F1 Spying Scandal

The Formula One powers-that-be moved to end one of the sport's biggest scandals in years on Thursday, Sept. 13, by punishing the McLaren-Mercedes racing team for having used secret technical documents acquired from rival Ferrari.

But in doing so, and by fining McLaren-Mercedes a massive 72 million euros ($100 million) and stripping the team of its constructors' championship points, the World Motor Sport Council may have created more controversy.

Under the terms of the punishment, the British-German team has escaped being suspended from racing. That means both world champion Fernando Alonso and championship leader Lewis Hamilton, the McLaren-Mercedes team drivers, will still be allowed to race and their points in the drivers' championship remain unaffected by the action.

McLaren drivers free to chase championship

Hamilton heads the drivers' standings with 92 points, with Alonso second with 89. Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa are third and fourth with 74 and 69 points, respectively. Ferrari now takes over the lead in the constructors' standings, with BMW in second place.

The fact that the McLaren-Mercedes drivers are still allowed to compete has led to some in the sport saying that the fine and punishment, in the context of the mega-bucks world of Formula One, was derisory, while others were amazed by the amount demanded.

Former McLaren team boss Eddie Jordan said the size of the punishment meted out was "baffling."

"It doesn't seem logical at all in terms of the amount of money," Jordan told BBC Radio 5live. "It is baffling.

"To the outside world this is a ridiculous amount of money, and we also need to know where is this money going to?"

It appears as if the judgment was designed to allow everyone to emerge with some degree of satisfaction. McLaren stands an excellent chance of winning the drivers' championship, Ferrari will almost certainly win the constructors' title, and Formula One sponsors and fans can count on a highly competitive rest of the season.

McLaren chief stands firm

However, McLaren boss Ron Dennis said that he "did not accept" the decision to punish his team. He told reporters that the evidence given by Alonso, Hamilton and team test driver Pedro de la Rosa demonstrated "that we did not use the leaked information to gain a competitive advantage."

Dennis was quick to stifle his ire, knowing that the punishment could have been a lot worse.

"The most important thing is that we will be going motor racing this weekend, the rest of the year and every season," he said. "This means that the drivers can continue to compete in the championship."

The scandal erupted in July when a 780-page file on Ferrari's racing cars was found at the home of McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan. The documents were allegedly supplied by Ferrari mechanic Nigel Stepney.

McLaren guilty of fraudulent conduct

At an earlier hearing on July 26, the council had found McLaren guilty of fraudulent conduct for having the documents in its possession but did not punish the team because there was not enough evidence to suggest that it had misused the information contained in the documents.

However, the council had warned McLaren that the team could be banned for two seasons if it were proven it had used the material to gain an unfair advantage.

Last week, the FIA had announced that evidence had been found that warranted a new hearing. This evidence reportedly included e-mails between Alonso and de la Rosa and transcripts of phone and text-message conversations between Coughlan and Stepney.

"In light of new evidence, facts and behavior of an extremely serious nature and grossly prejudicial to the interest of the sport have been further demonstrated," the Ferrari team said in a statement. "Ferrari is satisfied that the truth has now emerged."