December 06, 2007

Wait... WHAT?!?!?!

A ruling has been handed down by the World MotorSports Council in the Renault spy case.  Their public statement is as follows:

"An extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council was held in Monaco on December 6, 2007.  The World Council found Renault F1 to be in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code but imposed no penalty.  Detailed reasons for this decision will be issued on December 7, 2007, and a transcript of the proceedings will be published as soon as possible thereafter."

Let's put this in plain English: Renault is guilty of spying, but the FIA isn't going to do anything about it.  On the other hand, McLaren was fined $100million and excluded from the Constructor's Championship because of unproven allegations.

I can't wait to read their "detailed reasons", to see exactly how they justify this decision.  I'll admit that I just don't see how they can, but it'll be good for a laugh, if nothing else.  As a F1 fan, I now feel like the ruling body of the sport has just proven that they can't steward the sport fairly.

To repeat:  Renault ADMITTED they were spying, and the FIA isn't even going to slap them on the wrist.  Nothing at all.  I'm speechless at the level of disregard for the rules... from the people in charge of them, no less!


More info as it becomes available.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:16 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 409 words, total size 5 kb.

1 It will be... interesting... to see McLaren's response to this.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 07, 2007 02:17 AM (+rSRq)

2

UNREAL!!! 

Wonder if McLaren could take the esteemed *rolling eyes* FIA or Renault  to a REAL court with...ya know, real judges with brains in their heads...and sue the pants off them for $100 million for defamation?

Posted by: Mallory at December 07, 2007 10:39 AM (8cqq/)

3 Utterly inconsistant - Renault should be subject to the same penalties that McLaren was earlier this year.  But these decisions seem to be made on the basis of whether or not Ferrari can get any benefit from them.  In the Stepney case this summer, Ferrari stood to benefit if McLaren was punished - the results of this investigation didn't matter so much to the red team, so this is what you get.

I suspect even the WWF would be less hypocritical.


Posted by: Vaucanson's Duck at December 07, 2007 01:32 PM (XVJDy)

4 Man, it's even worse. They let Renault off the hook, but they're leaving McLaren on the hook until February 14, a month before the 2008 season starts, when they'll decide whether to disqualify the team entirely.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 08, 2007 01:10 AM (+rSRq)

5

This kind of thing is exactly why I love Formula I. The racing is often boring, to tell the truth, but the politics! Oh I love the politics. Remember the year they instituted the fuel checks becauset they finally noticed Renault had a guy in a Space Suit (not gloves and a mask - a real full-body Space Suit) fueling the cars? Odd that, given that the cars are supposed to be running on pump fuel. 

Well they started checking the fuel, and at the first race in Brazil, it sure made a difference. For the first time in years, the usual suspects weren't on the podium. An exciting season for a change!!!  Until they checked the fuel and found out.... it sure as hell wasn't pump gas.

What to do, what to do? Removing these guys from the podium put the usual suspects in their rightful and usual places. Dull season on the horizon, Captain!

The answer was something that only the French could have dreamed up (although it's been used several times since) - the cars were disqualified but not the drivers!

You never know what Bernie is going to cook up in the back room.

So as it originally did in the McLaren case until Alonso screwed things up, it makes perfect sense that Renault had access to zillions of technical facts about their opponents but didn't use them. Right?

Right!

This kind of French-logic is what makes F1 exciting.

 

Posted by: Lokki at December 12, 2007 03:42 PM (wSBsc)

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