Official F1/Motorsport thread

[VR46]

Yeah I gave up trying to get onto their site after sixty seconds.

Going to be a big scramble for seats for next year if true.

[Duddyroar]

Oh dear...

[Richard.John]

FA will be on the way out. I reckon DaimlerChrysler will buy out the remaining shares in the team and we will see the team re-emerge as a Mercedes Benz. A sad day indeed if the Mclaren name disappears.

Of course they may appeal....

[Duddyroar]

Do they have grounds for an appeal though?

[toythatkills]

Oh dear...

That's nothing official, that's just based on the BBC talking this morning about what the worst case scenario would be

[Duddyroar]

True - the story has just changed in the last five minutes from 'McLaren expelled' to 'FIA propose explusion'

[Richard.John]

Maybe there is light at the end of tunnel....

[Simmy]

Just listening to Radio Five Live - David Croft is reporting that an hour ago they received a report that the 07 / 08 ban had been put forward, and it's currently being debated, with no answer as yet.

Evidently Mclaren can't appeal any decision by the FIA but the Britsh Motor Sports Council (thinks that's right) can appeal against the decision for them.

If the worst case senario happens, then I can see this being the end of the line of my 20 odd years watching F1.

[Duddyroar]

Bit of a mess though, innit. Someone has to be punished, it's just unacceptable, regardless of McLaren benefitting from having the info.

[Simmy]

I don't disagree that Maclaren need to be punished if they are guilty, I just don't think I'll be able to enjoy the sport again if I have no confidence that the results of a race or a championship are finalised when the cars pass the chequered flag !

[TheForce]

so it seems that just the team got an penalty, they lose all the points for this season, Alonso and Hamilton won't be punished, they keep their points and McLaren must pay 100mil dollars ! atleast that's the news at the moment....
if Mclaren really did steal stuff from Ferarri then I think they deserve this punishment... good to see that Alonso and Hamilton keep their points and thus also the drivers championship will be between them.

It's again a sad day for F1, the races are boring for over the last 3 or 4 years, and now finally we have 4 drivers that can still claim the championship and now this happens......

I hope they can get F1 back to how it was in the late 80 and early 90..

[toythatkills]

I can't imagine what the damage to the sport in the UK would have been if they'd disqualified Hamilton

[Kieran76]

It was a no brainer for the FIA in that respect. Most exciting season in years ended in a flash, they would never do that. Still, I don't think we have heard the last of all this. Such a shame as well, this weekend should all be about the return to Spa, not all this dirty legal gubbins.

[Simmy]

Yes it would of destroyed this years championship, yes it would of lost the sport all of the new Hamilton effect fans and possibly a few of us longer standing fans, but atleast the judgement would then of made sense.

I realise we are not as yet sure exactly what Maclaren have been punished for, but with the level of fine, you would have to presume, as all seem to be, that they have been found guilty of cheating through using this dosier to produce / refine a car to beat the Ferrari's. Removing all of their constructors points for the season would indicate that they have been judged to of gained an unfair advantage this year in doing this, and therefore how can they not punish the drivers who are directly benifiting from this advantage with the 2007 car.

Last thing I want to see is a farse of a 2007 season, but whether Alonso and Hamilton are punished or not that exactly what we now have. Any title which they win will surely be tarnished by the fact that we are told they cheated to achieve it !

Edit : Just to add I have more trust in the integrity of Maclaren and Ron Dennis than I do in that of the FIA. I just feel that if the FIA are going to insist on this action however, that they do so correctly, and in a way that makes some sense to the fans !

[Simmy]

You can scratch that edit off my last post, after hearing details of the evidence report from the FIA. It is obvious that at minimum key members or at worst the whole team were implicit in using and receiving information from this guy at Ferrari to gain a performance/tactical advantage.

I trully do not understand how the FIA can allow the drivers to get away with this, and allow them to continue to race in the 07 car. It is such a cope out it is beyond belief, but not surprising with Bernie sitting on the panel deciding Maclarens fate !

Think I'm fully turned off F1 now !