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[juggles]

So, Lewis has come out and publicly apologised, and I respect him for it. He made a mistake and he's faced up to it; in setting the record straight he will have avoided any further punishment; the FIA have actually come out and said: "We recognise Lewis's efforts to set the record straight. It would appear he was put in an impossible position." I can see exactly why he did what he did: a) he's in the very unusual situation of being essentially brought up by the team, so they will have more influence over him than most teams have over their drivers. b) he was rushed straight into the stewards room to give his account after driving a physically and mentally exhausting race, and it sounds like he had a matter of seconds to react to what he had been told to do by Dave Ryan. Yes, he could still have said no, but I appreciate why it was a difficult situation to be put in.

Hopefully a line has been drawn because as always I think Lewis is a good guy; still maybe a bit naive especially when it comes to dealing with the media, but his heart's in the right place and he's the best driver on the grid. I'm sure more information will materialise especially when McLaren decide on Dave Ryan's long term future. Still, the main thing is that Lewis has held up his hands and humbly apologised, and I think you can see how devastated he is from seeing his press conference. He's a man genuinely asking for forgiveness, and so for me it's case closed as far as he goes. I'm waiting to see what else the FIA do to McLaren though, because this isn't over.

[McLaren Fan]

Doing everything you can to gain an advantage, no matter how risky it might be. The best and worst characteristic of a competitive sportsperson in one.

Well, Coughlan is a sports person and McLaren is a sports team. By your logic the whole spy scandal can be justified.

[EwanM]

I'm sorry but I thought the lead players of the spy scandal were the two idiots who traded Ferrari Information to each other? - Stepney and Coughlan

They may have got the ball rolling, but Alonso and de la Rosa didn't hold back when Ferrari technical data was coming their way. Text messages were flying backwards and forwards between them all, discussing which piece of information they'd like next.

Indeed, and rightfully the team got wrapped for this. Alonso and De la Rosa's "wrist slap" is no different to Mclaren protecting Hamilton today.
And I do agree Alonso and De la Rosa only added to the fire of the spy scandal - but it already existed and Mclaren failed to adequately deal with it at the time.

In regard to this week's latest scandal, Mclaren have made a mistake - in my opinion there is something fishy about the exit of Ryan. Surely he doesn't have the authority to make those such decision on a whim?

[Denthúl]

Doing everything you can to gain an advantage, no matter how risky it might be. The best and worst characteristic of a competitive sportsperson in one.

Well, Coughlan is a sports person and McLaren is a sports team. By your logic the whole spy scandal can be justified.

I never said it was a justification for anything. It is the best characteristic because they are determined to do everything they can to win, but their worst because more often than not it is right on, or over, the line.

[McLaren Fan]

Doing everything you can to gain an advantage, no matter how risky it might be. The best and worst characteristic of a competitive sportsperson in one.

Well, Coughlan is a sports person and McLaren is a sports team. By your logic the whole spy scandal can be justified.

I never said it was a justification for anything. It is the best characteristic because they are determined to do everything they can to win, but their worst because more often than not it is right on, or over, the line.

The original context of your comment would have suggested it was some form of justification.

[EwanM]

End of the day Mclaren is a team, and F1 is a team sport. Any wrong doing, by any individual inside the team, has to be a mistake by the team as well.

[Denthúl]

Doing everything you can to gain an advantage, no matter how risky it might be. The best and worst characteristic of a competitive sportsperson in one.

Well, Coughlan is a sports person and McLaren is a sports team. By your logic the whole spy scandal can be justified.

I never said it was a justification for anything. It is the best characteristic because they are determined to do everything they can to win, but their worst because more often than not it is right on, or over, the line.

The original context of your comment would have suggested it was some form of justification.

It was not intended as such. The 'worst characteristic' part was the one I felt to be relevant.

[McLaren Fan]

End of the day Mclaren is a team, and F1 is a team sport. Any wrong doing, by any individual inside the team, has to be a mistake by the team as well.

I don't accept that. It's true that everybody has a role to play in an organisation and that you win and lose together, but if one guy in a team does something illicit in secret, then you can't tar the other people with the same brush.

[f1ea]

This has no relevance to the question I asked MAD MAX. He said he blames McLaren for the spy scandal in 2007, but not Alonso, Hamilton or de la Rosa, despite the first two being its lead players.

I dont see how anyone can disconnect the guilt of Alonso and De la Rosa from the spy problem. They were part of it. Their guilt was a litle more innocent than Stepney/Coughlan but still Mclaren being the parent, have to bear with the full guilt which means the sum of all the guilty parties. Whether the "whole" Mclaren organisation was involved or not. Fair or not fair... that's just how it is.

Regardless... i dont really care much about the guiltyness of either Mclaren as a team or its members, for the whole spy incident was handled poorly and not with the utmost transparency by the authorities and the players, so any conlcusion is probably the result of a corrupted procedure anyway.

Now the Trulli / Hamilton incident... poorly done by Lewis and Mclaren, because the FIA initially gave them full trust only to find out Mclaren werent being truthful about it. Had Lewis admitted he was ordered to let Trulli past as a precaution for having overtaken him, the whole incident would have been easily solved with not many penalties involved.

[EwanM]

End of the day Mclaren is a team, and F1 is a team sport. Any wrong doing, by any individual inside the team, has to be a mistake by the team as well.

I don't accept that. It's true that everybody has a role to play in an organisation and that you win and lose together, but if one guy in a team does something illicit in secret, then you can't tar the other people with the same brush.

Regarding Alonso, he got his punishment - he was made to fight a very cold battle alone for most of the year, then was sacked. His name was tarred as well.

Concerning today - Ryan should have been better informed.

[McLaren Fan]

Regarding Alonso, he got his punishment - he was made to fight a very cold battle alone for most of the year, then was sacked.

Well you say that.

[stonemonkey]

I only hope that if any racing situations like this arise again that Lewis can have the confidence in himself to be more assertive (and everyone calls him cocky!) and that the team can have confidence in him. If the team had listened to him none of this would have happened.

[Denthúl]

Regarding Alonso, he got his punishment - he was made to fight a very cold battle alone for most of the year, then was sacked.

Well you say that.

And you say differently. The truth is, neither of you really know. Only McLaren and Alonso really know. So it's pointless either of you saying that you're right.

[texasmr2]

Regarding Alonso, he got his punishment - he was made to fight a very cold battle alone for most of the year, then was sacked.

Well you say that.

And you say differently. The truth is, neither of you really know. Only McLaren and Alonso really know. So it's pointless either of you saying that you're right.

and why argue about something that happened two seasons ago , move on already!

[McLaren Fan]

Regarding Alonso, he got his punishment - he was made to fight a very cold battle alone for most of the year, then was sacked.

Well you say that.

And you say differently. The truth is, neither of you really know. Only McLaren and Alonso really know. So it's pointless either of you saying that you're right.

As I've said, we don't know all of the facts, but we know enough to say neither party were innocent.