It will be interesting to see if they can survive.
No, that's not a typo. Mclaren Mercedes was fined one tenth of a billion dollars on Wednesday. They were also stripped of all of their constructor points for the '07 season after it was determined by the World Motor Sport Council that they were in possession of confidential technical data stolen from rival team Ferrari.
Wow.
Iain
"We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
It will be interesting to see if they can survive.
Bernie Ecclestein seen giggling like a little school girl all the way to the bank...
Thanks for posting this in Bull... What a big ugly blotch on Lewis Hamilton's BRILLIANT first season in the big league.
Maybe 4 wheels aren't so bad after all... wickett.org
It only goes to show when people can no longer discriminate on the grounds of race, religion, or sexual orientation, they can improvise and still find someone to hate. - Dave Moulton
I'm just wondering if the 100 million euros could be just the beginning. I could see sponsors walking away rather than sponsoring a team branded as cheaters. And then there are the drivers that testified against the team... That has to be an uncomfortable situation going forward. Plus, Aren't the percentage of TV dollars tied to points that were taken away from them?
I just HAVE to wonder what Bernie's bonus structure is.
Daily Driver: 2013 Club edition in Pearl White Mica
Lightness? What's that? I drive a PRHT!
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I do, but they don't seem to show the classics like that any more. If you don't recognize that picture, it is from "Ali Baba Bunny", 1957. I must have seen it a hundred times when I was growing up in the 70's, but I don't think my daughter has ever seen it. I suspect that many of the old Looney Tunes classics like this are considered too violent, politically insensitive, etc for todays world.
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Hassan chop!Originally Posted by Titus
That would be a yes, but when you say, "Yeah, we stole the stuff." what would be the basis of your appeal? 'I didn't know I was going to get in trouble' seems to always work these days.Originally Posted by The Article
If you want blow by blow details of the correspondence and e-mails start at this link.
http://www.crash.net/news_view~cid~1~id~154429.htm
Amazing the drivers were sharing info like they were autocrossers.
I don't think the punishment fits the crime. Think $100 Million is a little steep. The next thing the teams will be doing is monitoring all the conversations the drivers make to anyone.
I am dumbfounded. I am a Ferrari fan (specifically Massa), but I wanted to think that this sort of issue was as Mclaren said it was, simply one persons knowledge.
I don't see how with this data, the drivers points are not changed. I know they want a semblance of championship to put some honor back in to F1, but knowing the amount of engineering data they used or had privy to makes this a very hard championship to respect.
I know that Hamilton has done a good job of racing this year, but I for one can't respect his winning the championship knowing the team was utilizing the competitions data to give him a car to run.
aren't they assured, rather than not assured? I hate this counter intuitive language perversion.The penalty follows McLaren’s admission that the team was in breach of the International Sporting Code through their possession of confidential technical data belonging to rivals Ferrari, who are now all but assured of the 2007 constructors’ title.
/rant