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[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Transcript of the Q&A session with Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh - 13th September 2007

Following today’s World Motor Sport Council hearing in Paris, Ron Dennis, Chairman and CEO of the McLaren Group, and Martin Whitmarsh, COO of the McLaren Group, held a brief press conference. Please find the transcript of the open Q&A session below.

What is your next course of action?

Martin Whitmarsh:"We believe we have got the grounds for an appeal, but of course we are going to wait for the findings of the FIA, which we believe are going to be published tomorrow, and will consider those carefully before we make that decision.

Bearing in mind the precedent that has been set by this, do you feel now that you are the only team in Formula 1 who deserves to be punished for this sort of espionage? Do you feel that there are other teams out there who are doing the same thing and thus should receive the same punishment?

Martin Whitmarsh:"The starting point is we do not believe that we should have been punished in this way. I think today we should just concentrate on this hearing and this situation, not what's happening to other teams."

Do you think FIA president Max Mosley's attitude has changed from the last World Motor Sport Council meeting since the first hearing in July?

Ron Dennis:"I have no comment on that."

What was the new evidence given to the FIA today and the FIA statement says that your drivers are not punished because they helped the FIA to make the truth?

Ron Dennis: "I can tell you that the evidence today was primarily email traffic between our drivers, and in one instance, Mike Coughlan."

Martin Whitmarsh: "As we've said earlier, these were a few emails, and the drivers have stated categorically that no information was passed to the team."

Ron Dennis: "And of course the team had no knowledge of this email traffic at any stage."

How damaging financially is a fine of that size to a company like McLaren?

Ron Dennis: "Firstly, effectively, we will still have as an offset the revenue from the points earned to date. That will probably, effectively half the size of the cheque that we ultimately have to sign, if we ultimately accept this fine. But as you can see if you read our accounts, we turn over roughly $450-500 million a year, and we are debt-free. So obviously we are a very strong company, phenomenal growth."

Would something like today make you consider your future?

Ron Dennis: "My personal future was never in question as far as I was concerned. I'm very committed to this company, I'm very passionate about motor racing, and I have absolutely no intention of retiring. Save for I've made a firm commitment to Martin to succeed me as CEO, and that decision, whenever it's taken, will not have any bearing on today's affair or any other issue of this year."

How is this going to affect the future of your drivers?

Ron Dennis: "We have contracts with both of our drivers, multi-year contracts, and there has been no discussion about varying them. We have two of the best drivers in the world, and our commitment to winning races is undiminished. That's what we exist to do, is to win races. If there is any variation to those contracts, it will be by mutual agreements."

Do you have a feeling after today that the FIA is measuring with two measuring sticks?

Ron Dennis: "I'm not going to make any comment as to the FIA's findings, other than the fact that we are firmly of the opinion that we definitely do not concur with their findings. But until we have all the details from the FIA, it is impossible for me to have a position on it. They've issued the penalties, but they haven't issued the actual findings, and it would be wholly inappropriate for me to make any comment until we have those findings."

[Rad-oh-yeah?]

Evo i integralne izjave iz Ferarija:

Ferrari is satisfied that the truth has now emerged

Maranello, 13 September 2007

"Ferrari acknowledges the decision of the FIA to sanction Vodafone McLaren Mercedes for its breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code."

"In light of new evidence, facts and behaviour of an extremely serious nature and grossly prejudicial to the interest of the sport have been further demonstrated.

"Ferrari is satisfied that the truth has now emerged."

[Element@l]

Ova kazna je obicna packa. Cak, veoma je slicna onoj koju su dobili Juventus i ostali u Calcio aferi.

[burekdzija]

"Ferrari is satisfied that the truth has now emerged."

A bucket for monsieur.

Da li je moguce da je konstruktorska titula zaista vredna ovoga?

[alberto.ascari]

Sve je ovo farsa, još sa otvorenim vratima da se u decembru vratimo na slučaj. Soap opera, Šumiju ovo nije trebalo (a ni Laudi, Scheckteru, Ascariju i ostalima, a Bergeru i Alesiju ni ovo ne bi pomoglo), rešio je sve na stazi. A kad nije išlo, a nije išlo dugih pet godina, tvrdo se radilo da se napravi dobar auto.

Još kopija ankete sa Formula1.com, ybt šta su ti medija...

Do you believe the penalty handed out to McLaren by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council was fair?
Yes
No
Too soon to say
Yes
47.77%

No
39.39%

Too soon to say
12.83%

[stradale]

FIA je raspolagala sa dokumentacijom na 160 str. koje otkrivaju to da je MP4-22 ubrzan za pola sec. zahvaljujuci informacijama iz Ferrarija kao i 30 e-mail poruka izmedju Alonsa, de la Rose i Paddy Lowea i dolazi se do zakljucka da su Alonso i d.l.Rosi bili dobro informisani ali nisu komentarisali o mogucnosti ispitivanja nove tehnicke solucije koju je zeleo da ispita Peddy. Njih trojca su znali jos pre pocetka sezone za Ferrarijeve taktike na nekim trkama a posebno za VN Australije. Osim toga otkriveno je nesto na cemu se godinama radilo i kazna je mala i nema govora da McLaren nije trebao da se kazni. Ovo je velika sramota za ovaj sport i za jedan veliki tim kao sto je McLaren.

[4_Webber]

Evo opet se jedan Ferari slupao. Pa dokle vise te sabotaze.

[Allen Konigsberg]

Jeste, ovaj put se slupao Felipe Masni, to jest blago poljubio zid (ne onoliko strastveno kao sto to ucini the Iceman). Od ostalih zanimljivosti - Jamamoto u jednom momentu imao najbrzi 3. sektor (bilo je blago perverzno kada je grafika napisala fastest sector times 1. L Hamilton 2 K Raikkonen 3 S Yammamoto), a Heikki stalno vozio po travnjaku i sljunku, ali zato imao najvecu brzinu. Poredak, Kimi, Luis, Alonso.

Edited by Buck Naked, 14 September 2007 - 12:55.

["Doc" Holliday]

Sad je Suminjo prvi.

Sta se desilo Suminju na treningu? nisam gledao

edit:
jel menja auto?

Edited by "Doc" Holliday, 14 September 2007 - 13:24.

["Doc" Holliday]

Nasta ide ovaj mcl.FA je prvi za 1sec i niko mu nista ne moze. Ferrari su na -0.9 a Ralf 4 sa -1.2 a LH -1.7


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