McLaren - Paragons and Pariahs

By Effwun - FOAS #65 

Arguably the largest scandal to rock the sport of Formula 1 came to a head in Paris today. The actors in the ongoing "spygate" scandal took the stage for a new performance - a new hearing in front of the World Motor Sport Council, the purpose of which was to examine new evidence which was purported to further implicate McLaren and infer their guilt. After 9 hours of hearings and deliberations, the council made their decision - a draconian penalty of a $100 million fine and removal of all World Constructors Championship points. The World Drivers Championship points, however, remain untouched. There were further stipulations also - the cars that McLaren race in 2008 must be vetted by the FIA before they are allowed to take to the track.

The spying scandal broke at the beginning of July when it was revealed that a McLaren employee - chief designer Mike Coughlan - was in possession of a dossier of some 780 Ferrari documents, documents that could crucially reveal important performance characteristics of Ferrari's F2007 car. The documents were sent by Ferrari employee Nigel Stepney - the two were old friends. The ensuing drama resulted in a hearing before the World Motor Sport Council, at which McLaren were found guilty of a breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code - bringing the sport into disrepute - but received no punishment because it could not be proven that McLaren benefitted from the data. This unsurprisingly angered Ferrari, who sought an appeal against the decision of the WMSC. This appeal - scheduled for September 13th - was cancelled during the run-up to the Italian Grand Prix, to be replaced by a reconvention of the WMSC to hear new evidence against McLaren. The new evidence was supposedly a series of emails between the McLaren race drivers and test driver, and Mike Coughlan. Today that evidence was heard, and the decision to punish McLaren was made.

Both before and after today's hearing, there was much support for Ron Dennis. 3-time Formula 1 World Drivers Champion and former team boss Jackie Stewart accused the FIA of conducting a witch hunt, and commented that there was something strange going on, and that the transgression did not justify the kind of penalty that had been imposed. Ron Dennis even gained the support from an unlikely quarter - former Minardi team boss Paul Stoddart, a former sparring partner of Denis's. Stoddart accused the FIA of bias towards Ferrari, and was scathingly critical of FIA president Max Mosley.

After the punishment was announced Ron Dennis and McLaren team manager Martin Whitmarsh held a press conference. An emotional Ron Dennis declared that they had clearly demonstrated that no information was used to gain a competitive advantage, and that they did not accept being punished in this way. Furthermore he stated that he believed they had grounds for an appeal. When asked about rumours that securing his resignation had been an aim of the FIA, he replied that "my personal future was never in question". Dennis went on to say "we have the best drivers and the best car, and we intend to win the world championship".

In a statement made shortly after the punishment was announced, Ferrari declared that they were satisfied that the truth has now emerged, and that in light of new evidence, behaviour grossly prejudicial to the interest of the sport had been further demonstrated. The Ferrari statement was obviously referring to McLaren, but in my opinion it could equally have been directed towards the FIA - I feel that some of the actions of the FIA have been prejudicial to the interest of the sport. To wit, the FIA has charged McLaren of being guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute, and the infraction was the possession of Ferrari intellectual property by one McLaren employee. McLaren maintain that none of this intellectual property has ever been used by them. Of course we will not see or hear the evidence that was presented against McLaren for some time, but it appears that on this basis alone the the FIA decided to impose such a heavyweight penalty. Furthermore, the decision by the FIA to penalise McLaren is quite illogical. If McLaren must suffer the consequences because of one bad actor - Mike Coughlan - then Ferrari should be equally punished for the actions of their rogue employee, Nigel Stepney. Remember, the charge was bringing the sport into disrepute. Nigel Stepney and Mike Coughlan alone are guilty of this. If McLaren are culpable, then so too are Ferrari. A dangerous precedent has been set - a team is responsible for the transgressions of its employees. Moreover, the voracity with which the FIA has pursued McLaren has been called into question by some, and the accusations of Ferrari bias by the FIA - although not new - are damaging. No matter what, the FIA must be seen to be impartial, and the fact that so many have accused them of failing to be so is clearly an indicator that they are not seen as impartial.

One of the biggest questions about the FIA decision is the logic of the FIA deducting from McLaren their constructors points, but not the drivers points from Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. If the McLaren cars were illegal, then any points gained by the drivers would be tainted and should also be removed. The fact that the FIA chose not to dock the drivers' points would seem to indicate that the McLaren cars weren't illegal and that none of the Ferrari information was used - a further illogical step, it would seem, by the FIA. There is, however, some logic to the decision. No matter whether or not the punishment of McLaren is justified, what is not justified is the punishment of the people who matter most - the fans. We, the fans, make this sport what it is, and without us there is no sport. By maintaining the drivers' points, the FIA have at least allowed us to have what we deserve - an exciting title race in the last four Grands Prix of the year. And what a race it might be - without having to protect precious constructors points, the McLaren drivers are free (unlike in races such as Monaco where the drivers were told to hold station to ensure that both cars finished) to race against each other all the way to the flag.

This spying scandal has polarized Formula 1 fans; the outcome of today's hearing will undoubtedly cause further rifts. The damage to the sport is severe but - importantly - survivable. Nevertheless, with four races left in the 2007 season and only three points separating the Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in the drivers championship, we have a very exciting championship battle to look forward to.

- Effwun