FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[McLaren Fan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 129049.stm

If true, this does not surprise me. I look forward to finding out why.

[McLaren Fan]

From autosport.com:

Renault found guilty but not penalised

By Jonathan Noble Thursday, December 6th 2007, 18:14 GMT

Renault have escaped punishment for spying at a hearing of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Monaco today, despite being found guilty of the charges against them.

A statement for the governing body confirmed that there was no punishment.

"An extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council was held in Monaco on December 6, 2007," read the FIA statement.

"The World Council found Renault F1 to be in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code but imposed no penalty.

"Detailed reasons for this decision will be issued on December 7, 2007, and a transcript of the proceedings will be published as soon as possible thereafter."

Renault were called in front of the FIA to answer charges that they had in their possession intellectual property belonging to McLaren.

This revolved around a number of floppy discs of technical information that engineer Phil Mackareth had taken to Renault from McLaren when he moved teams in late 2006.

Possession of the information was deemed to have been a breach of Article 151C, which refers to bringing the sport into disrepute.

Article 151C of the International Sporting Code states that teams are in breach of the regulations if they are found to have taken part in: "Any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally."

The decision on Renault mirrors what happened to McLaren in July, when the team were also found guilty during their FIA hearing in Paris but escaped any punishment because of a lack of proof the team had benefited from using Ferrari data.

It was only the subsequent discovery of e-mail correspondence between Fernando Alonso and test driver Pedro de la Rosa, plus records of mobile phone calls and SMS messages between Mike Coughlan and Nigel Stepney, that resulted in a further hearing and their eventual punishment of a $100 million (USD) fine and exclusion from the constructors' championship.

McLaren will also face the FIA tomorrow, where it will be decided whether or not any evidence of Ferrari intellectual property has been found on the team's 2008 contender.

[racechick]

Yep just commented on that on another thread. Were you expecting any different from the cheatnig double standards of the FIA? Its a corrupt joke.

[al4x]

not that im disappointed, (im not)

but i didnt think theyd get completely off!!

[texasmr2]

I find the WMSC's decision reprehensible !!!!! This is a VERY VERY black day for F1 as a whole.

[racechick]

They shouldnt have been punished. It goes on. Its a competitive environment and at the cutting edge, its how things develop. Its always happened. BUT McLaren shouldnt have been punished either. The double standards stink. And McLarens punishment was grossly uncalled for and out of proportion.

[al4x]

such a difficult subject, it really should have been handled better, but im not sure how!

[vegas]

And now Alonso will take the weekend to make his decision and on Monday announce his intentions to drive for Renault.

[7UpJordan]

This is getting ridiculous, I think Mad Max had something to do with this.

[pit_babe]

Surprise Surprise uncle bernie looking after his mate

[Dutchcruijff]

This is getting out of control now.

[pit_babe]

They shouldnt have been punished. It goes on. Its a competitive environment and at the cutting edge, its how things develop. Its always happened. BUT McLaren shouldnt have been punished either. The double standards stink. And McLarens punishment was grossly uncalled for and out of proportion.

Too right, this ollso proves its personal with max and ron

[7UpJordan]

I'd like to hear Sir Jackie Stewart's opinion, and see if Max has the balls to go and call him a "halfwit" again and then get sued and removed as head of the FIA.

[texasmr2]

I would love to hear Jackie's opinion also!

[McLaren Fan]

The decision is quite frankly scandalous. McLaren were found guilty and punished with a tenth of what Renault had against them. The FIA have crafted to this very well. They will come out with sound bites such as McLaren got off the first time around for not being able to prove anything against them. The FIA have again brought shame on the sport we love.