Oh, it's an F1 scandal!?

[Louisxiii]

So i heard it from my father a couple of weeks back. I read the article in La Gazzetta dello Sport (most distributed Italian newspaper throughout). I spoke to some other people about it and now i'll be showing it all to you. I'm not sure if their are many F1 fans here but i'm sure their are "scandal" fans in here So here's the latest in F1 news...

Motor sport's world governing body is to investigate the alleged sabotage of Formula One team Ferrari that has implicated an employee of rival McLaren.

FIA said yesterday in a brief statement that it had the full co-operation of both teams in its probe.

Earlier, McLaren said its Formula One cars did not contain any Ferrari-related alterations and invited FIA to inspect them.

On Tuesday, McLaren suspended an employee -- named in British newspapers as chief designer Mike Coughlan -- after learning he had personally received a package of technical information from a Ferrari employee at the end of April.

McLaren said it spoke with Ferrari about the issue and invited FIA to conduct a full review of its cars "to satisfy itself that the team has not benefited from any intellectual property of another competitor."

IT WASN'T enough that formula one had been shaken by allegations from Ferrari of sabotage and the theft of intellectual property by one of their exployees.

No sooner had engineer Nigel Stepney's contract been terminated for what Ferrari claims had been attempted sabotage of their cars before the Monaco Grand Prix and the unauthorised leaking of technical information, when the plot became even more unsavoury.

The scandal widened embarrassingly for McLaren Mercedes when Ferrari accused their chief designer Mike Coughlan of involvement in espionage against the legendary Italian team.

At the request of Ferrari, police searched Coughlan's Surrey home over the alleged theft of technical information from their base at Maranello.

Ferrari suggested the material found at Coughlan's home was linked to the investigation into Stepney's activities in Italy.

In a statement, McLaren said they had been made aware that an unnamed senior member of the technical staff had received technical information from Ferrari in April. The staff member has been stood down pending investigations.

The astounding developments involving members of the two leading teams of 2007 have cast a pall over what has been a wonderful debut season for McLaren sensation Lewis Hamilton, who leads the world championship heading into his home British Grand Prix today.

Hamilton's hopes of being the first driver to win the title in his rookie year will be seriously dented if the case ends up in court and McLaren are implicated in espionage.

PARIS - Formula One team McLaren-Mercedes said Tuesday they have suspended a high-ranking technical employee accused by Ferrari of spying on the Italian constructor.

"McLaren became aware on Tuesday that a senior member of its technical organization was the subject of a Ferrari investigation regarding the receipt of technical information," said a statement on the team's website.

"The team has learnt that this individual had personally received a package of technical information from a Ferrari employee at the end of April."

Ferrari confirmed on Tuesday that it has sacked a member of its technical staff, Nigel Stepney, who it accused of attempting to sabotage its cars.

Ferrari also said they have presented a case against Stepney and a McLaren engineer to a court in Modena, Italy, concerning the theft of technical information.

At the end of April a judge in Modena found two ex-Ferrari employees guilty of industrial espionage. Mauro Iacconi and Angelo Santini had passed on information to Japanese outfit Toyota, although they fired the pair before the matter became public.

Ferrari has now fired engineering veteran Nigel Stepney, as speculation of sabotage and espionage continues to swell.

The Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport broke the news on Tuesday, following an internal investigation by the famous team and the commencement of legal proceedings against the 48-year-old Briton.

Stepney is due to return to Italy on Thursday from a holiday in the Philippines, and - having denied all wrongdoing - the latest suggestion is that he plans to return fire by suing Ferrari.
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"I can confirm that Nigel Stepney is no longer an employee of Ferrari," team spokesman Luca Colajanni confirmed.

Sacked Nigel Stepney plans to hit back at Ferrari by launching his own legal attack, according to his lawyer.

Sporting a tan, the Formula One veteran has now arrived back in Italy from a holiday in the Philippines.

On Thursday his house was searched for a second time before he was interviewed by police for three hours.

He is at the centre of an espionage scandal also involving McLaren's Mike Coughlan and Honda. It is now clear that Stepney and Coughlan, who could not be contacted on Friday, were allegedly pooling data and a group of Ferrari and possibly McLaren engineers in a bid to attract the interest of a high-paying alternate employer.


Stepney's Italian lawyer Sonia Bartolini is quoted as saying by The Guardian: "It is probable we will legally challenge Ferraris' firing of Nigel."

Formula One's governing body say they have not ruled out driver points penalties if McLaren are found to have acted wrongfully in the espionage drama that emerged in the sport this week.

It is alleged that former Ferrari employee Nigel Stepney gave a substantial amount of technical information about the Italian team's car to Mike Coughlan of McLaren.

This information could feasibly have been used to improve the McLaren car, though the British team have strongly denied that this is the case.

Earlier this week Chief Executive Bernie Ecclestone ruled out the possibility of punishment for McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and current driver's championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

However, on Thursday an FIA spokesman told autosport.com that no punishment could be ruled out until the governing body has concluded their investigations.

"We cannot rule out action being taken in both (the driver's and constructor's) championships," said the spokesman.
"We don't know when exactly the investigation will be finished, but it will certainly be within the next few weeks."

FIA President Max Mosley said that he is satisfied that both teams involved are complying with the investigation and he hopes for a speedy conclusion to the proceedings.

"Both McLaren and Ferrari are giving us all the information that we want and we are asking questions," Mosley said. "We will be writing to both teams next week with more questions and taking it from there. I hope that, as far as the sport is concerned, it should all be clarified within the next three weeks."

Nigel Stepney, the former Ferrari engineer at the centre of the Formula One 'industrial espionage' furore, has fled Italy and is in hiding with his girlfriend and their one-year-old daughter. He feared for his safety after harassment, involving high-speed car chases and the placing of a tracking device on his car, made his life unbearable.

Stepney, 47, speaking for the first time since being sacked by Ferrari for allegedly passing confidential documents to McLaren's chief designer, Mike Coughlan, told The Observer last night: 'There have been high-speed car chases. We've been followed by more than one car, with Italian plates, and when we cornered one of them last Thursday evening the men in it refused to speak. I don't believe they were journalists. Ash [Stepney's girlfriend] has been stalked at the house. There was tracking gear on my car. Someone was going to get hurt. I had no option but to get out of Italy.'

AND IT DOESN'T END JUST YET!

Albeit dwarfed by the scope of the espionage investigation, another technical controversy is bubbling away in the Silverstone paddock this weekend.

Perhaps emboldened by the apparent moral ground it holds in the Nigel Stepney-Mike Coughlan spy scandal, Ferrari's single seater has been running a more aggressive than ever 'wheel fairings' solution at the scene of the British Grand Prix.

The concept - black carbon-fibre wheel-rim covers that provide an aerodynamic benefit - first emerged on the Maranello built cars late last year, but only at the rear of the car.

Some rivals complained at the time that the fairings came close to flouting the rules about moveable aerodynamic devices, because, undeniably, they spin in excess of 300kph with the motion of the wheels.

But, because they are fixed securely to the rim and therefore arguably do not move, the FIA ultimately gave the concept the all-clear.
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It is understood, however, that the clearance - and the concurrence of the rest of the field - was limited to use on rear wheels only, because the front wheels move when the car is being steered.

For the first time, however, the Ferraris driven by Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa at Silverstone featured fairings on all four wheels.

Toyota and Renault were also using similar wheel fairings at Silverstone, but only at the rear of their cars.

Well, i think that'll be enough for the weekend...i'll post some more info once i get it. Sorry for not adding in the sources, i got lazy...copy paste FTW!...

[TheWanderer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW8RgmEJs-8

[maxmini]

Nice find , keep the info coming .

Randy

[Bombardier]

crrrazy

Originally Posted by TheWanderer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW8RgmEJs-8

LMAO!

[minimusprime]

corporate espionage is part of big business, so it's not that surprising.

There have been reports of teams sneaking into each others trailers with tape measures etc for years. lol This one is interesting though. I love tasty f1 drama.

[minimark]

WTF1...

[Louisxiii]

Originally Posted by TheWanderer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW8RgmEJs-8

Ya, this issue has been going on since the Montreal GP. The first i heard (from my father, who read it on the paper and heard it from some close friends) was that the head mechanic put a substance to "under perform" the Ferrari's engine thus causing a +10 sec lead from a F1 rookie (Hamilton). Since then all i've been hearing is "sabotage this and that"...ah well, i'll keep you guys posted...

[chipgrafx]

Actually, all this started before the Monaco Grand Prix (in May). That is when a powder was found in Massa's gas tank before practice.

[Louisxiii]

Originally Posted by chipgrafx

Actually, all this started before the Monaco Grand Prix (in May). That is when a powder was found in Massa's gas tank before practice.

Ahhhh...interesting...thanks for that bit of news Chip

[mel]

I used to follow formula 1 some years ago, but now I cant avoid falling asleep after some 10 laps... even today I got bored and I slept...
overtaking? naaaa
car accident? naaaa
engine spectacular failure? naaaa
laser guided missiles? maybe the solution
luca cordero di montezemolo, ferrari's number1, said that the truth about the scandal is coming up, and it won't be a nice one.
so they're convicned about the guiltiness of stepney

[Louisxiii]

^^ WHA!?! No way! Uh oh...smells like sh!t

[mel]

Originally Posted by Louisxiii

^^ WHA!?! No way! Uh oh...smells like sh!t

[Louisxiii]

luca cordero di montezemolo, ferrari's number1, said that the truth about the scandal is coming up, and it won't be a nice one.
so they're convicned about the guiltiness of stepney

sorry i got excited...

[mel]

Originally Posted by Louisxiii

sorry i got excited...

those are the word that montezemolo said this evening after the Grand Prix.
btw, how did you managed to read La Gazzetta dello Sport?

[Louisxiii]

Originally Posted by mel

those are the word that montezemolo said this evening after the Grand Prix.
btw, how did you managed to read La Gazzetta dello Sport?

I'm Italian, from Canada. My father's from Cervinara and my mother is Casertana. Montreal has a HUGE Italian community, all thanks to Mussolini (f*** head), therefore, if i walk into an italian bar and grab an espresso, i have to have La Gazzetta dello Sport. The only thing i'll be missing are fresh 'n hot Sfogliatelle. Only problem is, is that i can't write Italian. Ask me to read it. No problem. Speak it. I'm okay (don't forget, i have english AND french to deal with). I wasn't brought up to speak Italian, unfortunately (i was stubborn as a kid). So now, i'm stuck learning it on my own. Slowly but surely