Honda found a bug in the McLaren CPU?

[Bagwan]

Lucas ?
Say goodbye to racing in the rain .

Interesting quote from Max on Autosport yesterday....


As much as I am pleased MES got the contract, would it not have been better to have either -

1. Gone with the majority supplier

or

2. Chosen a complete independent, say Lucas or Bosch for example.....

It's a little unusual when Max words things like that....

The problem with option 1 is that it in itself doesn't solve the 'suspicions' problem.

I'm a fully-paid up Tifosi member, so should have been happy if Magneti Marelli had been given the contract, but it would have just opened the door to yet more 'FIA stands for Ferrari International Assistance' stuff.

Option 2 is, imo, the only option that should have been considered.

It's not Mclaren's fault that they were awarded the contract, and I have to presume that it was won in good faith and won correctly within the criteria the FIA put forward, but for the sake of 'closure' the contract being awarded to MES was not a good decision.

Personally, I very much doubt that the ECU either caused the Ferrari engine failures or, even if it was a factor, it was just an unfortunate one-off, but it would have just been so much better for the sport if a team whose name is now forever linked with serious integrity issues had been nowhere near the contract.

[jjanicke]

I truly, truly hope that what happened to Ferrari in Australia was a single and isolated case (with the electronic gas pump amd MAYBE the engineS - with capital S- failures). What it matters to me is that the ECU is not affecting the values of the cars in the field. Just imagine the effects on the sport if we were to find out that just the opposite is true.

I agree! But let's not be hasty and jump to conclusion.

Interesting quote from Max on Autosport yesterday....


As much as I am pleased MES got the contract, would it not have been better to have either -

1. Gone with the majority supplier

or

2. Chosen a complete independent, say Lucas or Bosch for example.....

It's a little unusual when Max words things like that....

Well the FIA has already set a precedent when they opted for a standard Bridgestone tire.

[Tazio]

Are the Ferrari "suspicions" the ones mentioned in this

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."
Isoroku Yamamoto

[ArrowsFA1]

Yes, I know it's 'innocent until proven guilty', but likewise it's 'guilty when proven guilty'

MES have not been proven guilty of anything whatsoever in relation to the ECU, and any stories & rumours there have been about 'glitches' with the unit have yet to be seen to have any foundation whatsoever.

But in this environment it seems unfounded rumours and speculation that is repeated often enough is "proof of guilt" of something...anything. It isn't anything of the sort; it's just unfounded rumours and speculation being repeated.

MES have not been proven guilty of anything whatsoever in relation to the ECU, and any stories & rumours there have been about 'glitches' with the unit have yet to be seen to have any foundation whatsoever.

And I have not said that there is any foundation to it.

But when Mclaren are self-confessed cheats, don't be surprised when people do not trust them.

That was my point....and it was perfectly clear.

[BDunnell]

And I have not said that there is any foundation to it.

But when Mclaren are self-confessed cheats, don't be surprised when people do not trust them.

That was my point....and it was perfectly clear.

I am surprised at the need to continually mention it, though. And even though I, as you know, came round to the view that McLaren should have been thrown out of both of last year's championships feel that the link between those events and anything to do with the ECU is taking the 'McLaren are cheats' line a bit too far.

[mstillhere]

Are the Ferrari "suspicions" the ones mentioned in this report where Stefano Domenicali says:
I don't know about other teams saying the ECU is a source of their problems, but I guess it's a neat, ready-made, excuse for poor reliability which could be down to any number of different factors.

So, in your opinion Ferrari suffering 3 engine failures in the same race is just a poor engineering issue? It's just a coincidence that these failures happened just when the ECU was installed. Hum....I don't know. At Ferrari they know how to bulid engines. And I said I truly hope that you are right. it's just a coincidence. I don't dare imagining the consequences if you were not right.

[Bagwan]

I think the point is , was it a good idea to take on the manufacturing of an essential part , when the potential , even if entirely impossible , is that you will be hit with a tampering scandal ?

To have the name of a competitor in the series on a part that the whole grid must use is asking for trouble , no matter what the name . To have that part be so fundamental as the ECU is foolhardy .

When exactly did they get the contract ?
There's the mitigating factor here .

I don't recall , but if it was after the excrement started to hit the air moving device , it was even more stupid on both the part of the FIA , and McLaren .

[W8&C]

Latest rumours say that the standard ECU got a super secret on/off switch, remote controlled only by Ron Dennis himself (...the only reason why Mercedes couldn´t sack him...). The beta-version was personally tested by Bill Gates erroneously with Hamiltons machinery in Brazil last season.

You heard it here first!