Komentarji na McLarnovo opravičilo (priznanje krivde?):
Where Is Mr. Integrity Now?
Ron Should Resign
Wow, Mclaren finally come clean over Stepneygate and admit what everybody knew. Ron Dennis should resign. I wonder what the Ferrari haters are going to say now?
Miguel A. Méndez, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Dennis Under The Cosh
They are a disgrace and those staff members who have access to the "stolen" information should have their contracts cancelled even if Ron is one of them. Yes, maybe they've been forced to make this statement to get back into F1.
So telling a lie to get back in, well that's dishonest as well. The "criminals" win again.
Farewell F1...A very p+*&%d off former supporter.
Roger Sliney
Some Cream With That Humble Pie
It's almost too difficult to type through the tears of laughter streaming down my face, but here goes.
Mr. Ron Dennis, sir, I think it's time to pack your bags and leave this once majestic sport. Formula 1 has no place for characters such as yourself. For years I have watched you lodge protest after protest against other teams (any other team) for even the smallest of technical infringements.
Whenever I have heard a team being investigated for possibly running illegal parts, it has never surprised me to find your name mentioned in the same breath. "Mr Integrity" indeed! Do you really expect us to believe, Mr Integrity, that in the most technically advanced sport in the known universe, your investigative team were unable to discover rampant cheating or even a few emails? Really?
I must confess, I am no McLaren fan, but even I started to feel a little sorry for them and frustrated by what seemed to be a witch hunt. Turns out the old guys in charge were right. Which of course explains why the verdict on McLaren's 2008 car has been delayed. The repercussions of this are enormous, and I for one hope that McLaren are in next year's championship, even if it's just to watch them get trounced by the likes of Ferrari, Renault and BMW. Perhaps it is time for Mercedes to buy the remaining shares in McLaren and put their own personnel in charge, and Ron can retire to his rocking chair and relieve us of the whining.
Todt may longer be in charge of Ferrari F1, but I imagine the smile on his face must be so smug right now and I can almost see the two fingered salute to all the McLaren sympathisers. Forze Ferrari. (And I'm allowed to say that, I've been supporting them since I was old enough to form my own opinion, long before the Schumi era.)
Warren, South Africa
The Bad Guys Are...
So the FIA and Ferrari were the bad guys, Ron Dennis and McLaren were the innocent victims being pursued by the Jean Valjean of motor racing, and the FIA was conducting a "witch hunt" in pursuing the case against McLaren.
Those that defended McLaren must really feel like complete idiots, and I'd like to know if they would like some fries with their order of crow?
And as for McLaren, once again after being caught with their hand in the cookie jar they come clean and confess to their transgressions. Not only was the use of the Ferrari information wide spread throughout the organization, we now find out that they had actually used the information in the design of their 2007 and 2008 cars which the FIA thankfully discovered in their subsequent reviews.
I certainly hope that those journalists who vehemently defended McLaren and vilified the FIA and Ferrari, condemn McLaren with the same voracity. I also hope that these so-called journalists will refrain from publishing articles taking one side or the other until all of the information is in.
As this scandal was playing out, I surprised at the number of articles published that claimed the FIA and Ferrari were in the wrong before the second hearing has been conducted. And then when the FIA announced a special meeting in February, again, there were a large number of articles published stating that the FIA were in the wrong, only for us to discover that they had actually found McLaren were incorporating Ferrari designs in their 2008 car.
Bruce Ford
Was This An Apology Or An Admission Of Guilt?
If I read one more mention of Ron Dennis' honesty and integrity, I swear I'll crush my computer. In July he reassured us after a thorough two-day investigation that nobody in McLaren had seen this information. Why, people actually turned their heads when Coughlan tried to show them drawings! Since then the slow drip, drip, drip of the details of their involvement has show otherwise.
McLaren are such two faced hypocrites! They didn't appeal the $100M fine 'for the good of the sport'. Ha! They just want the whole thing to be swept under the rug. They don't want to win the championship in an appeal, they just want a rule clarification. Then they argue that their driver should be given the championship in the hearing.
The British press has been played by Dennis and Whitmarsh. McLaren deserve what is coming to them, and they just might be watching the 2008 season from the outside.
Trent in Dallas
Oh, Brother!
Let me see if if I understand this. McLaren were using Ferrari data in the design of at least three components in the 2008 car. But they said nothing about it until they were caught in flagrante delicto by the FIA examiners. And of course they never would have admitted it otherwise. Now, they want to apologize and make nice with the FIA and Ferrari, et al. and just sweep the whole problem under the rug.
Do I have that right?
If so, they should they be thrown out of F1 for 2008 - drivers, cars, everyone. Ron Dennis should be declared persona non grata by the entire F1 community. And the FIA should impose heavy penalties on his return to the sport if ever.
Heads are going to roll...
Joseph Finley
Who Are The Real Thieves Again?
It has gone so quiet...the conspiracy theories...the mafia accusations...the FIA favouritisms...all uncharacteristacally silenced...
We all wanted to find an excuse and believe McLaren good faith and we all fell flat on our faces!!
This apology is the most blatant piece of self serving political statement...one that really put McLaren in a very clear light..now the whole world knows who they are and what they are made of!
They will race in 2008 with no penalties...
Steve, Toronto
Finally Coming Clean
I hope today's admission and apology finally provides enough proof for all those who so vehemently accused the FIA of favoritism and bias despite evidence that Basil Fawlty would call "bleeding obvious". Far from being transparent, it unfortunately appears that McLaren only acted when it was clear that they were going to get a serious clock cleaning by the WMSC at the upcoming meeting in February. However, by being reasonably humble and "pro-active" it looks like McLaren will avoid another mega penalty and all of this will simply go away for the "benefit of the sport."
Clearly their 2007 results are tainted and even if McLaren does restrict development in the areas in question, they still have gained an advantage by learning so many of Ferrari's secrets. The "we had no idea this had become so widespread" defense rings hollow, and I won't be holding my breath for the obligatory sacking of the many in the McLaren organization who used the Ferrari materials but failed to come forth.
As Martin Whitmarsh said, "these matters all could have been avoided" had the team acted honestly and properly. Sadly they didn't and it looks like the FIA may have let them off too easy.
Brian Baum, Seattle
Why Now...?
Why are McLaren apologizing to the FIA, WMSC and Ferrari now? They've claimed for the last 6 months that they have done nothing wrong and that no Ferrari intellectual property has been used on their car. This apology is a 180 degree turn from their previous posturing.
I'd like to believe the apology to be genuine. I'd like to commend McLaren for finally being forthright but they also suggest a development freeze on 3 components of the 2008 MP4-23 car that have been compromised from Ferrari data disseminating into the design of the new car. Wow. It's fantastic that McLaren are policing themselves in such a way. Their apology stinks. McLaren is trying to sway the FIA into letting them race in 2008 as well as protect their chances for championship glory next year. It's a bit late for that. McLaren should start the season with -50 points in the constructor's championship and -25 for each of their 2 drivers.
John Zile, Pleasanton CA
Jean Todt:"At the hearing McLaren came with 200 signatures of managers saying they never had access to the information. Then, three months later, when the FIA did its verifications, it was demonstrated that was completely false. They went corrupting their own personnel to make them sign false documentation."
Todt also waded into the debate over Ron Dennis' future as team principal of McLaren.
"Should Ron Dennis be banned? We can't rule in place of the FIA. Let's see what the organisation is like in 2008. This is a world that goes around quickly. It's December now and the championship starts in mid March. Many things can happen in three months."
It would indeed be strange to see Whitmarsh and Dennis back in the pitlane next year and Jean Todt gone. But strange things happen in F1. With two races to go nobody gave Kimi Raikkonen a prayer of winning the drivers' title and look what happened there...
Frank Hopkinson
Planet-F1 News