Espionage at Ferrari and McLaren

[manchild]

From The Sunday Times
June 24, 2007
Stepney hits back at Ferrari
The Briton tells The Sunday Times he is innocent after being accused of F1 sabotage
Jane Nottage

A criminal investigation has been launched in Italy over claims that a white powder was found in the petrol tank area of the Ferrari race cars six days before the Monaco Grand Prix last month. Late on Friday, police raided Stepney’s house near Ferrari’s home base at Maranello, northern Italy, and left holding a small container.

[Lurch]

how many better ways are there at sabotaging a car than putting a powder in the fuel tank... as soon as the first set of pit stops are done with...surely the method of sabotage is negated...although if it hinders performance then i suppose just 20/30 laps is enough to ruin a race...

i have to agree with someone elses comments on here as well...when would you have that kind of alone time with the final race car to be able to dump something like that in it...??

ok he might have been able to on practice days etc....but what about race day...surely he'd never have alone time with the car...

And who found the powder? Was it the FIA or ferrari themselves?

[Tifoso]

My question is... who started all this of the "white powder"?

[manchild]

[ketanpaul]

Does anybody have an idea about what this powder might be? and how it may have damaged performance?

[checkered]

Again, there are only

claims about a powder being found, and none from any parties directly connected to the case. Ferrari's representatives, to my knowledge, haven't talked about a powder, nor has Stepney, nor has the police responsible for the investigation. Is a powder mentioned in any legal document filed with the authorities by Ferrari? Surely the team would've raised hell in Monaco already if they thought they were in danger of being unwittingly entangled in a criminal investigation involving illegal drugs, or if they had direct evidence of attempted sabotage. In those situations there's nothing to lose by coming clean as fast and as thoroughly as possible.

So who made these claims and to whom the claims about a poweder/sabotage were made to, originally? It doesn't seem it was Ferrari, but then again who else would've had access to the cars' fuel cell "area" (It can't be a motorsport journalist, btw., that writes about a "petrol tank area" in an F1 car.). The FIA? And their reasoning in holding back information about finding and handling illegal/dangerous/implicating substances from the relevant authorities would be ... ? Is anyone actually in posession of any powder or substance that was said to be found in the cars at Monaco that didn't belong there? And I won't even comment on "small containers" ...

I still think that given what can be known beyond a doubt at this stage, Rob W is closest to the truth with his idea about a breach of contract of some sort. Which is another matter altogether. I'm not a big fan of standardisation in F1, but come to think of it, employment agreements should necessarily follow a template. That way, the "rules of engagement" would be clear between the teams and ridiculous personal legal ordeals and ludicrous "gardening leaves" could be avoided. If you ask me, keeping talented people from working, now, that's criminal!

Edit: If there's nothing much to this, there might still be repercussions to the tune of "bringing the sport into disrepute" - one of the most adaptable rules in the books.

[manchild]

Ferrari team principal Jean Todt was earlier quoted as saying: "The fact that we have handed a report to the prosecutor shows that we have discovered something illegal.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 28,00.html

Perhaps it was just cosmetic powder or flour but since when is it illegal?

[Lurch]

totally agree with checkered...to me...'powder' in/near/on a fuel tank/fillercap/fuelcell which could be drugs/sabotage/ocatne boosting super powdered rocket fuel...is bolox

plenty of better ways to sabotage a car than bloody powder! Breach of contract or ferrari pissed off with him bitching back at maranello and laying something on him is the most likely story...

anyways..lets wait and see...can't wait to find out what the real story is mind!

[Lurch]

Ferrari team principal Jean Todt was earlier quoted as saying: "The fact that we have handed a report to the prosecutor shows that we have discovered something illegal.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 28,00.html

Perhaps it was just cosmetic powder or flour but since when is it illegal?

and now it's on a fuel tank...not in it...

[Tom]

on a fuel tank

Well thats talcum powder. No I'm not joking, the mechanics use talcum powder to help stuff the fuel 'bag' into its hole without removing the entire engine!

[Lurch]

on a fuel tank

Well thats talcum powder. No I'm not joking, the mechanics use talcum powder to help stuff the fuel 'bag' into its hole without removing the entire engine!

and the small package being removed from Step's house...a bottle of Johnson and Johnson's baby arse powder...

[RH1300S]

I don't know (or care too much) what to think about this............

But thanks Manchild - great images

[manchild]

I don't know (or care too much) what to think about this............

But thanks Manchild - great images

[checkered]

The "Mole" on

grandprix.com has a pretty well thought out take on what the Stepney/Ferrari drama really is about. I won't bother with referring the story here, since the writing is pretty entertaining in itself and I don't wish to do a disservice to the content nor the form of the prose. At least I find learning about the "motorsport agent's" understated adventures worth my while, even if my upper lip's stiffness is compromised by his antics:

Bananas and sheep dips

Meanhwile, yet another version of the story has emerged from the Italian press. Alledgedly, the supposed (as of yet to be identified) powder wasn't found in the cars themselves at all, but "in close vincinity to the cars on the refuelling equipment" at Monaco on the 21st of May, 2007. Subsequently, "Ferrari" (or the leadeship thereof?) decided that the fuel cells of the cars had to be swapped as a precaution (?) and this was done with great care and some considerable loss of time to the team. If this is the case, they have gone out of their way in either a) paranoia, b) finding convenient excuses or c) ... well, can you come up with more explanations?

Immediately, Ferrari also contacted Raggruppamento Carabinieri Investigazioni Scientifiche (Ra.C.I.S. - or the forensic arm of the Italian Carabinieri criminal investigators as I've understood it, although I'm wondering about their jurisdiction, or the lack thereof, at Monaco ... !) and initiated the proceedings. And as "the Mole" notes in his column, when a complaint is made, the police is duty bound to investigate and cannot drop even dubious cases brought to them. Which, as "the Mole" speculates, might just be an elaborate negotiating tactic ... though I'm not sure every taxpayer might appreciate such subsidies, even to such a prominent national symbol.

And still it's worth reminding, that (to my knowledge) neither Ferrari, nor Stepney, nor the Carabinieri have said anything about Monaco, a mysterious powder or sabotage as of yet. So treat all this as an interactive work of F1 fiction - which, as far as I can understand, this is until someone says something on the record!

[nudge]

i think ferrari will believe they have a genuine case, but the article also kind of follows my own theory that this is actually about the recruitment of a pool of engineers to desert to a rival team. that could be construed as actively working against the interests of his employer, which may be on a knife edge of legality.