Formula1 August 23, 2022 No Comment Spygate | When Alonso and Hamilton were fined $100 Million Samuel P Fernando Alonso won the Formula 1 Drivers world championship in 2005 and 2006. Turkey Hamilton was dominating Alonso before he got a puncture and in China Hamilton was obliterating Alonso before McLarens infamous call to leave him out tyres down to the canvas, rather than pit him for fresh rubber, which ultimately helped Alonso reduce his 20s deficit to Hamilton to nothing in 2 laps before Hamilton beached it in the gravel. Before the race, drivers were allowed to refill their tanks with the amount of fuel used on the 'fuel-burn laps'. In 2014, McLaren were two seconds off the pace, and from 2015 they lost Mercedes engines altogether, beginning a disastrous relationship with Honda, which ended after only three years. Promoted content from around the web | Become a RaceFans Supporter to hide this ad and others. The fine is completely out of proportion to every other fine ever given in the sport and thats just wrong. Fernando Alonso feeling optimistic despite P7 start in Austria, McLaren begin proceedings to clear Lando Norris name after Canadian GP penalty, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll punished for practice infringement, Ferrari and McLaren lead the way with key updates as Austrian GP upgrades unveiled, Speculation mounts over Renault after significant Hollywood-backed investment, Lewis Hamilton clarifies outburst on F1 rules after Max Verstappen responds, Max Verstappens sarcastic response to Lewis Hamiltons Red Bull complaints, Lewis Hamilton proposes FIA rule change to end Red Bull dominance, Sportword: Play our daily F1 word game on Planet Sport, F1 quiz: Every driver to win a Formula 1 race from 1990 to 1999, F1 quiz: Guess the Grid: 2000 Australian Grand Prix. Its weight distribution surprises me; I dont know either if its 100% reliable, but at least it draws attention. Get the latest results and headlines sent straight to your phone, find all our Formula 1 coverage details with our Live Guide, sign-up to our newsletter and learn where to find us on online. F2 has existed in three different guises over the years. What ultimately cost Alonso was that he was struggling to extract the maximum out of the Bridgestones in qualifying. He only got 2 poles the whole season, but did considerably better in races. SIS is based south of the river and are not under MoD control. And everyone seemed to blame Fernando for something that we didnt know and we have zero evidence that he did. The same car, the same free practice, qualifying and race conditions. 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Alonso had gone to McLaren expecting to be their number one driver and title contender - indeed, he believed he had been promised that status by Dennis, something the team boss always denied. They made sure he sent those emails so McLaren would get in trouble. In 2016 Liberty Media took over the running of F1 and purchased GP2, then rebranded it as Formula 2 in 2017. The information we had about Ferrari was the typical information you share [at] a coffee machine, just speaking with engineers: Do you know what weight distribution Ferrari has, these type of questions that obviously someone in the team had the information because of a friendship at Ferrari and we shared this information. However that championship was phased out and replaced by Formula 3000. He was blamed for the this spy scandal, Spygate, then he shouldnt have been. Analysis and opinion from the BBC's chief Formula 1 writer. About half an hour after the meeting, Abad went back to Dennis and said that Alonso wanted to apologise - he had lost his temper and completely retracted everything he said. wow, Alonso driving ferrari in the future was just spot on right. Until 1984 the championship was an open series for manufacturers of different chassis, engines and tyres. StefMeister (@stefmeister) 18th March 2020, 15:18. Fernando Alonso was wrongly blamed within McLaren for revealing information to the FIA which led to the team being fined $100 million in 2007, his former team mate believes. Alonso decided to play his hand. Alonso & de la Rosa's emails led to McLaren's punishment But there was other fights going on at the high levels that we were not aware of actually at that point.. To: Mike Coughlan. Max benefitted of broken rules to win his wdc that's obvious 3 13 Chudretti (ENSHIN KARATE ENJOYER) @local_luka Renault did, during the 2007 season, then attempt to use the information given to them by the McLaren employee to get McLarens J-damper banned, although the FIA rejected their attempt. They also both agreed that they could not allow Alonso to race. A recovery process was begun under new management - part of which has been a return to being a Mercedes engine customer since 2021. Lewis has wiped the floor with him in every measurable metric. Alex Andronov 14th September 2007, 23:03. Alonso made more mistakes than Hamilton did, plane and simple. They were taking points off each other, and the Ferrari drivers were still too close for comfort. 2023 Collantine Media Ltd | About RaceFans. Although his relationship with the team was now totally broken, Alonso beat Hamilton in both Belgium and Italy. As the championship reached its climax, the arguments Alonso had been making to Dennis about his fight with Hamilton came true. Now Alonso, too, was furious. Dennis phoned FIA president Max Mosley to tell him what Alonso had said. Pat Symonds Alonso acted like a spoilt brat and Mosley had a chip on his shoulder as a failed driver and F1 team owner, being shown up by a working class man he refers to as a former mechanic. As Mercedes' feelings towards McLaren cooled - as a result of spy-gate, of the road-car programme, of their lack of competitiveness - they began to think about going it alone. Alonso was wrongly blamed over 'Spygate' scandal - de la Rosa This conferred a double advantage - it would not only give him a lighter car when he did his final qualifying run, but also more fuel for the first stint of the race. 'Spygate' is narrated by DJ Pete Tong and is full of interviews providing insight and anecdotes from those at the heart of the story, and those who had a front-row seat as the drama unfolded. Formula 1 Grand Prix, Hungary, Saturday Qualifying RaceFans From: Pedro de la Rosa But what Alonso said next ensured on the spot that he would have to leave the team at the end of the year. They were thrown out of the constructors' championship, and fined $100m, less the money they would have earned from whatever position they finished in the championship. Nando the GOAT, could not cope with being out-perfoprmed by a rookie. Alonso had told Flavio Briatore, his former Renault team boss and his manager. Alonso immediately took matters into his own hands. Alonso threatened to reveal potentially incriminating emails to do with the 'spy-gate' case. At least he didn't ask his team mate to drive in to a wall for a safety car (this time). Read about our approach to external linking. Alonso's relationship with Dennis fractured. How the second hearing happened is where the drivers come in. But it had all seemed so promising 11 months earlier. They both had 4 wins apiece. A disgruntled employee at the sport's most famous team, Ferrari, felt passed over and let down. Alonso and de la Rosa discussed information that de la Rosa noted had come from a trusted Ferrari source Nigel Stepney. Some had to run out of fuel or get a penalty for pitting when the pit lane was closed because they were on a similar strategy to FA. F2 has existed in three different guises over the years. The series races exclusively on street circuits. Excluding Alonso from punishment is like letting someone off the hook just for incriminating himself: if you tell us you killed the guy, youll get immunity, is that ok with you mate? There was worse to come. That led to a second. CHIKANO (@chikano) 19th March 2020, 5:57, Fact Double champ against a rookie. he had made great, having fallen out with his long-time partner and former friend Mansour Ojjeh. Are they adjusting from inside the cockpit?**. The future of Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso at McLaren appeared to be in jeopardy last night following more allegations about his role in the Ferrari spygate scandal. 18th March 2020, 12:2919th March 2020, 8:42 | Written by Keith Collantine. McLaren are . Get the latest results and headlines sent straight to your phone, find all our Formula 1 coverage details with our Live Guide, sign-up to our newsletter and learn where to find us on online. After that they tied in Bahrain, Hamilton led Alonso in Spain, they tied again in Monaco and then Hamilton took control of the championship in Canada, which was the first race weekend that Hamilton was given equal fuel to Alonso. Former F1 Driver Insists that Fernando Alonso Was Innocent in the Alonso sure has been a master at making poor decisions. As has been stated, he gets his setup info from Alonso, thus Alonso would be the one to testing different setups. Then of course Alonso ran away from his 3 year contract like a coward only for Hamilton to become the McLaren world champion that Alonso failed to be and Alonso never recovered to win another championship after 2006. Spotlight investigates Freddie Scappaticci who was the most notorious agent of the Troubles, American satirist, Joe Queenan, gives an insider's guide to this generation, How some debt management companies are pushing people into further financial hardship, Sue Barker meets some of the greats who have graced the famous grass courts. Max benefitted of broken rules to win his wdc that's obvious 3 13 Chudretti (ENSHIN KARATE ENJOYER) @local_luka Fair play to Ron Dennis for then going to the FIA himself and admitting it too to avoid being blackmailed. McLarens possession of the Ferrari dossier originally came to light after Coughlans wife took it to be duplicated at a photocopying shop in Woking, neat McLarens base. While were at it, lets also declare Alonso innocent of Singapore 2008, even if everybody is convinced otherwise. So Flavio made him win a race to keep him at Renault. SV is a 4 time world champion, but he appears to have trouble keeping his car on track timesblimey. De la Rosa described how relations between McLaren and the two-times champion Alonso had become strained as his team mate Lewis Hamilton, then in his first year in Formula 1, proved a strong rival. It is the subject of a new podcast series produced by BBC Sounds. Nothing. - nine years after their previous victory - but are still a long way from the competitive force they were. How much did Lewis Hamilton know about spygate in 2007? De la Rosa also referred to a new rear wing assembly which he described as being, a copy of the system we think Ferrari uses. Raikkonen actually pitted on lap 19 of that race, but as the FIA noted de la Rosa mentioned the transfer of information as a means of underlining Stepneys reliability. Dennis phoned Mosley and told him what had happened. The new F2 lasted just four seasons. CART, which rebranded as Champ Car, fell into decline. Nothing. You cant extract that much more out of your tyres if your car is heavier than your teammates. After the race, Alonso shook Dennis' hand and apologised in person for what he had said at the meeting that morning. They kept that promise! Always coincidentally in the thick of these things isn't he!? there is something else and this may be the key; lets hope we can test it during this test, and that we can make it a priority! It doesnt surprise me that The Ham didnt have anything to do with this. However that championship was phased out and replaced by Formula 3000. So I think we paid a big penalty, a big price for something that in many teams Ive been in Formula 1 because Ive been in many teams, theres always information flying around from other teams, other competitive teams.. Dennis - believing the email story was therefore untrue - rang Mosley for a second time. Jon Bee, Honda did later issue a formal statement confirming that those two did meet with Fry, although they denied that there was any technical data exchanged between the two. McLaren were disqualified from 2007 constructor's championship because of spygate. Fernando Alonso was wrongly blamed within McLaren for revealing information to the FIA which led to the team being fined $100 million in 2007, his former team mate believes. Dan M the Masshole 14th September 2007, 18:07, Andy, Just noticed you were Canadian.. Shouldnt you refer to Hamilton as Canadian Bacon instead of The Ham? A wide-reaching documentary about the legendary footballer, A countdown of the greatest World Cup goals. But after his tyres were fitted, Alonso stayed where he was. As the FIA is Ferrari IA they got away with it. Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here. All the information from Ferrari is very reliable. btw: The name MI6 (meaning Military Intelligence, Section 6), GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian) 18th March 2020, 13:31. The friend wanted a copy. Im sure the evidence from the Italian police alone wouldve been enough to come to the conclusion that McLaren knew more than Ron has been saying. FIA is just toothless, if this wouldve been Spyker they wouldve been banned, and this shouldve happened to McLaren this season too It involved the McLaren, Ferrari and Renault F1 teams. Fernando Alonso. He couldnt cope with being lured to McLaren from Renault with the promise of #1 status (why wouldnt he be, he was 2x defending WDC? Renault had threatened to stop funding the team altogether if it had a winless 2008. The following morning, before the race, Alonso and McLaren team boss Ron Dennis had a huge row. It is also true that Alonso is often seen as a toxic addition to a team. Renault was found guilty of possessing confidential information from McLaren, but the WMSC argued there wasnt evidence that it had influenced the championship and therefore they did not levy any penalty. They were title contenders in 2010 and 2012, but by 2013 they had fallen from competitiveness, and their resources began slowly to fall behind those of the top teams. Either because they are fans of Hamilton and feel the need to say that he was better than Alonso, or the ones that just want to argue for the sake of arguing. This just further proves how incompetent that Fia is at making decisions. In May 2014, he was killed in a road-traffic accident on the M20 motorway in Kent, having strayed on foot into the carriageway from his stopped vehicle and been hit by a lorry. Alonso was now at a disadvantage - he would not only have more fuel in his car when he did his qualifying runs, but he would get less back for the start of the race. The drivers got a promise, that they would be immune. Significant-Menu-311 2 yr. ago. McLaren were fined $100m and thrown out of the constructors' championship for illicitly holding information to confer a dishonest and fraudulent sporting advantage, although there was no finding they had actually used the information in the design or development of their cars. But same goes for Hamilton, probably more so. It is disgusting to me that a 2 time World Champion is involved in this debacle and will not be penalized for it. He had been promised he would be team leader. Why was the fine so big? It was then, amid the contested . We lost all the points in the world in the constructors championship. No. Hamilton had double-crossed him on the fuel-burn laps, Alonso said, and now he had a penalty and was sixth on the grid. Alonso happy to uncover 2007 'spygate' He called in Martin Whitmarsh, his second in command, and asked Alonso to repeat what he had just said. how about you @keithcollantine when are you going to star the RaceFans podcast? The pair will face no sanctions as things stand. That situation was like a divorce inside the team, De la Rosa told the official F1 website. Their respect for each other now has clearly surpassed their days as team mates. They took everything into account, and gave Alonso a, Comment posted by BigErn, at 11:03 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Stephen Taylor, at 11:54 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by D1679092449428, at 13:04 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by IBH, at 12:44 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by D1679482753149, at 11:49 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by DavidB, at 11:35 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by D1679482753149, at 12:02 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by D1679482753149, at 10:56 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by CR, at 11:19 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Nick, at 16:32 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by AlwaysRight, at 13:33 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Anansis, at 16:40 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Christopher Clarke-Williams, at 11:08 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Ladysmith, at 12:25 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Neil, at 18:28 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Sarkus, at 13:09 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by roythboy, at 11:48 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by johnnywishbone, at 13:53 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by jaguarstype, at 15:54 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Fatviking, at 17:39 20 Nov 2018. Formula E is a recent additional to international motorsport. and everyone says the strategy was silly how could he not know. There are also conspiracies that Ross Brawn was partly in the know of where that dossier was headed. He gave them to his friend Mike Coughlan - then chief designer of McLaren - and together they hatched a plan to try to get jobs at another team. Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Alonsos association with the Spygate episode had ramifications later in his F1 career. F1 'spygate': Fifteen years on from the sporting scandal that had - BBC At best a penalty of 10 million, suspension of the person responsible for stealing the plans for 3 years from the sport and a 1 year exclusion fromt. Which is of course why Ron hired Alonso 7 years later. Spygate - McLaren, 2007 season. Soon, the situation went legal - in the Italian and UK courts, and with the F1 authorities. It is the subject of a new podcast series produced by BBC Sounds. @stefmeister see the reply above. At the Hungarian Grand Prix later that summer, Hamilton double-crossed Alonso in qualifying - refusing to follow an arrangement to let him by, and compromising the Spaniard's chances of pole. Dennis asked Alonso to stop talking. And, until now, exactly what Alonso said to Dennis in that fateful meeting has never become public. He was lucky Lewis didnt win the 07 title in China, would have made Alonso look very silly. Another embarrassing metric for Alonso is that Hamilton thumped him 6-2 for pole positions. When both drivers pitted for their final set of tyres, Alonso held station in the pit lane just long enough to prevent Hamilton, waiting behind, getting out in time for a final lap. Stefano Domenicali Only when shit blew up he "helped". That left Hamilton leading Alonso by two points with three races to go. The fine was not justified. His response was to steal nearly 800 pages of confidential technical information and give it to a friend who worked for their biggest rivals, McLaren. But the FIA knew, it could be from Ferrari, it could be from any anyone because there was many people in the team that knew about the weight distribution of Ferrari or whatever. Hamilton, who was in his debut season, was known to be promising, but he caused a sensation with a stunning start to his F1 career, and his pace and competitiveness upset the balance in the team. Bookmark. That is what Anckers post is about, and I agree with him on that point. Did we change anything of our development, of our testing program? The indication is that Honda were being honest about that, as it seems that the two were trying to broker a deal about poaching staff from McLaren to join Honda. (Wikipedia can tell u the full story). Hamilton did not supply any emails, de la Rosa and Alonso did. . Really and truly the majority of the fine was the cheating. It would be important for us to know so that we could try it in the simulator. They took everything into account, and gave Alonso a five-place grid penalty. When he did not get a role that matched his ambitions, he took action - by secreting out of the factory 780 pages of confidential information; essentially, the blueprints for the 2007 Ferrari F1 car. Coughlan sent a text message containing the details to de la Rosa. Why did Alonso leave Renault after 2006? : r/formula1 No, he didnt, they drew and when you consider the exceptional start hamilton had, Im not sure thats a negative on alonso, although 2007 wasnt the best alonso ever ofc. NeonRacer (@neonracer) 18th March 2020, 18:44. At least if it had only been Alonso leaving, they could have replaced him with someone else. The relationship was not good before, but that was like the complete divorce. However the series failed to attain the prominence of GP2, which had replaced F3000 and raced almost exclusively on the F1 support bill. To: Pedro de la Rosa. It was not right. You also have the Spyker-Toro Rosso/Red Bull case in 2007 as well. Dennis said at the subsequent FIA hearing: "I put it down to the heat of the moment, in which he was angry.". r/formula1 on Reddit: 2007 spygate,how did everyone react? Formula 2 is considered the foremost single-seater feeder series to Formula 1. "I already knew about the emails," Mosley says. De La Rosa added that the whole saga still gives sleepless nights and insisted that any information obtained did not influence McLarens development path. I bet his fan base has been halved overnight. And what if that entire white power was dumped there by Alonso? @19: Hamilton driving slowly in front of Rosberg in 2016 ring any bells? You cant stole the whole project of your main competitor and get away scot free, for a lot less people got a life ban from other sports. Brawn was the obvious vessel but McLaren, as exclusive partner, still had to sign off on the arrangement. Mosley asked him what he was going to do, then advised Dennis not to take Alonso out of the car. They decided that for more or less the same investment, they could have their own team, with more exposure and total control. Alonso threatened to reveal potentially incriminating emails to do with the. The relationship was not good before, but that was like the complete divorce. Had he not done both or one of those things he would have been champion, frood19 (@frood19) 18th March 2020, 19:32. Never mind some of Hamiltons fans, what they write does not have any more meaning if they do in or not. The relationship was already broken after Monaco. Recommended for listening, nut just for that, the HRT bit/Dennis was great, Irvine lol (wondered: having heard Rosberg abt MSC, did Irvine get his approach to teammate there? Analysis and opinion from the BBC's chief Formula 1 writer. Part of the. He asked Dennis to ensure LH ran out of fuel. Cant really do that when the main backer and provider of equipment ups and leaves without a replacement lined up. Jarno Trulli Even within that same year, you had multiple cases of industrial espionage going on and yet, in the end, the FIA was remarkably lenient to those other parties, with no investigation in two cases and a third seeing Renault being given no penalty because the breach apparently did not influence the championship. His present whereabouts: Mr R Dennis, Espionage Dept, 2nd floor, Ministry of Defence, Whitehall, London, GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian) 18th March 2020, 13:34. The case was officially dropped by the prosecutors, but the implication is that Ferrari cut a deal with Toyota all of those figures were fired by Toyota, suggesting that Toyota agreed to fire them in return for Ferrari dropping the case. Pedro de la Rosa has said that Fernando Alonso was unfairly blamed for the Spygate scandal. We didnt use that information.. 14th September 2007, 15:5918th March 2020, 11:36 | Written by Keith Collantine. Mclaren had the resources to buy a copier for Couglan either in his office or at his home so some of the storey doesnt make sense from a logical perspective. In Hungary, it was Alonso's turn to have priority. Offering the drivers immunity for incriminating themselves is wrong and probably just arranged so that they could keep the Championship exciting. In China, Hamilton crashed in the pit lane coming in to change badly worn tyres on which the team had left him out too long trying to ensure he beat Alonso. Fernando Alonso was involved in yet another controversy at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
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