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BREAKING: McLaren Stripped of Constructor Points and Fined

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by Pittsburgh Gunny

The decision has finally come down in Paris.  The FIA World Motor Sport Council has issued it's findings against the Vodafone-McLaren-Mercedes team.  The team will be stripped of all their points in the 2007 Formula 1 Constructors' Championship and the team has been fined the equivalent of $100 million.  The team will also not be allowed to attain any further points in the Constructors Championship the rest of the 2007 season.  The two drivers for McLaren, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have not been penalized and are free to continue to participate in the Drivers Championship.

The penalty follows McLaren’s admission that the team was in possession of confidential technical data belonging to rivals Ferrari, who are now all but assured of the 2007 Constructors’ Championship.

So interesting stuff and I am glad that the two drivers for McLaren will be allowed to compete for the drivers championship.  The stripping of points and the fine seem justified given the fact that McLaren did get caught spying.


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BrittschrammRed-Shirting
396 days ago
Score 0+-
That's it! The whole wide world of sports is cheating. Let's just make everything legal so that everyone will be on an even playing field.
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Pittsburgh GunnyDraft Pick
396 days ago
Score 1+-
Yeah, but at least the $100million fine should discourage others from doing this in the future. I wonder if that NFL coach or his team will face as stern a penalty?
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RohandevganAll-American
396 days ago
Score 2+-
I just heard it on the news. Absolutely shocking. I dont think there is a single sport which is clean now.
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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
396 days ago
Score 0+-
You thought F1 was clean before?
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MetsJetsDevilsDraft Pick
396 days ago
Score 1+-
2007 - the year of the *
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Phoenix SuperfanVarsity
396 days ago
Score 1+-
It's not that people cheat anymore now than ever before, in fact it is probably way less. It's just that everything is so carefully enforced that everything ends up getting caught and even the smallest thing is blown out of proportion. Anyone who has ever read the autobiography of a retired athlete knows that there is inevitably a chapter or 12 of about bending the rules.
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Phoenix SuperfanVarsity
396 days ago
Score -3+-
Further proof that Formula 1's governing body has it all wrong. In America, if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying!
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Brendan.CanneyDiv-I Stud
396 days ago
Score 1+-
They should get Bill Belichick to do their news conference.
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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
396 days ago
Score 0+-
McLaren actually lose probably $150 million, due to them not winning the Constructors' title (Prize Money for which is about $50 million greater). In the long run, $100 million is not a lot, it's probably half of their engine budget for a season, so it is still water of a ducks back.
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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
396 days ago
Score 0+-
*duck's back ... Grammar is failing me today. :(
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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
396 days ago
Score 2+-
Spying happens up and down the pit lane. Every team employs people to peer into other team's garages to look at the cars. It's acceptable. But getting hold of another team's documents is not.
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Pittsburgh GunnyDraft Pick
396 days ago
Score 1+-
Another bit coming out of the decision is that McLaren must also prove there is no Ferrari "intellectual property" in their cars next year before racing. Your grammar is fine there Alex. :)
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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
396 days ago
Score 0+-
I don't like that call. That means that they cannot use technology used by Ferrari. But the fact of F1, is that teams will eventually learn about another team's technology by simply looking at the cars. So they immitate it. McLaren are now not in a position to copy as they would normally without the documents.
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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
396 days ago
Score 0+-
And, I'm not sure that it makes that much difference. The car is still strong, and Alonso and Hamilton can now fight out between themselves (since they can't win the Constructors' anymore). So it makes the Drivers' Championship more interesting. Which frankly, is the one that people remember.
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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
396 days ago
Score 2+-
Off the wall Prediction - Alonso to leave McLaren to join Nico Rosberg at Williams! You heard it here first!
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Pittsburgh GunnyDraft Pick
396 days ago
Score 0+-
Wow! I gotta remember you said that. To be honest I would not be surprised to see Alonso leave the team for next season, but, to go to Williams?!?!?
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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
396 days ago
Score 1+-
Williams were one of the most successful teams of the 1990s. Ayrton Senna, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve amongst others were World Champions in that era. If you can make Hill and Villeneuve win World Championship titles, then you must be a damn good team! (That's unfair, both drivers were great...) Williams have a history, and there's no reason that they can't get back to the level they reached in the 1990s. Williams and Red Bull (okay, Toro Rosso too) are the only teams still in F1 that don't manufacture road cars.
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RohandevganAll-American
396 days ago
Score 0+-
True, the Drivers Championship will definitely be more exciting now.
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AndrenWaterboy
396 days ago
Score 0+-
Something had to be done, but the decision was political. I mean, if you are caught cheating at any sport you are usually suspended for a while. McLaren was not, and only for the fact that the main title contenders race for them. From the legal point of view, Stepney and Coughlan should face criminal charges now. One last thing: After all this mess I bet Alonso will return to Renault and Nelson Piquet Jr. will drive for Williams in 2008!
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RohandevganAll-American
395 days ago
Score 1+-
There is no doubt that Alonso will leave Mclaren next season but I think he will head back to Renault.
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This page was last modified 20:06, 13 September 2007. Content is available under the GFDL.

Categories: Opinions | Opinions by User Pittsburgh Gunny | September 13, 2007 | Formula One Opinions | McLaren Opinions | Ferrari Opinions | Fernando Alonso Opinions | Lewis Hamilton Opinions

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