Spygate... SPYsGate

[Jonbummer]

The Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo is a highly intelligent individual and he knows that whatever he says will be slavishly reported because of who he is - and because of the newspapers he controls. But his recent attempts to undermine McLaren's success this year by claiming that the British team has copied the Ferrari are utterly unfair. There is not a shred of evidence that would stand up in a proper court that McLaren used any of the Ferrari information that ended up in the hands of McLaren's Mike Coughlan in April to design and develop the current car - which was designed eight months (and more) before Coughlan received anything from Ferrari's Nigel Stepney.

 

To claim otherwise is to knowingly distort reality. In a world of media sound bites and short attention spans perhaps this cynical ploy will work amongst the ill-informed but any race fan with half a brain should be able to see straight through such manipulation.

 

Montezemolo's latest ploy is to talk down Lewis Hamilton's likely World Championship.

 

The only thing about Montezemolo's remarks that are true is that "he will win it partly thanks to Ferrari". It is not because there is a lot of Ferrari in his car as Montezemolo went on to say, but rather because Ferrari threw away its chances this year with poor attention to detail, bad strategic decisions - notably the tyre decision in Mount Fuji - and because the team used less consistent drivers.

 

This sort of conduct is unbecoming. Being a good loser is the mark of a great team and sadly Ferrari cannot claim such status as long as it is coming out with such dross to justify its own failure. Ferrari is a great name and an impressive brand and one wants to see this being used for the good of the sport but the way it is currently be used is merely undermining the work of previous generations and of the great Enzo Ferrari himself.

 

In recent days we have received (unsolicited) communication from Nigel Stepney which raises a number of questions which have not been touched on in the scandal to date. Stepney says that he believes Ferrari have been let off surprisingly lightly by the FIA. He says that there is a point that everyone is missing because they are assuming that the flow of information to Mike Coughlan was a one-way flow and that Ferrari did not gain anything. There is no evidence at all that Stepney was being paid to pass on information and he says that it was rather more simple than that.

 

"I got information about when they [McLaren] were stopping," Stepney says. "I got weight distribution, I got other aspects of various parts of their car from him [Coughlan]. Ferrari got off very lightly. I was their employee at the time. I was aware of certain stuff they were doing at tests, fuel levels, for example. I knew what fuel level they were running. I think they should have been docked points personally. The question is: Did I use the information, did I talk about it?' That's the big question. I spoke to some people about it. I can't prove it, there are no e-mails or anything. Points about the fuel and the differences [between Ferrari and McLaren] were discussed inside. As well as McLaren having an advantage, did Ferrari have an advantage? I think so."

 

So is Stepney surprised that Ferrari got off entirely without penalty?

 

"Very surprised," he says. "It looks like information flowing only one way. No one has been balancing the argument. No one has asked the question. They were thinking Mike was asking the questions and I was answering them."

 

Stepney, one can argue, is a source that is seen to be somewhat tainted given all the allegations that have been made in Italy. But they are only allegations at the moment. Nothing has been proved in a proper court of law and until it is he has as much right to make his feelings known as Montezemolo.

Edited October 3, 2007 by Jonbummer

[Jonbummer]

Mere hours after Nigel Stepney threatened to sensationally re-open the espionage affair, Ferrari boss Jean Todt says the sacked employee 'lost his head'.

 

Michael Schumacher's former chief mechanic Stepney is accused of triggering the spying affair with deliberate acts of espionage and sabotage, but - as the saga calmed down in the wake of McLaren's $100m fine and championship exclusion - he revealed this week that Ron Dennis' team may not be the only guilty party.

 

Stepney told the website Grandprix.com that the transfer of information between Ferrari and McLaren had not been one way, and that he received from Mike Coughlan details about McLaren's pit strategies, test programmes, fuel levels, weight distribution, and various other aspects of the MP4-22.

 

After the revelation, Ferrari boss Jean Todt described the Briton as a 'difficult character' whose unhappiness increased when he did not receive the promotion he wanted following the departure of Ross Brawn.

 

"I was never expecting the guy to lose his head," Todt said in an interview with The Times.

 

"He lost his head, that's all. Unfortunately, sometimes you have people who lose the sense of things and it's a shame because we all have some personal responsibilities.

 

"You should have some limits, some discipline, and he did not know how to place limits on himself and the problem is that there is a high price to pay."

 

Todt insists, however, that Ferrari has no reason to fear Stepney's accusations, despite news recently that the Briton's planned autobiography was quickly pulled from publication without explanation.

 

Todt said: "I have read so many times 'wait until you know all what Ferrari has been doing', but I'm quite (happy with) my conscience over the past 15 years and, believe me, if Ferrari had been (doing anything wrong), after all these controversies, it would have come out."

[Jonbummer]

In the interest of total transparency, here is Stepney's letter to Mosley on August 30, explaining his part in the scandal.

 

"Dear President,

 

You and I have known each other for many years and you like I have always had Formula 1 at the centre of our heart. The issues that have arisen have indeed been very distressing, especially when the media have been leaked information from sources that are not fully aware of the truth. These accusations have tarnished Formula 1. This has therefore pushed me to write this letter to you to explain the circumstances of events. I

[Jonbummer]

Nigel Stepney says that his plans to publish the full story of his adventures at Ferrari, in a book called Red Mist have had to be cancelled because the publishing company was "put under pressure" - but he does not know who was responsible for that because the publisher is unwilling to tell him what is happening. Stepney says that he will go ahead with another publisher because he believes that his story should be told and that he has not been given a fair chance to defend himself. He says that the Stepneygate scandal means that he has nothing to lose in the motor racing world.

 

"I'm not sure I want to work in Formula 1 again, to tell you the truth," he says. "I'm not angry with it. I think the FIA needs to change a bit. It's a business and it should be managed by people with more professionalism. I was told I mustn't go against Max Mosley (President of the FIA) or I'd lose everything. I said: 'Too late, I've already lost everything'. But that is not the point, that doesn't bother me, I can start again. We've got the best championship in years and why? Go back to the beginning. If I'd have accepted what Ferrari said to me about the car and just played the game. Ferrari won the first race by miles. Should I have just played the game?"

 

What is clear is that Stepney's intervention did result in Ferrari being forced to change its car after the Australian GP when McLaren went to the FIA. There was also a letter, written in August in which Stepney gave details of his attempts to tip off the FIA about the Ferrari, before he went to McLaren. This was mentioned in the recent World Council transcript in which Max Mosley said that there was nothing in these contacts with Peter Wright, Charlie Whiting and Jo Bauer to suggest that this was whistle-blowing. Unfortunately, the FIA says that it will not publish these e-mails and clear the air. This is not really in keeping with the federation's oft-stated desire for "total transparency" and will create perceptions which the FIA would probably be wise to avoid.

 

Very few people would argue that Stepney is blameless but that does not mean that everything he says is rubbish and must be ignored. Stepney's credibility continues to be undermined with Jean Todt telling The Times that "he lost his head, that's all. Unfortunately, sometimes you have people who lose the sense of things and it's a shame because we all have some personal responsibilities. You should have some limits, some discipline, and he did not know how to place limits on himself and the problem is that there is a high price to pay."

 

Todt went on to say that Ferrari has no reason to fear Stepney's accusations.

 

But obviously someone does because otherwise Stepney would not be having problems with his book.

[Jonbummer]

i'm still interested in this case, and thus posting

the very interesting aftermath of the verdict on McLaren.

 

there're obviously more than meets the eyes.

 

and one has to ask why is the FIA acting in some ways here

and in other manners on cases of rather similar nature.

 

cheers

[Bommii]

Which British website did you get this from?

 

Iam sick of reading arcticles portraying McLaren as a victim

 

Unfortunately i can only read english and most of them are written by Brits.

[Jonbummer]

sorry was eager to post and forgot to quote that it's

mainly from GrandPrix.om

 

well, tho i personally support McLaren as a team

i read this with a open mind and not be judgmental

 

it's interesting wat Nigel has written in his open letter

 

cheers

[Abba]

I like it when Luca di Montezemolo told Hammi, "If you win this yr's title, there's a lot of Ferrari in your car" Holly rookie victory, this year is tarnished

 

Hammi's real win would be next yr when he does it clean