If Bridgestone had left F1, would we be in this mess?

who knows,but at the end of the day coughlan was found with 780 pages of Ferrari data, the fia investigated and said that although mclaren where guilty they had not used any of the information.

now it turns out that that a mclaren driver (Alonso ?) in an email said that Ferrari data was used on the car since April of this year ,this info was given to the fia and mclaren have been called back to answer this new charge.

i don't think Ferrari set up stephney or coughlan, more like stephney had a paddywack because he did not get Ross brawn job ,so gave the info to coughlan to get even with Ferrari.

There is also a rumor that stephney gave info on break balance and tyre wear etc to coughlan as early 2006 .

Why frame someone for actions at the beginning of the season when ferrari won the first race.

Ferrari have hired quest to look into this matter.

what ever the outcome this season is a tainted one and all because one man got looked over for promotion.

I don't think this mess is about the tyres. The tyre situation has given us some extra dimensions this year and also a 4way fight for the championship. Remember when races where Bridgestone or Michelin circuits? So it was either a Renault or Ferrari weekend, based on the how the tyres did? How cr ap was that?

The mess is because Mclaren employees have been caught in posession of Ferrari documents and data, which is cheating. Its not like cheating at tiddly-winks.... this is a billion dollar sport and rightfully so, Ferrari are annoyed and want blood. The key is wether the Mclaren team were involved in the spying, or wether it was just individuals from their team.

My feeling is that because the drivers were aware of communications, the problem was deep-rooted within the team and the team should fined. I do not believe any penalty for them should affect the classic drivers championship.

Nah, they'd have said "wow, those chaps at Ferrari really worked their butts off to get up to speed with the Michelins." :)

Luca de Montezemolo certainly is a crafty sucker and Ferrari really does seem to live by the "win at all costs" mentalité. Which is different from the pre-Jean Todt, pre-Schumacher days. Nigel Roebuck addresses just this in his Autosport "Ask Nigel" piece this week.

I doubt there was a framing, at least with the technical information. Maybe this mysterious powder bit, that could be an attempt to make Stepney look a criminal, but other than that they simply caught on that he was angry about not getting to replace Brawn.

Who says F1 is dull eh? :)

RP

Good point.

And it's particularily pertinent to point out that Bridgestone specifically made tyres for SchMACKER's driving style (probably with reinforcement on the sides!)

Just goes to show how fired McLaren are.

Boo HOO. Love Ferrari now the cheat has gone, but they do bleat too much. They're not as white as driven snow either.

We'll never know. We don't even know where all this saga began. Couldit be that McLaren really stole Ferrari's data? Or they are framed and Ferrari decided to make Stepney the scapegoat? But if Ferrari are setting him up that doesn't make sense. Why want to implicate themselves?

Hi,

I am dismayed at recent events, and all concerned, despite the vast amounts of money involved, settle the issues as soon as possible. It is damaging to the sport and its' reputation.

I had not given enough consideratin to the tyre question, other than I show my age a bit by remembering a free choice for teams of Michelin, Bridgestone, Goodyear, Dunlop, Pirrelli, Avon etc.

Much more variation and fun.

Tyres are too standardised now.

Hey Ho.

I would not be surprised if Montezemolo was behind all this. Win at all and any cost.....that's Ferrari way.

I'm a Ferrari fan, and I'm not saying boo. Call me a cheat supporter. Call me unsporting. But hey, who says F1 is a sport?

interesting question! certainly a possibility, but who knows.

I dont think we will ever find out the truth. it could be just ferarri having sour grapes now that Shuey has gone and there are no longer the force that they were for the last 10 years.

And i bet they are even more peeved that LEwis is doing so well in his first season and making the ferarri drivers look like a sunday driver. lol

please bridgestone are used and the same compound but a tyre used on a red bull will not fit on ferrari rim, this is true for any team down the pit lane, plus this year car tyre will not fit on last years car in any team.

the tyre as two jobs, grip and how long it last.

Bring back Goodyear! or Firestone ! Or Dunlop !