Formula 1 - 2008 Season

[Unknown Soldier]

FIA: McLaren planned to use Ferrari data

McLaren were poised to use systems on their 2008 car that had been inspired by secret Ferrari information given to them by Nigel Stepney, the FIA's technical report on the matter reveals.

Having conducted a detailed examination of the design of McLaren's 2008 car, to see if any Ferrari intellectual property had been used, the FIA report published on Thursday claims that there was evidence of such activity.

Although what the specific parts and systems are have not been revealed, to keep McLaren's own technical secrets confidential, the report is adamant that some elements of the MP4-23 design was scheduled to include technology inspired by confidential Ferrari information.

The report states: "The [redacted - confidential] system appears to have been re-investigated and developed by McLaren as a result of the receipt of confidential Ferrari information.

"Despite senior McLaren management imposing a hiatus on development at the time the (Mike) Coughlan activities were revealed, McLaren now intend to use [redcated - confidential] on the 2008 car."

It added: "The [redacted - confidential] mechanism which McLaren has developed since the 3 May 2007 Coughlan meeting is intended to be used on the 2008 car and appears to have been initiated by the receipt of confidential Ferrari information."

Detailed examination of the report shows that one area where McLaren had appeared to utilise the Ferrari information was in the creation of a new brake balance system.

The report states: "It appears on the basis of these documents that the genesis of the idea to incorporate a [redacted - confidential] on the McLaren 2008 car emanated from the emails exchanged on 12 April 2007 concerning Ferrari's [redacted – confidential] system and the meeting called on 3 May 2007 by Coughlan. We have not been presented with a convincing explanation to displace the impression given by the documents."

The report also states that McLaren were ready to consider the use of CO2 gas in their tyres, as Ferrari do. It is believed 'more likely than not' that the idea came to the team from information given by Nigel Stepney.

The report states: "We believe the general investigation by McLaren of the use of [redcated – confidential] established further dissemination of confident Ferrari information to engineers within McLaren which has influenced their work on the 2007 and 2008 cars."

The FIA document also reveals that engineers within the team were aware of a Ferrari 'mole' passing information to them.

One email exchange between engineers on April 13, 2007 discussing steering angles mentioned an exact figure for the Ferrari wheelbase. A response from a senior McLaren engineer was: "Is the Ferrari wheelbase an accurate figure? Did it come from photos or our mole?"

The response was: "You will find it's to the nearest 'mm'."

The report states: "On a natural reading of this exchange and taking into account the suggested explanations for it, we have concluded that both [Senior McLaren Engineer] and [Senior McLaren Engineer] were aware that confidential Ferrari information was being leaked through a mole and were prepared to use that information for McLaren's benefit in the design of the 2007 and 2008 cars."

The report reveals that McLaren indeed decided to follow Ferrari's example and increase the wheelbase of their car for 2008, although it could not prove whether this was because of the secret Ferrari information or because of information that was readily available and in the public domain.

McLaren have apologised to the FIA for not being aware of just how far the Ferrari information obtained by the team had spread within their organisation, and the report reveals that even a 'Senior McLaren management figure' was aware of what was going on.

It states the unidentified senior McLaren management figure advised the team to abandon work on a secret technical development because of the spy case surrounding the team.

The report states that on August 8, a senior McLaren engineer communicated a decision reached by a senior McLaren management figure to junior staff members that they were to abandon their efforts on the development

"I would not change the [redacted – confidential] direction until we have to, i.e., when we eventually run the [redacted – confidential]. We will obviously ask for this again for Turkey but I'm not hopeful that we will run this until the outstanding FIA agro [sic] is resolved."

McLaren have vowed to cease development work on the parts that could have been inspired by Ferrari knowledge, and the FIA stated on Thursday night that it was now willing to bring the matter to a close.

News Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64374

I wonder how long they can 'hold' the development they stole.

US

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Ferrari: spy case legal action to continue

"Ferrari notes the apology offered today by the McLaren Group, following the investigations carried out by the FIA Technical Department, as presented to the WSMC on 7th December last," said the statement.

"The written and verbal statements issued by senior McLaren personnel both at the World Council meetings of the 26th July and 13th September and through the media have thus been publicly proved wrong.

"Therefore it is admitted that confidential information which was the property of Ferrari was disseminated within the structure of the English team and this also confirms the seriousness of the behaviour of those involved over the past few months.

"In the light of McLaren's apology and the guarantees it has presented, Ferrari respects the proposal of the FIA President to cancel the extraordinary general meeting of the WSMC scheduled for 14th February coming, thus bringing this incident to a close from a sporting point of view. However, it is confirmed that criminal actions underway in Italy and civil ones in England are still continuing."

Read More: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64375

 

[Unknown Soldier]

FIA could scrap slick tyre return

"The theory is: much less downforce and more mechanical grip should improve the racing and overtaking," he said.

"(But) if it turns out that the promised reduction in downforce hasn't happened and the cornering speeds go up, we'll just put the grooves back in," Mosley added.

News Source: http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/071214091611.shtml

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Than put a ban on all those wingy's all over the cars. Wouldnt mind seeing them go anyway because they make the cars look ugly. Better yet, just have them drive the cars from the early 90's with updated cockpit safety.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Beleaguered McLaren admit cash shortage

McLaren have admitted their cash shortage from the Stepneygate crisis is even worse than first feared.

Already fined $100m by the FIA for their part in the spy scandal that threatened to derail the 2007 World Championship and which cost the team the Constructors' Championship, McLaren have been further rocked by the implications of their grovelling public admission that 'Ferrari information was more widely disseminated within McLaren than was previously communicated'.

In a highly revealing passage in Martin Whitmarsh's letter of apology to the governing body, the McLaren CEO wrote that: 'Apart from the morale-sapping consequences within the team, its ability to continue its task of generating investment has been made virtually impossible. Consequently, the long-term damage to the team's previously outstanding record and commercial capability is significantly greater than that potentially envisaged by the fiscal penalty imposed.'

The team have pledged to effectively redesign their 2008 charger from scratch - itself an expensive and time-consuming undertaking - and also meet the £1m bill for the FIA's latest investigation.

While there is no question of the team being unable to meet the costs of fielding two cars for the 2008 season, Whitmarsh's admission that the team is struggling to attract investment has increased the possibility of Pedro de la Rosa being appointed Lewis Hamilton's team-mate next season in a bid to appease McLaren's influential and extremely lucrative Spanish sponsors.

News Source: http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_2972688,00.html

 

[Unknown Soldier]

McLaren sign Heikki Kovalainen!

McLaren Mercedes confirmed this afternoon that Heikki Kovalainen will team up with championship runner-up Lewis Hamilton for the 2008 season. Pedro de la Rosa will remain the third driver and an integral part of the team, whilst Gary Paffett will assist Pedro with the testing programme when required.

“We had a number of options open to us and as always we want to make sure that we have the most competitive driver line-up and I think that Lewis and Heikki will be a formidable combination,” said Martin Whitmarsh. “Both enjoyed great rookie seasons in 2007 and share a genuine passion for winning and being the best. Heikki made a strong impression and Lewis’ performance so far has been outstanding and speaks for itself. I am confident that they will push each other on track and work well together off track. In addition with Pedro remaining our primary test driver alongside Gary, we really have a strong package and look forward to 2008.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport commented: “Heikki is a talented driver who showed his skills during his debut season in Formula 1 this year. Heikki’s most impressive performance was at the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji where he finished second behind Lewis in extremely treacherous wet conditions.

He is not only a quick driver but also one of the most consistent having finished in every Grand Prix except the last which puts him in the top five together with our drivers who covered most laps in 2007. Everybody in the team is looking forward to a very fruitful co-operation. Lewis and Heikki will form one of the youngest driver line-ups, and I am convinced that both will be very strong and at the same time co-operative competitors.”

26-year-old Kovalainen, who made his Formula 1 race debut last year with Renault, joins the team on a long-term contract and will commence his on-track programme in early January.

“I am so excited to join a team like Vodafone McLaren Mercedes,” said Kovalainen. “So far I have been blown away by the dedication and commitment to winning which is clear through the entire organisation and I am really excited about our joint future. As a Finn it’s an honour for me to follow in Mika and Kimi’s footsteps. I haven’t really spent a lot of time with Lewis so far but from what I know I think we will work well together and do our best for the team.”

Read More: http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/071214164143.shtml

 

[DuckThor Evil]

YES!!

Great stuff, now there are two Finns in the best two teams, meaning that we'll cream the rest of the world with even bigger margin next year
It's going to be interesting to see whether Heikki can keep up with Hamilton.

 

[Bludd]

It will surely be limited, but the weight shouldn't be much. Anywhere between 30 and 60 kg depending on the size (ass-uming Li-Ion here). But the battery is not the problem, there are other components involved - battey-ECU, very thick cabling for high voltage parts, DC/DC-converter, E-engine etc. Mechanical pumps will be thrown out and replaced by e-pumps and so on.

A difference in weight for a normal series sedan is usually about 200 kg more for the hybrid version, so I guess in F1 we'll see maybe 70-100 kg more weight due to the extra components.

Remember that F1 cars now contain a certain amount of very expensive high-density ballast. FIA is interested in lowering the minimum weight of an F1 car due to the cost of the ballast, so the added weight of the components you are discussing could conceivably be used to replace most of the ballast.

 

[chavvdarrr]

so much for "oh, but McLaren never really used the data, its only that badass Alonso that knew about it"

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

so much for "oh, but McLaren never really used the data, its only that badass Alonso that knew about it"

Looks to me like everyone did a deal under the table. This was dragging out and hurting Mclaren's financials, making the FIA look stupid, and generally pulling the whole sport down. The idea that a top flight team was having trouble getting sponsors because of this must have filled the sport with horror.

If it had dragged on to the 08 car, I could see all of next year being overshadowed by court cases, loss of sponsors, more spy stuff, and the sport losing a lot of fans. Kind of what's happened to cycling this year.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Interesting commentary:

The real question that remains is whether admitting to having done things while under torture makes a confessions true. In the history of the world there are many cases which show that confessing is the pragmatic way to stop the pain and allow those inflicting it to disappear off to polish their uniforms and congratulate themselves on a job well done. McLaren's final pained squawk is a most unusual confession because it is clearly one that was phrased by lawyers.

McLaren is a team that exists to go racing and to win. In our experience it is an team that has certain principles and sticks to them. And that makes the statement very hard to understand. Are we F1 observers all fools who cannot recognise honesty and integrity? Were we duped by Ron Dennis and men? Are the conclusions we have reached over many years of dealings with these people the wrong conclusions?

It is possible that this is the reality - but it does not feel like it. It feels as though McLaren has decided that it is a necessary evil to do certain things to survive. This is not the act of a racing team which prides itself on its integrity. It just a way to stop the pain. A sensible form of risk management that involves a little more agony, some swallowed pride and the opportunity to go back to the business of what is important. It is very clear that McLaren would not have put out such a statement unless it was absolutely forced to do so. There is an element of pride in the organisation that would never have allowed this to happen unless it was absolutely necessary.

The only kind of sanction that would have forced such a statement is the threat of the team not being allowed to compete in 2008. If the FIA had thrown McLaren out of the World Championship in 2008, what would have been the next step? There might have been legal actions but these would have taken time and there is no way that this would have been sorted out by the start of the new season. Racing is what is important. Perhaps legal arguments might have been won in the end, but where would that have left the team? Sitting in the garage feeling good about itself?

It is certainly very convenient that McLaren has caved in. It means that the FIA will be seen to have been right all along the way and thus there is no sensible possibility of any legal actions against the decisions that have been made; it would seem to justify the penalty imposed and it means that the industrial espionage scandals can disappear and F1 will no longer be viewed with wide-eyed amazement by casual observers who just cannot understand why one team was right and another wrong.

 

[Dave Baumann]

The big guys are getting ready to launch their cars fairly early in 2008. Here's a list of currently announced launch dates:

Ferrari: January 6
McLaren: January 7
Toyota: January 10
BMW: January 14
Red Bull: January 16
Honda: January 29
Renault: January 31
Williams: February 2

 

[Davros]

If anyones interested itv are showing
F1 season review show
30 December 1100-1200 ITV1

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=41510

I beleive you can watch it online but you may have to use a proxy if your not in the u.k
http://www.itv.com/

 

[DJ12]

The big guys are getting ready to launch their cars fairly early in 2008. Here's a list of currently announced launch dates:

Ferrari: January 6
McLaren: January 7
Toyota: January 10
BMW: January 14
Red Bull: January 16
Honda: January 29
Renault: January 31
Williams: February 2

Ferrari getting out first so they can claim everyone copied there wheel at every corner design.

 

[Dave Baumann]

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/071229154448.shtml

So, Ferrari have shortened their wheelbase while we know from the transcripts McLaren have increased theirs. The question is, will the roughly meet in the middle of where each were last year or will they flip positions (thusly, largely, swapping the circuits they were repectively strong at last year!).

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Ferrari had a long wheelbase last year mainly because its easier to drive. Its not strange they're making it shorter because it will fit kimi's driving style more.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Yep, saw that too Dave. It doesn't mention how much shorter it will be though, just that they've shortened it. And if McLaren have extended their wheelbase, it'll certainly be interesting to find out where they both meet.

US

 

[Dave Baumann]

New Ferrari Launched:

 

[Bludd]

I made these to compare the launch pictures from 2007 and 2008. Sadly, I don't have a way to make animated GIFs on this computer.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Hardly any difference if you ask me. Than again its almost impossible to see any change with the modern cars because there isnt a straight line on them to begin with not to mention all the aero rules limit alot of things anyway so you cant even try something very different even if you wanted. The only real difference I can see is the wing thingy on the side of the air intake, it now has a hole in it and is a bit bigger.