Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has raised the possibility
of McLaren starting the 2008 season with a points penalty if the
team's new car design is based on information from Ferrari.
"I hope not, but it could happen," Ecclestone said of a
hypothetical points deduction in an interview with German magazine
Auto Motor und Sport. A transcript was also published on the
official Formula One Website (www.formula1.com) yesterday.
McLaren was stripped of all its constructors' points this season
and fined US$100 million for possessing technical information from
Ferrari.
A fresh spying row erupted earlier this month when 2006 champion
Renault was charged with unauthorized possession of McLaren
information.
Representatives of the French team have been summoned to a
hearing of the governing International Automobile Federation
(FIA)'s World Motor Sport Council in Monaco on December 6.
"I do not know the extent of what they have done and what they
have not done," said Ecclestone.
"I think the difference between them and McLaren is that McLaren
were getting information over (time from) a person, rather than
somebody has stolen a lot of drawings in one go."
Ecclestone said the FIA should have kept out of the
controversy.
"I did tell (McLaren boss) Ron Dennis, when the whole mess
started, to report to the police that there was a case of theft.
Tell them that there is an employee in the house who is receiving
or purchasing stolen property.
"If it was dealt in that way, we would not have had the problems
we faced this year," he added. "It should be a matter for the
police and the court. They have much better tools to find out the
truth."
In other comments, Ecclestone hailed Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen as
a deserving champion, praised Briton Lewis Hamilton as the best
rookie he had ever seen and blamed McLaren for his failure to win
the title.
He singled out BMW Sauber's Polish driver Robert Kubica and Toro
Rosso's young German Sebastian Vettel as new drivers to watch but
suggested time was up for Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo
Fisichella.
"Both have been for quite a time in decent teams and should have
performed better than they had," said Ecclestone of two drivers who
will test for tailenders Force India next week.
"They ought to give very serious consideration whether it makes
sense to move into a less competitive environment. Maybe if they
change teams, they'll get a bit of a wake-up call."
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily November 29,
2007)