari's comment, therefore, to be a coy way of saying that the sabotage stories are completely untrue.
I also note that Stepney's original lawyer, Luca Brezigher, is quoted by Gazzetta dello Sport as having said "I can only say with certainty that Stepney is formally investigated, but the charge against him at the moment is rather unspecified. . . From what I've learned, many types of offences can be identified, such as aggravated damage or sporting fraud, but I'd rule out sabotage." Yet another strong hint, from a person in a position to know, that the sabotage story is untrue.
Far more likely, in my view, than the fanciful image of a sulking Nigel Stepney sprinkling mysterious powder into the Ferraris' fuel tanks, is the rather more traditional method of betraying one's employer: revealing secret information. That's what I believe Nigel Stepney is accused of having done, and if he did indeed do it, it might have been for money, or possibly to curry favour with a potential employer, or simply as a way of putting two fingers up to the face of a company that, he felt, had treated him worse than shabbily. Disgruntled employees often become careless to the point of recklessness with the company's confidences. We know Stepney was disgruntled. We know he is accused of criminal behaviour. We know Ferrari's secrets were systematically disclosed to Toyota by two employees while Stepney was in charge. We know the first lawyer for Stepney denied it is sabotage. I feel the evidence all points one way: Stepney is accused of espionage, not sabotage.
