WMSC Judgment

Since my post on the rumour that McLaren had been disqualified, the true sanctions have been confirmed. In short, McLaren will be stripped of all constructors' points from the 2007 season and fined $100 million. While they will still continue to participate in the remainder of the 2007 season, they will not score any constructors' points nor will they attend any podium celebrations. The drivers, however, will remain completely unaffected - they will keep all remaining points.

The full report is available here. It contains some very intriguing information that has come out of the hearings. Some extracts:

3.5 On 21 March 2007 at 09.57 Mr. de la Rosa wrote to Coughlan in the following terms:
“Hi Mike, do you know the Red Car’s Weight Distribution? It would be important for us to know so that we could try it in the simulator. Thanks in advance, Pedro.
p.s. I will be in the simulator tomorrow.”

3.6 In his evidence given to the WMSC, Mr. de la Rosa confirmed that Coughlan replied by text message with precise details of Ferrari’s weight distribution.

3.9 Mr. de la Rosa replied on 25 March 2007 13.02 stating the following:
“All the information from Ferrari is very reliable. It comes from Nigel Stepney, their former chief mechanic – I don’t know what post he holds now. He’s the same person who told us in Australia that Kimi was stopping in lap 18. He’s very friendly with Mike Coughlan, our Chief Designer, and he told him that.”

3.12 In the same e-mail exchange of 25 March 2007, Mr. de la Rosa states that tests had been carried out on a flexible rear wing which Mr. de la Rosa says is “a copy of the system we think Ferrari uses”. The Ferrari car’s precise aero balance at 250 kph is also identified.

3.13 Mr de la Rosa’s e-mail to Mr. Alonso on 25 March 2007 at 01.43 identified a gas that Ferrari uses to inflate its tyres to reduce the internal temperature and blistering. The e-mail concludes with a statement (in relation to the gas) that “we’ll have to try it, it’s easy!”.

3.14 Mr Alonso replied at 12.31 that it is “very important” that McLaren test the gas that Ferrari uses in its tyres as “they have something different from the rest”, and “not only this year. there is something else and this may be the key; let’s hope we can test it during this test, and that we can make it a priority!”.

3.15 Mr. de la Rosa replied on 25 March 2007 13.02 stating the following: I agree 100% that we must test the [tyre gas] thing very soon.

3.18 On 12 April 2007 at 12.25 Mr. de la Rosa wrote to Mr. Coughlan and asked “ can you explain me as much as you can, Ferrari’s braking system with the [reference to detailed technical information]? Are they adjusting from inside the cockpit...?”

Having read the report I feel Ferrari had every reason to push for the investigation. I'm actually a little surprised at just how light they got off on this knowing all this newly released information. I'm glad the WMSC released it though as it (hopefully) shows all those Ferrari haters out there that McLaren were justly punished.

I can go on for ages, but I'm tired and the SACO tomorrow morning means early morning, but stay posted for my rant on this debacle if you're interested. :-P