F1 2008

[David Morton]

F1 : Ferrari statement following McLaren admission Written by Ferrari Media Thursday, 13 December 2007 Ferrari statement following McLaren admission : -

Ferrari notes the apology offered today by the McLaren Group, following the investigations carried out by the FIA Technical Department, as presented to the WSMC on 7th December last.

The written and verbal statements issued by senior McLaren personnel both at the World Council meetings of the 26th July and 13th September and through the media have thus been publicly proved wrong. Therefore it is admitted that confidential information which was the property of Ferrari was disseminated within the structure of the English team and this also confirms the seriousness of the behaviour of those involved over the past few months.


In the light of McLaren’s apology and the guarantees it has presented, Ferrari respects the proposal of the FIA President to cancel the extraordinary general meeting of the WSMC scheduled for 14th February coming, thus bringing this incident to a close from a sporting point of view. However, it is confirmed that criminal actions underway in Italy and civil ones in England are still continuing.

[David Morton]

McLaren were back in the spy scandal news yesterday admiting further wrong-doing, after spending much of the season defending their character.
Well, they apparently they copied more from the Ferrari than they let on.
Will they be as competitive with the new 2008 car? That's anyones guess.
Instead of the name Mc Laren Mercedes MP4-22 maybe they should have called this years car the McLaren Maranello .....
Autosport readers and more so , their editorial staff voted the Mp4-22 as the F1 car of the year.
Just goes to show what wankers the Journos are and then the wankers that spend time and effort voting on polls in the magazine.

[David Morton]

In a bid to avoid additional penalties, McLaren Mercedes have offered to "impose a moratorium on development" of three separate systems that have been infected by the Ferrari secrets.
(Dont they have a way with words !)

The letter to FIA president Max Mosley seeks discussions "as to a moratorium of an appropriate length" on the use of "quickshift, fast fill and CO2 as a tyre gas".
...............At least 5 seasons?

Ferrari are still pursuing McLaren in the Italian courts so maybe Big Ron might be avoiding going to Monza in 2008.
At least the 2008 season has become of some interest even before it starts.............

[Richard O'Clery]

CO2 was Ferarri's secret tyre gas? I must have missed the announcement before. Anyhoo, thanks to McLaren everyone knows it was Ferrari's secret. How many will use it in 2008? In fact, how many were using it in 2007 (with or without Ferrari information)?

But come on, CO2? - how mundane. Ne or Ar or some weird moisture repelling low thermal coefficient mixture would have been more what I expected. CO2 has been fully understood for donkeys' years. Maybe Mclaren were the only team not using it. Maybe their nitrogen tanks actually held nitrogen.

[David Morton]

McLaren is reduced to grovelling. That's the equivalent of eating shit.....


Following what the British press described as a "grovelling" apology by McLaren, FIA president Max Mosley has moved to end the so-called Stepneygate spying scandal.
Although the Paris body is yet to agree, Mosley has "asked the members of the World Motor Sport Council for their consent to cancel the hearing scheduled for 14 February 2008", a statement on Thursday said.
The February hearing had been scheduled in the light of a report filed by FIA technical inspectors showing that McLaren's 2008 car is indeed infected by Ferrari intellectual property.
But given McLaren's undertaking to freeze certain aspects of development of the MP4-23, Mosley said the matter should be closed "in the interests of the sport".
A statement issued by Ferrari, however, confirmed that the Italian team intends to go ahead with criminal and civil actions in Italy and England relating to the case.
Ferrari added: "In the light of McLaren's apology and the guarantees it has presented, Ferrari respects the proposal of the FIA president" to cancel the upcoming hearing.
But while the matter may soon be closed from a sporting point of view, it may signal the end of Ron Dennis' long career as team boss, the British newspaper Daily Mail observed.
The 60-year-old "was fighting for his formula one life last night" after the admission of "cheating and corruption", the newspaper said.
And why? Because thats what his team has done for several years now and the Italians are not going to let it go for some considerable time in the courts in Italy and in the UK. Big Ron has admitted it and no court could ever change that admission except maybe mosleys kangaroo set up who seem they can do anything.

[David Morton]

The McLaren MP4-23 (Ferrari inspired 2008 car)
This will come as no surprise:
McLAREN ARE NOT PLANNING A SPECTACULAR LAUNCH OF THEIR LATEST CAR.

McLaren on Friday said it currently has no plans to launch its 2008 car, the MP4-23, with a traditional official presentation.
Marking the beginning of double world champion Fernando Alonso's ultimately ill-fated switch to the team in 2007, McLaren launched its championship campaign with a million-dollar fanfare on the floodlit streets of Valencia.

A year on, battered by the 'Stepneygate' espionage affair, the 2008 car will make a subdued first appearance at an exclusive Jerez test in the second week of January.

"The team will provide the media with photographs and further details about the car when it runs," the team said on Friday.

I would have thought thay might have done something in Stevenage.
After all they didn't win the Manufacturers or Drivers Titles in spectacular style.

[Keith Hardy]

Originally Posted by David Morton

The McLaren MP4-23 (Ferrari inspired 2008 car)
This will come as no surprise:
McLAREN ARE NOT PLANNING A SPECTACULAR LAUNCH OF THEIR LATEST CAR.

I would have thought thay might have done something in Stevenage.
After all they didn't win the Manufacturers or Drivers Titles in spectacular style.

Perhaps they're busy respraying it and removing all traces of Rosso?

[David Morton]

Keith,
you could not write a better soap opera than all this Stepneygate crap.
I would wager that King Rat(Mosley) wote to Mr Whippy (McLarens Whitmarsh) saying that he can try and persuade (read;he's already done it) his cronies in Paris (the FIA and WSMC) that the check on Big Rons car in 2008 to see how many parts are from the Maranello drawing boards, will be cancelled if whippy writes a contrite statement and beats his breast in public. I wonder how long the lawyers took to draft Whippys letter to King Rat. It is so full of lawyerspeak it must have been back and forward between the city and Woking more times than the 515 bus.

I would hazard they are all part of the same 'lodge'..............

[Keith Hardy]

Either that, or they buggered each other during prep school..... :|

[David Morton]

The full transcript of the 6th of December 2007 Extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council hearing regarding the charges against Renault F1 have been released.

The 77 pages of the full transcript can be viewed by clicking here .

[David Morton]

Beautiful Dreamer - Dream on.......
From feed me F1:

Heikki Kovalainen is sure he will be treated equally by the McLaren team in 2008.
Officials of the Mercedes powered team went to great lengths last season to insist that Lewis Hamilton, the British rookie, was treated the same as new recruit and double world champion Fernando Alonso.
But while Kovalainen is replacing the dissatisfied Alonso, while he is understood to have fled Renault to avoid 'number two' status for 2008, McLaren bosses have been making noises about possibly putting more emphasis behind Hamilton's title push next year.
Chief executive Martin Whitmarsh (Mr Whippy) acknowledged recently that total driver equality makes winning world championships "more difficult", and later earmarked Hamilton as the "talisman that can take us to a championship".
Kovalainen, who is 26, admitted to the BBC London radio station 94.9 that he faces a task to reach the status that Hamilton has established at McLaren in 2007 and earlier.
He is not, however, expecting the same sort of problems that marred Hamilton's relationship with Alonso.
"With Lewis I think we can fight on the track as much as we can but off the track we can laugh about it," Kovalainen said.
"One of the important things I wanted to establish before I signed the contact at McLaren was that I would be treated equally," he added.
"I think in the past McLaren have treated drivers equally -- including this year. I don't think it will be a problem at all."

Another year like this one Mr Whippy should be watching his 6 o'clock.
He was sent to Ilmor to sort it out and the rumour was they sent him back. Some calls for Big Ron to retire are a bit wide of the mark. I think he'll keep on keeping on, just so he can confuse everyone with his Ronspeak diatribes. Hell and damnation - he's only one month older than me anyway.

[David Morton]

Lewis Hamilton has just been fined and banned from driving in France for 1 month. -
Why? 125 mph - in a built up area?

Probably chasing Naomi......

He insists they are just friends.

[Paul]

I see that Mclaren can race again next year Mad Max has done his thing, in the intrests of the sport, and the exstraordinary meeting is off. Had to do it as it would otherwise they would have to rename it to Ferrari formula one.

Regards

[David Morton]

In the Gurniad, Mad Max goes on record as saying:


Max Mosley says he is "relieved" that Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso failed to secure the 2007 drivers' title.
The FIA president told the British newspaper The Guardian that the 'Stepneygate' espionage scandal would have left an eternal question mark over the validity of the world championship had it been won by a McLaren driver.
Mosley has consistently argued that Hamilton and Alonso, who drove for Ron Dennis' Mercedes-powered team this year, should have been excluded from the drivers' standings because of the spy affair.
Asked if he was pleased when Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen surprisingly emerged with the spoils at the season ending Brazilian grand prix in October, Mosley answered: "Relieved because, if it had been either of the two McLaren drivers, there would always have been a question mark.
"I'm not sure how big a question mark but it would have been there. And that puts you in an incredibly difficult position. I think we've been very lucky," he said.
Mosley, however, clarifies suggestions that he "despises" Dennis, despite plainly and repeatedly accusing the McLaren boss of lying about the spy saga.
"I quite like him," the Briton, who is 67, argued.
"But I do despise - I think that's probably the right word - his attitude to formula one, when he says, for example, that he's passionate about formula one.
"That's not true," Mosley charged. "He's passionate about McLaren finishing first and second in every race, which is his job, but it's not the same thing as being passionate about formula one and it's foolish to pretend that it is."

Mad Max would also be relieved because Alonso could not join his lodge as he's a popist and Hamilton wouldn't be allowed anyway.

[Richard O'Clery]

It all smacks of popery. Worse than a nest of jesuits.

So, which lodge doesn't accept catholics or persons of colour?

[Keith Hardy]

Phew! That's a toughie - I'll have to come back to you on that one....

[Richard O'Clery]

No rush, Keith