Originally posted on foxsports on July 29, 2007.
The FIA World Motor Sport Council determined McLaren was guilty of possession of unauthorized, confidential Ferrari engineering documents on Thursday. The penalty: NOTHING.
That's right, guilty, but no punishment.
To say Ferrari is a little angry at this turn of events is to put it mildly.
To read Part I, the background on this issue, read here.
On Thursday, despite the finding that McLaren knowingly possessed the documents, the Council found "insufficient evidence" that the information was used to gain competitive advantage.
Huh? Such a baffling result left Ferrari Team Manager Jean Todt as scarlet as the colors fielded by the team. He issued a strongly worded statement that read in part:
"Ferrari...find it incomprehensible that violating the fundamental principle of sporting honesty does not have, as a logical and inevitable consequence, the application of a sanction.
"Thursday's decision legitimises dishonest behaviour in Formula One and sets a very serious precedent.
"The decision of the World Council signifies that possession, knowledge at the very highest level and use of highly confidential information acquired in an illicit manner, and the acquiring of confidential information over the course of several months, represent violations which do not carry any punishment.
"The fact McLaren were in possession of such information was discovered totally by accident and, but for this, the team would continue to have it.
"This is all the more serious as it has occurred in a sport like Formula One in which small details make all the difference. Ferrari feel this is highly prejudicial to the credibility of the sport. We will continue with the legal action under way within the Italian criminal justice system, and in the civil court in England."
One of Ferrari's contentions is that the information was used by McLaren at the Melbourne, Australia race to imply that Ferrari was breaking the rules in its design. In other words, McLaren used the information not to make their cars faster, but to prevent Ferrari from going faster.
The Council did leave one door open for Ferrari to get the blood it so richly desires: the Council "reserve the right to invite McLaren back, where they face the possibility of exclusion from not only the 2007 championship but also the 2008 championship".
I doubt given the vitriol Ferrari spewed in McLaren's direction, and given that McLaren leads the points with both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, that Ferrari will let this die with the July 26th meeting.
In fact, odds are good that Ferrari is busy trying to dig up more evidence against McLaren, while McLaren is busy burying the bodies.
Information from Speedtv.com, & the Daily Mail
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