A title decided in court?

Right now the 2007 Formula 1 championship may not be decided on track. Instead the what should be a sporting contest could come down to how good Mclarens lawyers can argue there case and prove there innocence of any wrong doing in front of the FIA World Motor sport Council (WMSC). And I really hope they can.

As I write this its Wednesday the 25th July the time is 15:00 and the weather is typical British standard miserable and wet. I should be writing my next piece for the "Middlemore Corner" It was going to be assessing the 4 title contenders and there chances for the rest of the season. I cant though. there is no point because I am going to write it on how the points stand now. In just over 24 hours time however everything could be on its head. Mclarens world title hopes could be over or heavily dented by the courts decision. So instead im going to reflect on what has led up to this moment. And then my reaction after tomorrows hearing.

Firstly though it is important to add that non of what is to follow has been proven in court and all parties involved are innocent until proven guilty.

I myself had wanted to steer clear of this until all facts had been laid out. The story has had so many twists and turns that up until this stage anything I write would be old news or inaccurate. This whole sorry mess broke in June it didn't start there though. Go back to 2006 he made comments about how he thought the team would go downhill after Schumacher departure which would not please Ferrari in any way. Then in January he was quoted as saying he was unhappy at the team that he too wanted a sabbatical (like Ross Brawn) and also, "if an opportunity arose with another team, I would definitely consider it." Ferrari wanted Stepney to see out his 12 month contract first and then discuss matters further. You can now see that Stepney's days with Ferrari were numbered. Nigel Stepney had long been a part of Ferrari from 1992 infact which was before Schumacher, Brawn and even Jean Todt. He had hoped to take over from Ross Brawn as technical director this job was given to Mario Almondo, Stepney was moved and put in charge of team performance development back at the factory and did not go to the races. For a time it seemed that the re-shuffle had worked I myself was glad. When Stepney started openly criticise the team It worried me that only a few month's after Schumacher and Brawn had gone that the political infighting that almost ripped the team apart in the 80's and early 90's was already returning. After this though it all went quiet again. The season started in March and Ferrari had a quick car and so did Mclaren. This was going to be a close fought season and hopefully there would be no politics involved.

Well zero chance of that happening shortly after the Monaco gp Ferrari filed a complaint against Stepney that opened up a criminal investigation. Originally the rumour was that somehow Stepney had sabotaged the fuel tanks on both Massa and Raikkonens car and a mysterious white powder was found around the cars and fuel rigs at the event. Reportedly a canaster containing some kind of white powder and ferrari steering wheels were recovered in a police search at Stepneys house. Two days later and another twist that unwittingly bought Mclaren into this. On the 3rd July Mclaren suspended there chief designer Mike Coughlan after Ferrari instigated legal action for theft of technical Information. This turned out to be a 780 page document containing sensitive data. On the same day Coughlan was suspended Stepney was dismissed from Ferrari. It turned out that both men had been in talks with Nick Fry at Honda. It seems that any information taken from Ferrari would of probably been used there. Fry insists however that no data or information was shown or discussed to do with Ferrari. The meeting was merely to discuss employment opportunities. Meanwhile the case against Coughlan had gone to the UK courts. Where more bizarre findings were reviled. It turns out that Coughlan was reported to Ferrari by a non F1 source. Coughlans wife had taken the documents to a photocopy shop where a suspicious employee notified Ferrari about the documents, "We would not have found out about it were it not from a tip-off by the photocopying agency." Confirmed Ferrari's lawyer. Coughlan also provided an affidavit on grounds it could not be used against him in the Italian courts where an investigation is also taking place. The affidavit was suppose to remain confidential from the press and no details known but, somehow a few escaped. These were shocking revelations that Coughlan received the technical data from Stepney and that he had confided to several members of staff about the documents. This was denied by Stepney who insisted he did not supply any documents and is caught up in some kind of conspiracy against him. Mclaren also insist that no team members knew anything about any documents with information about Ferrari.

However the FIA also had its own investigation into the whole affair and summoned Mclaren to answer charges that they have breached Article 151C of the International Sporting Code. At first i was confused into how the FIA could charge Mclaren when non of the current charges had been proven anyway. But then I looked at what Article 151C meant- bringing the sport into disrepute. This just signals bad news. The team could be banned disqualified or loose points. Ether way not only would this mess the Championship up if found guilty I believe its highly possible that the FIA themselves could get F1 into hot water themselves. Now the British press is volatile at the best of times. Imagine what kicking Mclaren and the home grown hero out of the title fight will do? And in Spain to where Alonso fans would too see this as aiding Ferrari. Of course if Mclaren have done anything wrong then yes they should be punished I don't think that they are though. I believe (as do many others) that Ron Dennis is an honest person and the Mclaren team is run to the highest of standards and cheating is not in vocabulary.

Also I think it is almost insulting to a team like Mclaren that it would even need to result in stealing secrets from Ferrari. There may of been talk at the start of the year of a "brain drain" in the Mclaren aero department with Adrian Newey and several other key members moving to other teams but this team but it is still capable of producing a perfectly quick car. Ron Dennis said himself that the team still has many brilliant staff and that people were reading too much in to the loss of Newey. Also the car has been on the pace of the Ferrari since day 1 and its thought that Ferrari went backward in having to modify its floor costing them speed rather than Mclaren suddenly being a lot quicker even if it is true that Stepney tipped Coughlan off about the floor of the Ferrari Mclaren would still be leading both titles anyway. Like last weekend at Nurburgring Ferrari dropped valuable points with a dnf for Raikkonen and losing out in changeable conditions. Mclarens reliability compared to recent years like 05 has been pretty good this year. The Mclaren cars have finished every race unlike Ferrari. But the FIA will decide tomorrow......

Thursday 26th July The Verdict.

The WMSC is satisfied that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was in possession of confidential Ferrari information and is therefore in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code. However, there is insufficient evidence that this information was used in such a way as to interfere improperly with the FIA Formula One World Championship. We therefore impose no penalty.

"But if it is found in the future that the Ferrari information has been used to the detriment of the championship, we reserve the right to invite Vodafone McLaren Mercedes back in front of the WMSC where it will face the possibility of exclusion from not only the 2007 championship but also the 2008 championship."

So Mclaren escape punishment- for now. Though this verdict outlines heavy penalties if the courts do find in future that Ferrari data on the Mclarens. With Coughlan suspended and surely dismissed from Mclaren at the end of this affair the only way to prove anything untoward had gone on would be Coughlan saying he used the data on the Mclaren car itself. But the final part of the FIA statement is probably the best thing that could come out of this hearing.

"The WMSC will also invite Mr Stepney and Mr Coughlan to show reason why they should not be banned from international motor sport for a lengthy period and the WMSC has delegated authority to deal with this matter to the legal department of the FIA."

This is what should of happened from the beginning this whole hearing could just of been a simple matter of clearing Mclaren so that then they could then deal with Stepney and Coughlan. Of course there maybe more revelations yet to come in the Italian and British court hearings in the future which could harm Mclaren and get them excluded from the 07 and 08 season. For now however it is up to Coughlan and Stepney to explain themselves and for Stepney to prove how he is part of a conspiracy and who else in Ferrari is involved as he claims. If they do escape a long ban from international motor sport who would be willing to employ them anyway especially with what Coughlan states in his affidavit.

That is for the future however and hopefully for now we can go back to why F1 exists racing. So where was I? Ah yes Hamilton vs Alonso vs Massa vs Raikkonen which do i think will win overall.......