Hmm, This sucks, Its brought an already ruined sport and made it more crap.

Quote from deggis :

I think that makes absolutely no sense to let them race but get no points. It doesn't feel like real punishment.

It´s a huge financial loss to McLaren because FIA gives money (got on selling TV coverage rights and sponsorship deals, etc) to the teams based on the constructors championship standings at the end of a season.

Imagine the situation...Team Hamilton VS Team Alonso

Well, it wouldnt matter to Ron where his drivers finish, because he aint getting the money for it. They could drive into walls on purpose for all he is concerned, although they might try to get as much TV advertising for their sponsers as possible.

Hey what a nice misleading thread name! Rename it ffs.


This possibility has been known for long as the verdict day was revealed.

Why the f*ck open a new thread with such a title posting just a link to a news item that says nothing at all... ANYONE who watched a GP in the last month heard that the World Motor Sport Council would meet after the Monza race and decide the fate of McLaren...

Can a mod add a "?" to the title please?

I would not like it if McLaren gets banned (and i am more a Ferrari fan). But i think there is no right answer for the FIA in this one. A lot of people will fall over them, no mater what they decide, but the only one to blame is McLaren (if guilty).

This is really a can of worms that has been opened here. I wonder where it will end. Patented and copyrighted car designs? An FIA intellectual property management system?

I fear F1 may become unmanageable. After chassis, tyres, aero and engine, lawyers may become the new major component teams need to consider.

Quote from J.B. :

I fear F1 may become unmanageable. After chassis, tyres, aero and engine, Lawyers may become the new major component teams need to consider.

Todt: Our opponents still have a package which is a bit quicker, but that pushes us to work hard and to improve the performance of our car, the engine, the legal package, everything.

Headline: Ferrari To Do Further Tests in Hi-Tech Subpoena Tunnel

+1 for changing the title,

I can't see this happening, thought if it did F1 would just turn back into that boring Ferrari domination era.

Quote from Blackout :

Hey what a nice misleading thread name! Rename it ffs.


This possibility has been known for long as the verdict day was revealed.

1) Blame autosport, not me.
2) I can't rename the thread.

According to BBC News McLaren will lose all their constructors points for this season, and get a $100m fine.

If they are indeed guilty then it hardly seems fair to me that LH and FA get to compete for the drivers' title still having benefitted from Ferrari intel.

It's official. A $100 million fine and exclusion from the 2007 Constructors' Championship. The drivers are unaffected.

What a load of nonsense! I'm very interested to hear the detailed findings of the court. I don't understand how the team can be punished but not the drivers. If McLaren are guilty then their drivers must have been subject to the same unfair advantage as the team. If McLaren weren't 'guilty enough' to disqualify the drivers then I don't see how they can be disqualified as a team.

What a disgrace.

Pretty predictable result. Now let's hope the FIA and the teams stop wasting time on this and concentrate on F1's real problems which is that the on track action is crap.

Quote from J.B. :

Pretty predictable result. Now let's hope the FIA and the teams stop wasting time on this and concentrate on F1s real problems which is that the on track action is crap.

Agreed.

The constructors crown is very important to the teams, but no one else. The memorable winner will be Alonso or Hamilton standing on the McLaren at the last race with the World Championship. This is no punishment at all. It's like one member of a relay team being busted for steroids but the other three keep their gold medals.

Farcical. The integrity of the World Championship is far more important than ensuring their new pet Lewis Hamilton wins the title.

They should have excluded them from everything this season and instead of a fine made the team run the word "CHEAT" in place of their title sponsor.

Well said, Storm!

Lame penalty. Don't understand how they always work as a team, win as a team, lose as a team with the drivers, but when penalties come to play, drivers walk away. Two race ban and white cars had been much more interesting.

If one of the McLaren drivers wins the title they now have an official cheater tag on them because it's now official that McLaren has been cheating.

It will permanently hash a cloud of shadow over LH or FA when they when the driver's championship.

Anyone remember the Toyota WRC turbo scandal in 1995? Toyota used a part in the turbo what was against the rules and got cought. The penalty was to take away the points from the team and the drivers.

Imho, it would be just too logical for FIA to make the same decision twice when the same thing has happened...

Quote from Storm_Cloud :

Farcical. The integrity of the World Championship is far more important than ensuring their new pet Lewis Hamilton wins the title.

Yeah, clearly it has nothing to do with whether the drivers were involved in spying.

I think it's a very fair punishment assuming that the fine is in proportion to how valuable those spied documents were and how much of it they used.

Like J.B said though - I'd like to see more focus on the track, and less on media and scandal. The media's been fueling the fire throughout this season, between Hamilton and Alonso and between McLaren and Ferrari which has been very annoying.

Quote from srdsprinter :

It will permanently hash a cloud of shadow over LH or FA when they when the driver's championship.

Nah, not permanently. For example Schumi won one his titles by wrecking Damon Hill. Hardly anyone remembers that.

Quote from Hyperactive :

Anyone remember the Toyota WRC turbo scandal in 1995? Toyota used a part in the turbo what was against the rules and got cought. The penalty was to take away the points from the team and the drivers.

Imho, it would be just too logical for FIA to make the same decision twice when the same thing has happened...

Was thinking the Toyota thing the other week before Monza, didn't remember what it was about, but didn't they also get ban for few years? Or did they just leave?

If the team had been anyone but the one with the leaders of WC, I bet the verdict had been different. Not only they are stupid at FIA, but also lack balls.

I think their punishment will probably be disallowing McLaren to be in the manufacturers championship. I don't think the drivers should be penalized, the manufacturer should.

If they take out the team this close to the end of the season, WOW really crap to be honest. Ferrari still have a chance. Maybe they will not allow McLaren to participate at some race(s) . Only 4 left though, and I really want to see a good fight at the new Spa.

BTW, Notice all the press photos of the team owners and managers at these hearings.... McLaren have upset expressions, Ferrari are smiling gleefully.

But LOL @ Mosley:
McLaren interrupted Max's prune-nut-bread breakfast with this whole mess, he's maaaddddd

Considering the largest player in this little game was a Ferrari employee and it was Ferrari running illegal parts on their car...who is the lucky team in this case?

We still need the details, but the information Mclaren had on Ferrari must have been used to gain an advantage in some way. The question is how long will Alonso stick around? What if it was information passed on by Alonso that got the team punished, considering they won't score points would Ron sack him?

I am glad for F1 that the drivers were not punished, Alonso is one of the few people to beat Schumacher to a title, and Hamilton has been big news across the world and introduced new fans to F1. I know strictly speaking they should also have their points taken away, but I wouldn't bother watching the rest of the season if that happened, and I think many people would do the same.

Quote from ATC Quicksilver :

I am glad for F1 that the drivers were not punished, Alonso is one of the few people to beat Schumacher to a title, and Hamilton has been big news across the world and introduced new fans to F1. I know strictly speaking they should also have their points taken away, but I wouldn't bother watching the rest of the season if that happened, and I think many people would do the same.

It shouldn't matter how many people would watch the remainder of the season, the decision should have been fair. The way things are at the moment it seems that the FIA have given McLaren a punishment to keep Ferrari happy while keeping the Drivers' Championship alive.

When you think about it, only two drivers are in the running for the Drivers' Championship in either case. Currently they are Alonso and Hamilton, if McLaren had been disqualified they would be Massa and Raikkonen.