Grandprix dot com has an interesting article today that might set a few cats amongst the pigeons. After looking at Luca di Montezemolo's deliberate overstatements of the recent past, the article has an account of an unsolicited exchange with Nigel Stepney in which he maintains that the flow of information between Mike Coughlan and himself went both ways.
Nigel Stepney
Stepney says that he was provided with details of McLaren's race strategy and set up and that he shared this information within Ferrari. Whilst admitting that he has no proof that this was happening, Stepney points out that the question of a two-way flow has never been investigated.
Obviously, we need to take all this with a pinch of salt but the fact is that it remains a possibility. And it highlights something that I have been saying all along: that the FIA may end up with egg on its face once the court cases begin to reveal the full truth of what happened in the early months of this year. If it is proved that Stepney, as a Ferrari employee, had secret McLaren information and might have fed some of it into the team, will the FIA then deduct Ferrari's constructor's points for this year and fine them $100 million?
In that situation, it is difficult to see how the FIA could get away with anything less, unless they want to declare openly that they are an organization that puts the interests of Ferrari before anything else. And if they have to impose the same penalty on Ferrari as has been levied on McLaren, BMW will have won a constructor's championship well ahead of schedule. In which case, I wonder if Mario Theissen would still be saying that they really only came third.
The point is that the FIA has stuck its neck way out with the WMSC verdict. The finding of the committee was based entirely upon Max Mosley's opinion that Ferrari information "must have" gone beyond Coughlan, de la Rosa and Alonso. And, if that is evidence enough upon which to convict and sentence, the same must surely be applied if it is found that Stepney had McLaren information and might have used it in the course of his work.
I have said all along that the FIA acted prematurely and ventured upon ground that was beyond its jurisdiction in the matter. There was no need for the WMSC to decide whether Ferrari information penetrated McLaren's design structure - that was always going to be investigated by the courts. The WMSC's brief, as stated at the outset, was to prove that the sport had been brought into disrepute by McLaren and that was always going to be difficult without a decision having been made on the industrial espionage aspect. In the absence of a court ruling, the WMSC had no option but to proceed to decide the matter for itself and, in the process, exceed the limits of its remit.
Never mind that Max's opinion would not be regarded as sufficient cause to convict in a court of law; what matters is that the WMSC has ruled on something beyond its jurisdiction. And the FIA may well have put itself in a position where its impartiality and fitness to govern the sport are called into question. Its reputation and standing now depend entirely upon the result of legal investigations that have not been completed. To have gambled upon the legal processes coming to the same conclusions as oneself is exactly that - a gamble - and Max and Montezemolo should be thinking about that, rather than casting slurs upon McLaren.
Nigel Stepney
Stepney says that he was provided with details of McLaren's race strategy and set up and that he shared this information within Ferrari. Whilst admitting that he has no proof that this was happening, Stepney points out that the question of a two-way flow has never been investigated.
Obviously, we need to take all this with a pinch of salt but the fact is that it remains a possibility. And it highlights something that I have been saying all along: that the FIA may end up with egg on its face once the court cases begin to reveal the full truth of what happened in the early months of this year. If it is proved that Stepney, as a Ferrari employee, had secret McLaren information and might have fed some of it into the team, will the FIA then deduct Ferrari's constructor's points for this year and fine them $100 million?
In that situation, it is difficult to see how the FIA could get away with anything less, unless they want to declare openly that they are an organization that puts the interests of Ferrari before anything else. And if they have to impose the same penalty on Ferrari as has been levied on McLaren, BMW will have won a constructor's championship well ahead of schedule. In which case, I wonder if Mario Theissen would still be saying that they really only came third.
The point is that the FIA has stuck its neck way out with the WMSC verdict. The finding of the committee was based entirely upon Max Mosley's opinion that Ferrari information "must have" gone beyond Coughlan, de la Rosa and Alonso. And, if that is evidence enough upon which to convict and sentence, the same must surely be applied if it is found that Stepney had McLaren information and might have used it in the course of his work.
I have said all along that the FIA acted prematurely and ventured upon ground that was beyond its jurisdiction in the matter. There was no need for the WMSC to decide whether Ferrari information penetrated McLaren's design structure - that was always going to be investigated by the courts. The WMSC's brief, as stated at the outset, was to prove that the sport had been brought into disrepute by McLaren and that was always going to be difficult without a decision having been made on the industrial espionage aspect. In the absence of a court ruling, the WMSC had no option but to proceed to decide the matter for itself and, in the process, exceed the limits of its remit.
Never mind that Max's opinion would not be regarded as sufficient cause to convict in a court of law; what matters is that the WMSC has ruled on something beyond its jurisdiction. And the FIA may well have put itself in a position where its impartiality and fitness to govern the sport are called into question. Its reputation and standing now depend entirely upon the result of legal investigations that have not been completed. To have gambled upon the legal processes coming to the same conclusions as oneself is exactly that - a gamble - and Max and Montezemolo should be thinking about that, rather than casting slurs upon McLaren.