For those unaware, F1 is the most widely-watched spectator sport in the world, so this has huge ramifications (potentially, as no doubt McLaren will appeal).
FACT is, McLaren never had a fair chance in this so-called "court". For starters, Ferrari has thrice as many reps on the council as any other motorsport team. The council also includes a former Ferrari CEO. And when people like Jackie Stewart, Stirling Moss, et al, who actually know what goes on behind the scenes of the circus, come out in defense of McLaren by declaring that Ferrari has always received favoritism from the FIA and WMSC (ie. more $'s, looking the other way when they cheat, etc.), you know that McLaren did not get a fair shake. Ron Dennis may be a control freak but he is the last of the true motorsporting "gentlemen" in F1 and nearly the entire paddock consider him to be of the highest integrity. Obviously Jean Todt and Max Mosley think otherwise, but they are quite lonely in their opinion, and both have very well-documented, long-running personal vendettas against Ron Dennis.
All the politics aside, anyone who thinks McLaren's car is winning/benefiting from this so-called leak of Ferrari tech info is pretty clueless. Mike Coughlan testified under oath that he received the data from Nigel Stepney in late March of 2007, and by then the season was underway, with the cars' design having been completed most likely in October of 2006 at the latest. Lead time to construction (from design) in F1 is insanely short compared to any other industry I know of but it still takes time to produce tooling, construct the componentry, assemble the cars, hit the windtunnel ... only to have to pass crash/safety testing before you can even hit the test track for the first time. Then you need time for tweaking once you start getting test data. In other words, if next year's car design isn't done by the end of the current season, you're waaaaaay behind the competition already. On top of all that, the word is that this technical info mostly involves only setup info, so does the punishment really fit the crime ? The FIA will release its entire findings today, so we MAY find there is more that hasn't come to public light. Only then would such a ruling and fine even begin to make sense.
One really has to wonder why Ferrari wasn't punished for their serious design rules infraction this year ? Specifically for their "moving floor" design which the FIA subsequently declared illegal AFTER Ferrari had already won race(s) with the design in place ? Ferrari lost no points, incurred no fines. Just like last year when they were busted for aero elements that flexed in violation of the rules. Or a couple years before that when their rear diffuser was ruled in violation. In each instance they merely were allowed to rework their car. I can see them maybe getting off for the flexing elements, as BMW was supposedly doing some devious things as well and had to make similar mods to their car, but that's the exception.
One also has to wonder why the Ferrari/Toyota espionage case of a few years ago did not reach the same level as this "inquisition". In this instance, stolen technology was ACTUALLY FOUND ON THE CARS involved. End result was the same, no penalties for Ferrari (or Toyota).
In the end it's quite apparent that Ferrari receives unprecedented favoritism in F1, though no doubt assisted by Mosley's grudge(s) against Dennis. Further, if they were winning, this matter wouldn't even have made a headline. I think Enzo must be rolling in his grave right now as this "scandal", plus the past decade of win-at-all-costs and poor sportsmanship with the "Cheatmacher" at the drivers helm has made Ferrari in to nothing more than a house of whingers and whiners. Beyond the blind tifosi, Ferrari has lost a HUGE amount of respect in the motorsports world.
Still, I'll be rooting for Kimi to put the ungrateful young punk (aka Lewis Hamilton) in his place come race day ...
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