McLaren Statement

[PSfan]

Humm, are really RD using an assumed name or do you just do Mac's press releases??

hmmmm, Ron Dennis would have to much "integrity" to spell McLeran with 2 c's :


I'm thinkin he's just trying out for a position at grandprix.com

[Hawkmoon]

hmmmm, Ron Dennis would have to much "integrity" to spell McLeran with 2 c's :


I'm thinkin he's just trying out for a position at grandprix.com

Or with the a and e around the wrong way!

[Hawkmoon]

In regards to Stepney-gate, I'm not really sure why people are getting so fired up about this issue. Maybe it's because Ferrari won the titles that I'm at peace with the whole thing but look at it this way:

For the Tifosi:
We won! McLaren got kicked in the nuts and Ron Dennis is squirming like a worm on a hook! Life is good, smile and enjoy it while it lasts. But, perhaps the "I told you so"s are a are bit like kicking a man when he's down? The No.1 is back where it belongs, on the nose of the Prancing Horse. Maybe we should leave it at that?

For the McLaren people:
Sucks to be you guys right now and you have my sympathy (well, sort of ). McLaren got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. They have been punished and the matter is at an end. Trying to defend what has become the indefensible will only make it harder for the whole thing to go away. Isn't that what the whole apology was about? Putting and end to Stepney-gate? Max certainly thinks so.

But, if a proverbial make-up kiss is out of the question then go for your lives. Just remember, it's almost Christmas and Christmas is the season to be jolly, is it not?

[Valve Bounce]

I guess this has come to the situation where the various statements and releases by McLaren, the FIA and Ferrari are viewed/interpreted from different points of view.

I know at hte beginning of the year I was an avid follower of both McLaren (because of their drivers) as well as Ferrari (because of Kimi). I also have as my prime favourite Super Aguri, no question.

But as thear progressed, while I remained a firm believer of Ron Dennis, this latest episode of their release together with the FIA release has left feeling an utter fool and as a result, I posted above that I no longer follow McLaren.
While some may say this kind of spying and copying has existed in F1 for years, I do not believe that it has been this blatant, with copies of designs enterred into a team's main frames and people asking an opposition chief engineer how their car is setup for a particular track so that they can then copy this setup on their copied suspension.

I fully believe that if any person leaves one team, they can take with them what is in their head and even whatever ideas and research they may have carried out as long as it is not in hard copy.

But to go and copy stuff with another team's logos on the designs is just going way too far, not to mention sending one's wife down to the local copy shop to make copies is just plain blood stupid.

I suppose we can go argueing all this in circles and end up where we started - agreeing to disagree. That's where we are at right now.

[GP-M3]

I'm thinkin he's just trying out for a position at grandprix.com

I'm glad someone else mentioned this. That site has been a Mac appologist for the whole season. He's another one that has lost all credability on this.

Some Mac fans here have had their own version of the McMeaCulpa and have kindly admitted to having egg on their face. A few are holding the party line, that Mac didn't admit anything.

Most of us know it is clear that the Big Mac is in a huge state of groveling... well done boys, you promoted your integrity all year, and what happens at the end.... OOPS.

Now let's move on to next year.

[PSfan]

Or with the a and e around the wrong way!

I have my integrity too... Don't wanna look like a McLaren fanatical, specially after the "this is how to spell McLeran" thread Brockman started a few months back :

[wmcot]

Of the papers I am reading, it is the only thing the FIA seem to think made it into the 2007 car.

In a legal court, that would be enough for a criminal sentence of guilty followed by a lengthy prison term. You can't rationalize away the theft because "they only used one idea."

Take off the silver blinders and open your mind!

[wmcot]

That quote has nothing to do with evidence found in the investigation, it has to do with McLaren appealing the findings and expecting a reasonable limit.

What findings would they have to appeal if no evidence was found? Why would they want a "reasonable limit" if the design concepts are their own and not stolen?

The boy racers know about using C02 and nitrogen in tires, this is F1!

Apparently not if they had to ask Bridgestone about it!

[ArrowsFA1]

The top of the page quote by PSfan is the most damning wording I can find in the FIA paper, and I've mentioned that pages back in the thread. If the worst they found is that something "appears" to have been influenced by the Ferrari information it leads to think that not much of it actually made it to the car. Since they cleard other systems and noted they were not influenced, I have to think they they dug fairly deep into the design of the car.

That is however more than enough.

Is "appears" really enough - conclusive - after a thorough FIA investigation?

IIRC the wheelbase was another piece of information supposedly used, but Ferrari's longer wheelbase has been a topic of conversation throughout the season. It has been analysed by technical journalists and mentioned during interviews. So it's hardly been a secret. For McLaren, or any other team, to be investigating and developing a longer wheelbase is no big surprise, and would be expected given the performance of the Ferrari this year. And yet this is used as "proof" that McLaren made use of confidential data.

Should another team launch their 2008 car with a longer wheelbase than they had in 2007 will they be charged by the FIA because it "appears" their car has been influenced by Ferrari ideas?

The dangerous precident that truefan72 raises is a very real one, and has greater longer term implications for F1 as a whole than anything else related to this saga.

[Daniel]

Arrows. Can you send me your credit card details please? I'm not going to use them for personal gain or anything. Just interested is all......