F1: A Few Conclusions From The Italian GP

[Rory Phoulorie]

Sunday 9th September 2007

Fernando Alonso was a class apart in Monza but he made no friends this weekend and has surely burnt his bridges at McLaren...

Ferrari Can't Win The Title On The Track. But They Can Still Win
Unable to match either the pace or reliability of McLaren, Ferrari cannot now expect to win either the Drivers' Championship or the Constructors' title on the track. But they can still win.

The FIA have pursued their case against McLaren with uncommon intensity. Nobody of significance was prepared to go on the record to say as much, but the prevailing opinion inside the Monza paddock this weekend was a personal vendetta had caused the rebirth of the Stepneygate scandal. Lest we forget, Max Mosley and Ron Dennis aren't friends.

Last month's hearing in Paris related to the discovery that Mike Coughlan possessed a dossier of Ferrari technical information but found no conclusive evidence that McLaren had used the information to its advantage. Instead of letting the matter rest, the governing body has maintained its pursuit of a smoking gun with what Sir Frank Williams "cynically" terms "enormous tenacity". A witch-hunt, in other words.

Thursday's case will apparently focus on the flow of information that passed between Coughlan and Nigel Stepney in the months before the dossier was handed over. For McLaren, the change in approach is ominous. To be found not guilty, they must prove that none of the information exchanged - however trivial - was used in any way by their chief designer or team personnel.

The 'new evidence' that has prompted the second hearing is believed to relate to an email exchange between Pedro de la Rosa and Fernando Alonso in March. Tellingly, de la Rosa has frequently been described this weekend as a "close friend of Coughlan". If just one Stepney-inspired snippet, mentioned even in passing, has made its way into McLaren's bloodstream then the team will be plunged into boiling water.

On a speculative note, the arm-twisting missive sent by the FIA to the three McLaren drivers guaranteed that 'any information you may make available in response to this letter will not result in any proceedings against you under the International Sporting Code or the Formula One regulations.'

For what it's worth, my suspicion is that the Drivers' Championship will be unaffected by Thursday's hearing, while McLaren will either be deducted Constructor points or expelled entirely. If so, it will be a travesty.


F1 Has Been Damaged By Another Clear Case Of Sabotage
Ferrari supporters, sorry, the Italian police, made an unexpected appearance in the Monza paddock on Saturday. It is to be hoped they reappeared on Sunday night to arrest the television director who was looking elsewhere when Lewis Hamilton passed Kimi Raikkonen.

Forget Stepneygate. His or her's negligence was the worst crime committed in F1 this season.


Fernando Alonso Is Difficult To Like
It has been, as you might already be aware, a difficult week for McLaren. Next week will be no easier. The team is being attacked on all sides - by the media, by the Italian police, by the FIA, and, if the rumours are to believed, by one of their own as well. Oh the irony of the Stepneygate crisis stemming from Ferrari decrying alleged espionage.

A McLaren one-two on Ferrari's home turf was the ultimate riposte. When Ron Dennis was given a standing ovation by jubilant team personnel, the McLaren MD's icy fa�ade crumbled into tears.

Such solidarity was in stark contrast to the isolation of Fernando Alonso who was busy cutting himself adrift elsewhere.

The Spaniard is a notoriously self-infatuated individual, recently arguing for preferential treatment on the basis that he alone was responsible for McLaren's gains this season. Such vanity is part ludicrous and part responsible for the unwavering strength-of-mind a champion must possess. Yet his self-centredness reached repugnant levels in Monza.

Given licence in the post-race press conference to reflect on the "special" victory ("What does it mean to you personally to win here on Ferrari territory on what is an emotional weekend for McLaren? We saw your team principal Ron Dennis looking quite emotional on the podium"), Alonso remained utterly oblivious to the external significance of McLaren's triumph. "A perfect weekend for me," he announced unabashed, before prattling on at length about his previous difficulties at Monza without ever referring to his besieged team or acknowledging its contribution to the victory.

"Sometimes everything seems to go in the right direction and you feel good," he continued. "All the wins are special but in the last two or three year there are some circuits where I won more than one time or won one time. And here is one I never won before so I wanted to achieve that, try to get at least one win in all the circuits."

Unable to subjugate his individual ambition to the team's cause, Fernando has surely already burnt his bridges at McLaren. If not, he signed his transfer request on Sunday night thus: "The whole weekend has been good."

In view of the damaging events that occured at the weekend, it is difficult to conceive of a more obnoxious and selfish statement being uttered this season.

No wonder Ron was crying.


That Said, The Best Driver Won
Fernando Alonso was a class apart in Monza.

The World Champion was the fastest driver throughout the weekend and thoroughly deserved his victory. Lewis Hamilton put up a game fight but it was a losing battle. Alonso out-qualified his team-mate despite carrying more fuel and reaffirmed his superiority on Sunday by recording the fastest lap of the race.

The unanswered question is why Hamilton was so far behind. The Englishman complained of "imbalance" on his McLaren - a fault that may or may not be related to claims that Alonso will no longer share data with his team-mate. And why should he? Alonso's advantage is the product of five years of hard graft in F1, the pair are rivals for the World Championship, and Hamilton proved in qualifying at Hungary that he isn't prepared to give an inch either.

Yet if Alonso isn't beholden to assist the rookie, the rest of the team is. Including its test driver...


Lewis Hamilton's Inbox Is Missing An Important Email
One of the many intrigues of Stepneygate Part Two is the conspicuously absent email in Lewis Hamilton's inbox.

According to reports, the FIA demanded a second hearing after Pedro de la Rosa, McLaren's test driver, and Fernando Alonso volunteered an exchange of emails from March that purportedly included damning reference to McLaren using Ferrari's set-up. Hamilton, on the other hand, informed the FIA that he had nothing to divulge.

For Hamilton not to be privy to the exchange between the Spaniards suggests that Alonso was - and probably is - receiving preferential treatment from the team's test driver. As such, the affair reflects particularly poorly on De la Rosa. The post-testing briefing is a fundamental obligation of the test driver and, as a novice who only made his grand prix debut in March, Hamilton required as much assistance as possible. A discussion on car set-up of McLaren and Ferrari on the eve of the 2007 season does not sound like a topic from which he should have been excluded.

Ron Dennis has more pressing troubles to consider for the moment, but once the dust has settled he will surely reflect unfavourably on the (alleged) evidence that at least one McLaren employee has betrayed the team's ethos of equality.


McLaren Aren't Scared, They're Angry
ITV presenter Steve Rider, providing more eloquence in a single sentence than 'expert pundit' Mark Blundell has managed all season, described the appearance of the Italian police at the doors of the McLaren garage on Saturday afternoon as a "cheap shot". McLaren were even more scathing. "We strongly suspect that the nature and timing of this wholly unnecessary contact, just before the start of qualifying, was to disrupt our preparation for this important session and Thursday's World Motor Sport Council hearing," it thundered in a statement.

Quite so. The timing stunk.

The strong wording of the McLaren suggests that rather than distract the team, the 'contact' has only strengthened their resolve. Led by their steely boss, McLaren will not be easily cowed by the witch-hunt.

Thursday will surely see the fight of the season.


Pete Gill


Planet-F1