McLaren espionage hearing

This is interesting from Formula1.com

McLaren await their fate in Paris hearing

It is the story that has dominated headlines and gripped the paddock, but after seemingly endless twists and turns, the McLaren-Ferrari ?spy scandal? is set to be resolved in Paris today, with a second hearing by the FIA?s World Motor Sport Council.

The Council will consider new evidence in the case. Should that evidence prove McLaren made use of confidential Ferrari data in the development of their car, the team could face expulsion from the 2007 and 2008 world championships. We look back at the timeline of an affair that could yet decide this year?s titles?

June, 2007
Reports claim that long-time Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney is under investigation by Italian authorities after an unspecified complaint is made against him by the team. Stepney protests his innocence, denying suggestions that he attempted to sabotage Ferrari?s cars at the Monaco Grand Prix.

July 3, 2007
Ferrari reveal Stepney has left the company after an ?internal disciplinary procedure?.

July 4, 2007
Ferrari confirm they have presented a legal case against Stepney concerning the alleged theft of technical information. The team say a staff member from rivals McLaren is also involved in the investigation.

McLaren confirms the involvement, and suspension, of an unnamed employee - subsequently revealed as senior designer Mike Coughlan. After a full review of their cars, the team insist that no intellectual property from Ferrari has been used.

The FIA announces a formal investigation into the matter, with the full cooperation of both teams.

July 5, 2007
Ferrari admit it was a source outside of Formula One racing that tipped them off to the possibility of a McLaren having obtained their intellectual property.

July 6, 2007
Honda?s CEO Nick Fry reveals that Stepney and Coughlan paid a joint visit to the team in June, with ?a view to investigating job opportunities?. Fry stresses that that no confidential information was offered or received during the meeting.

July 10-11, 2007
A hearing is held at London?s High Court with Ferrari lawyers and Coughlan in attendance. Reports cite allegations that the suspended designer and his wife submitted 780 pages of Ferrari documentation to a photocopy shop in Woking.

July 12, 2007
Ferrari confirm that Coughlan has provided them with an affidavit relating to the enquiry, but that both the designer and his wife remain the subject of a London High Court action by the team.

McLaren are summoned to appear before the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) to answer a charge of breaching the International Sporting Code by possessing confidential Ferrari data. The team maintain that no other staff members were aware of the material.

July 26, 2007
At the Paris hearing, the WMSC finds McLaren guilty of breaching the Sporting Code, but choose not to impose sanctions as there is no proof that the team made use of the data. However, McLaren are warned that if such proof later comes to light, they could face exclusion from the 2007 and 2008 championships. The WMSC also calls on Stepney and Coughlan to appear before the FIA.

Ferrari describe the decision not to punish McLaren as ?incomprehensible? and vow to continue with legal action already underway against Stepney and Coughlan.

July 30, 2007
Ferrari boss Jean Todt claims Coughlan had access to leaked Ferrari data prior to the start of the 2007 season, and that it prompted McLaren?s subsequent request for FIA clarification over the use of ?moveable? floors.

July 31, 2007
FIA president Max Mosley refers the case to the International Court of Appeal following suggestions that the original WMSC hearing had not given Ferrari sufficient opportunity to present their version of events.

August 2, 2007
McLaren team principal Ron Dennis accuses Ferrari of winning the Australian Grand Prix with an illegal car and of manipulating media coverage to damage his team?s reputation.

August 7, 2007
The FIA sets a date for the appeal. The International Court of Appeal (ICA) will meet in Paris on Thursday, September 13.

September 5, 2007
A week before the appeal hearing, the FIA announces that ?following the receipt of new evidence? the WMSC will instead reconvene to make a fresh judgment on the McLaren-Ferrari ?spy scandal?.

September 7, 2007
The FIA reveals it has written to McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso, Pedro de la Rosa and Lewis Hamilton after allegations they may have information relevant to the case. They are warned that failure to disclose any such information could involve serious consequences. Lawyers advise McLaren to make no further comment ahead of the WMSC hearing.

September 8, 2007
Modena?s public prosecutor, Giuseppe Tibis, issues ?avviso di garanzia? - legal notice that someone is under investigation in a criminal procedure - to Stepney and six McLaren personnel, including Dennis, group managing director Martin Whitmarsh and Jonathan Neale, the team?s managing director.

September 13, 2007
The world awaits news from Paris?
 
HAHA, Beat you to it :p
 
^ You beat me to it. :lol:

Edit - and agian!!!
 
Another Item from Formula1.com

FIA press conference Schedual For Belgium:

Thursday September 13, 1500 local time (1300 GMT):
Fernando Alonso (McLaren), Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Nico Rosberg (Williams) and Adrian Sutil (Spyker).

Friday September 14, 1600 local time (1400 GMT):
Gerhard Berger (Toro Rosso), Flavio Briatore (Renault), Nick Fry (Honda), Christian Horner (Red Bull) and Mario Theissen (BMW Sauber).

I wonder what if anything interesting Fernando will have to say assuming the WMSC ruling doesn't affect his participation in the press conference of course. I don't think it will since I believe this press conference is in about 2 hours if I'm not mistaken and Im pretty sure any news from Paris is probably still along way off.
 
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Conference schedule is released before the championship starts.

In another news: i get the feeling that it's gonna end very badly for Mclaren.
 
^^I genuinely hope it isn't. There's such a great fight going on and breaking it up would make one of the best championship fights in the history of F1 boring...
 
If McLaren get excluded, I sure for one hope Ferrari don't brag about winning the championships. Otherwise 2007 will go down as the worst year in Formula 1 history, and the only way it can be repaired is for 2008 to produce one of the closest, most exciting seasons ever, with Ferrari, McLaren, BMW, Honda, Williams, RBR and Renault all in for a chance of winning races.

Any updates on the hearing yet?
 
McLaren to play the Lewis Hamilton card
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article2441977.ece

Lewis Hamilton has been asked by Ron Dennis, the embattled team principal of McLaren Mercedes, to play a key role in the team?s last-ditch attempt today to avoid heavy punishment over their role in the Formula One spying scandal.

McLaren will appear before the FIA?s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in Paris this morning to answer new allegations that they have cheated this season by using technical information stolen from Ferrari.

Until now, Hamilton, who leads the World Championship by three points from Fernando Alonso, his team-mate, has been allowed by McLaren to concentrate on his racing. But it seems that McLaren feel they need Hamilton?s presence at the FIA?s headquarters at the Place de la Concorde, in what appears to be an attempt to remind the 26 members of the WMSC what is at stake for Formula One?s brightest young star.

McLaren may sense an opportunity to remind the members of the damage they may do to a classic championship fight between Hamilton, Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, of Ferrari, if they impose a penalty on their drivers by deducting championship points. McLaren are aware that such a move would be unpopular among millions of Formula One fans.

The decision to deploy Hamilton comes after his outspoken comments on the scandal in Monza, Italy, on Sunday, when he spoke for the first time of his fears that the FIA could wreck his chances of winning the title in his rookie year, which has not been done before. Using graphic imagery, Hamilton referred to the danger that an FIA ?knife? could cut off his championship and racing ?blood line?.

It is not known what role Hamilton will play in a large delegation from the team?s headquarters in Woking, Surrey, to the French capital that will also include Pedro De La Rosa, the test driver, whose alleged e-mails to Alonso are thought to feature prominently in the case against the team. Significantly, perhaps, Alonso will not be at the hearing but will be in Spa, where the Belgian Grand Prix is being staged this weekend.

One possibility is that Hamilton may be called to act as a character witness for the team and Dennis. The McLaren team principal has staked his credibility on his claim that the team and their cars have not been contaminated by a dossier of Ferrari secrets found in the possession of Mike Coughlan, the suspended chief designer, or by phone and e-mail traffic between Coughlan and Nigel Stepney, the former Ferrari chief mechanic.

The hearing in Paris comes as Damon Hill, the former world champion, adds his voice to the chorus of unease about the FIA?s investigation into McLaren. Speaking to The Times yesterday, Hill said that he was concerned that favouritism towards Ferrari, plus the antipathy between Max Mosley, the FIA president, and Dennis could be influencing the case.

?There is a feeling that this is not a purely independent and unbiased investigation,? Hill said. ?There is a feeling that the sport has got a bias towards one team. I think there is some basis for that accusation. Ferrari have always been very important to the sport. They have always played that card. The sport makes allowances for Ferrari and has done for a long time.

?But what?s going on right now, that?s the question. Can we entirely trust these claims against McLaren or are they being inflated to make life very difficult for a team \ which was for a long time looking to form a breakaway series to Formula One? It?s this sort of background politics which creates a lot of unease.?

The well-publicised feud between Mosley and Dennis is another factor that Hill believes is worrying fans of the sport. ?It would be more comforting if we didn?t know there was less than total respect between individuals who are high up in the sport,? Hill said. ?Max has alluded many times to his feelings about Ron. Ron has remained relatively quiet about it. I think it is felt that this is personal. It is very difficult to see it as being entirely separate. In some ways Formula One behaves a bit like a dysfunctional family. There is always bad feeling. I think this is damaging for the sport.?

The FIA has responded robustly to claims that its investigation of McLaren amounts to a vendetta against Dennis. Its spokesman went on the record at the weekend to underline that its activities in trying to get to the bottom of the affair are driven by the pursuit of sporting fairness and the personalities involved are irrelevant.

The decision-makers

? The FIA?s World Motor Sport Council is made up of 26 heads of national motorsport authorities who have travelled to Paris for today?s hearing from all over the world.

? The day-long session, held in camera at the FIA?s headquarters at the Place de la Concorde, will start with an opening address from Max Mosley, the organisation?s president.

? Members of delegations from McLaren Mercedes and Ferrari will make submissions before the council is given the chance to question them.

? The council will then consider its verdict and hand out a punishment, if it is required. This could range from a large fine to the deduction of constructors? and/or drivers? points or expulsion from this year?s and next year?s championships.
 
Alonso not thinking about Paris hearing

Fernando Alonso has insisted he is only focusing on his preparations for this weekend?s Belgian Grand Prix despite both his and McLaren?s fates hanging in the balance at today?s World Motor Sport Court hearing in Paris.

The world champion was not part of the Woking squad?s delegation at the reconvened hearing into the spy scandal and instead was at Spa taking part in the pre-event press conference.

He says he is treating his first day of this grand prix weekend the same as any other and that the WMSC hearing hasn?t crossed his mind.

?I?m not thinking of anything outside of the race weekend,? he said.

?I?m going to have a meeting with my engineer to decide on the tyres to use in P1 and P2, check the forecast, set-up, and the updates from the test we had here at end of July.

?Anymore than this I am not ready to think about.

?I am concentrating 100 per cent on this paddock, this track and winning this race.

?With all that I won?t have two seconds to think [about the WMSC hearing].

While Alonso headed to Belgium to begin his preparations for the race weekend, team-mate Lewis Hamilton and the team?s test driver Pedro de la Rosa were in attendance in Paris as McLaren defends itself against allegations that it benefited from leaked confidential Ferrari technical data.

The Spaniard would not answer questions about why he wasn?t in Paris.

?No comment," he said.

"I will not comment anything about what is happening today, the answer will be the same as before.

?What can and cannot happen in Paris today?I?m not thinking about that matter.?

Source
 
Rumors are..... McLaren excluded from '07 AND '08. No word on what will be done to the drivers. This isn't like the Toyota rally cheating of '95 when the car was illegal....the McLaren is a legal car so the drivers should be fine.

Eughgh - what a farking mess.

Doug
 
^ If that's true (I don't think it is) 07' AND 08 is a bit harsh, seeing as they data they stole will properly be invalid then.
 
Not final, let's wait for a press-release, or a copy of verdict or smth.
 
Alonso and Hamilton will surely be driving next year also in F1, unless they lied to FIA.

But it would be unclear what would be Hamilton's team, prodrive or Williams or some other.
 
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