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[Fact Man]

While watching the belgian gp on speed channel, the commentator said that 1 of McLaren aerodynamic engineers moved to Ferrari this year. He suggested that this move helped Ferrari achieve a zero drag or some word that I didn't understand? My question is that shouldn't ther be a 1 year gap between engineers moving from 1 team to the other? There is now way they don't use what they applied at the previous team to the new one.

[darwin dali]

They were talking about the zero-keel design that McLaren first developed and which has by now been adopted by all teams but Renault.
I don't know how it's regulated in situations where personnel moves to other teams, probably depends on their contract. Also, it's understood that they shouldn't walk out of their old office with written out materials and cd's that in effect represent intellectual property of their old employer even though they cooked it up themselves.

I would also think that the consensus in the paddock is that anything that can be seen and photographed (and heard for that matter) on a car in race trim is fair game to be studied by the competition. Where the line is being drawn is insider knowledge of things that are normally not accessible to an outsider or competitor.

[racechick]

While watching the belgian gp on speed channel, the commentator said that 1 of McLaren aerodynamic engineers moved to Ferrari this year. He suggested that this move helped Ferrari achieve a zero drag or some word that I didn't understand? My question is that shouldn't ther be a 1 year gap between engineers moving from 1 team to the other? There is now way they don't use what they applied at the previous team to the new one.

These rules do noy apply to Ferrari. They are special

[darwin dali]

While watching the belgian gp on speed channel, the commentator said that 1 of McLaren aerodynamic engineers moved to Ferrari this year. He suggested that this move helped Ferrari achieve a zero drag or some word that I didn't understand? My question is that shouldn't ther be a 1 year gap between engineers moving from 1 team to the other? There is now way they don't use what they applied at the previous team to the new one.

These rules do noy apply to Ferrari. They are special

And these rules do not apply to McLaren. They are special, very special and very guilty of breaking the rules.

[racechick]

While watching the belgian gp on speed channel, the commentator said that 1 of McLaren aerodynamic engineers moved to Ferrari this year. He suggested that this move helped Ferrari achieve a zero drag or some word that I didn't understand? My question is that shouldn't ther be a 1 year gap between engineers moving from 1 team to the other? There is now way they don't use what they applied at the previous team to the new one.

These rules do noy apply to Ferrari. They are special

And these rules do not apply to McLaren. They are special, very special and very guilty of breaking the rules.

Mmmm! Yes they did. And they got extremely heavily punished for it. What about the countless times Ferrari have cheated ?(please dont ask me to list them again!). What about the Toyota guys in prison for spying? What about the2 cd's of McLaren info that Renault have? All this far more invasive than the McLaren stuff. Strange how the FIA have no interest in it.

[Fact Man]

They were talking about the zero-keel design that McLaren first developed and which has by now been adopted by all teams but Renault.
I don't know how it's regulated in situations where personnel moves to other teams, probably depends on their contract. Also, it's understood that they shouldn't walk out of their old office with written out materials and cd's that in effect represent intellectual property of their old employer even though they cooked it up themselves.

I would also think that the consensus in the paddock is that anything that can be seen and photographed (and heard for that matter) on a car in race trim is fair game to be studied by the competition. Where the line is being drawn is insider knowledge of things that are normally not accessible to an outsider or competitor.

Thanks DD for the clarification. But isn't amazing that these teams spend millions on developing their car and yet they risk losing their secrets when their employees move to other teams. I believe there should be a 1 year sabbatical between moves.

[darwin dali]

Hm, 1-yr sabbatical...hm, didn't Ross Brawn just do that? So he's 'eligible' for a move, a move to McLaren to replace RD...

[Fact Man]

Do you mean it's too long. I was even thinking of 2 years. Just replace the D in RD to a be and we've got RB. Wouldn't it be nice if it were so simple

[darwin dali]

A year is a long time, especially in F1 where car development is continuously taking place, so 'imported knowledge' will be good only for a limited time because that knowledge has an expiration date.
And on the other hand, a year is very long for the person who's out of touch with his field in F1 so to speak for a year, which could have a crippling effect on employability.

[McLaren Fan]

Mmmm! Yes they did. And they got extremely heavily punished for it. What about the countless times Ferrari have cheated ?(please dont ask me to list them again!). What about the Toyota guys in prison for spying? What about the2 cd's of McLaren info that Renault have? All this far more invasive than the McLaren stuff. Strange how the FIA have no interest in it.

Interesting how there is no reply.

Just like teams taking photographs of other team's cars, at the end of the day, this has been going on for years and there is very little that can be done about it. Unfortunately, it's one of those things.