As if we hadn’t had enough media coverage or Mr. Mosley’s positions, opinions, stance and diatribes; he is still at it regarding Mike Coughlin and Nigel Stepney. He also takes a moment to explain the severe penalty handed out to McLaren over the espionage debacle and there is something that I think we should pay particular close attention to in his statement regarding McLaren and Ferrari. Let’s take a look shall we? Comments and quotes are courtesy of our exclusive friends at Autosport…those magnificent bastards!
First, the Coughlin/Stepney restrictions being lifted:
“The other day we got a letter from the lawyers of one of them saying he has got this restriction and this restriction, and it does seem a little bit mad to make them serve out even longer when the two teams concerned are all making love to each other,” Mosley explained. “So, we have said we will let them forget it.
“In the end they were just very minor players. If the full story came out, they are two minor players and there are people who are not minor players. But the full story will probably never come out.”
The two teams are all “making love” to each other? This needs close attention as it is surely a paraphrase and in my mind? I think it betrays Max’s real feelings about the concept of a united Ferrari and McLaren leading FOTA for a coup. Just my whimsical notion…I have nothing to back that up.
And now the explanation of the fine:
“Why they got fined a lot is that because to begin with they said that nobody knew, and it was just him (Coughlan),” Mosley added. “Then it came out that more people in the company were involved than they had admitted, and although the fine sounds huge the real penalty was exclusion from the championship.
“That would have been the logical penalty, and a penalty that no one would have disputed amongst the public. You have got all the technical information from one of the other teams unlawfully – so you are out of the championship. If we had done that, it would have cost McLaren far more than $100 million, it might even have put them out of business.
“The reality was actually what they got was relatively modest. It is just that people can understand $100 million is a lot of money, they don’t understand the consequences for a team like McLaren if they had been excluded from the championship.
“I have to say, not because I am anti-McLaren but from a purely legal point, I would have excluded them – but the majority of the world council preferred the fine.”
Well it is a good thing to know that Max is not Anti-McLaren. I am sure Ron Dennis would say that he is not Anti-Mosley as well. Now who is “making love” to each other?
