I think in hindsight (after the Brazil outcome) the light penalty for the spy saga was not a good thing for McLaren. McLaren would have been better off being banned for this year - that way they would have saved face and wouldn't have had to endure the embarrassment of Brazil and they would have been the martyrs with even more brownie points among the public.
As well as having to endure the embarrassment of the FIA going through their car with a fine tooth comb next year. If all the McLaren fans saying the FIA is in bed with Ferrari are right, then this is really bad news as Ferrari will then have access to the 2008 McLaren to get a bit of their own back.
If I were McLaren I would be showing them last years car and just run updates on last year's car for 2008 and put all my energy into a killer 2009 car.
I'm sure Ferrari did it a couple of times, I think I remember in 02 or 03 Ferrari embarrassing everyone by just running updates on last years car and still owning everyone, but that was with Schumacher at the wheel.