So we now know that McLaren are being penalised for the whole Stepney and Coughlan shenanigans.  So what does this mean to the team? Well they will fight on, both in the championship, and also in the courts.

The drivers will still be able to win the drivers’ championship, however the team have been denied the chance for the team win they deserve.
They have without a shadow of doubt got the best all round car this season. If Ferrari are happy to win the championship in this way, it just shows that they are not in the sport for the sport, and rather to win at any cost.

I for one hope that the McLaren team fight it through the courts and win, as they will certainly win both championships this year, even if they don’t lift both trophies.

On a positive note, Mario Theissen has said that he does not want to come second because the McLaren team have been removed from the championship. This I think is a true sign of a sporting team.

The FIA need to grow some genitalia, and let Ferrari know that they are not the Italian teams’ personal lapdogs. I think it’s about time some changes inside the sport’s governing body happen, with the head of it resigning and allowing someone that will not bow down to any of the teams to take over. I would also like to know what Bernie feels about this whole debacle, as it cannot be good for the profile of the sport.
This is a very negative day for the sport, it will not be the end of McLaren, but it may be the beginning of the end for the current FIA administration.

McLaren will certainly take this to appeal, and I would not be surprised if the matter does not end up in a civil action from the McLaren team for damages incurred. The worst part for McLaren is though, even if they win an appeal, it will not be as high profile in the press, and as such will have impacted McLarens name and sponsor pulling ability.

From us here, chin up McLaren, and don’t let the buggers grind you down.

The following is the McLaren Statement about the whole affair:

“The most important thing is that we will be going motor racing this weekend, the rest of the season and every season. This means that our drivers can continue to compete for the World Championship. However having been at the hearing today I do not accept that we deserved to be penalised in this way.”
“Today’s evidence given to the FIA by our drivers, engineers and staff clearly demonstrated that we did not use any leaked information to gain a competitive advantage.”

“Much has been made in the press and at the hearing today of emails and text messages to and from our drivers. The World Motorsport Council received statements from Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Pedro de la Rosa stating categorically that no Ferrari information had been used by McLaren and that they had not passed any confidential data to the team.”
“The entire engineering team in excess of 140 people provided statements to the FIA affirming that they had never received or used the Ferrari information.”

“We have never denied that the information from Ferrari was in the personal possession of one of our employees at his home. The issue is: was this information used by McLaren? This is not the case and has not been proven today.”

“We are also continually asked if McLaren didn’t use the information, what was the reason for Stepney and Coughlan collecting all this data about Ferrari? We can only speculate as neither Coughlan nor Stepney gave evidence at today’s hearing, but we do know that they were both seeking employment with other teams, as already confirmed by both Honda and Toyota.”

“There will be no issue for the 2008 season as we have not at any stage used any intellectual property of any other team.”

“We have got the best drivers and the best car and we intend to win the World Championship.”