Pit Stop

Imagine the scene at the first grand prix of next season. The big, shiny motorhomes of Ferrari, BMW Sauber and Renault huddle together sparkling in Melbourne's autumn sunshine. At the other end are the more humble abodes of the likes of Spyker, Super Aguri and Prodrive.

And then, at the wrong end of the paddock, is the biggest structure of them all - McLaren. Trust me, it will look completely out of place at the start of the pit lane and not at the end, but that is one of the less thought-out effects of their recent punishment from the sports governing body, the FIA.

A US$100 million fine is big, but it's the humiliation heaped upon Ron Dennis that will hurt him the most. The feeling of many in the F1 community is that the whole 'spygate' affair has been the chance to settle a few scores with the McLaren boss, and frankly it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

First let's look at the evidence that appeared at the hearing. On first glance at the FIA's press release after the event it would seem McLaren were guilty of a heinous crime, and that the whole team were in on it. But I'm not so sure.

The drivers' e-mails, we were told, would prove the team used the Ferrari information to improve their car. What it seems to have proved is that Pedro De la Rosa knew that chief designer Mike Coughlan knew Ferrari's Nigel Stepney. Not that unusual in F1, and no concrete proof that he knew of the documents Coughlan had in his possession. De la Rosa asked some questions about weight distribution in the Ferrari, information that was of no use in the McLaren development.

It doesn't provide a smoking gun to Dennis' complicity. He has maintained that senior management knew nothing of the Ferrari information. McLaren claim to have traced back the genesis of all the development of this year's car and can find nothing incriminating. Independent experts have been brought in to check computers with the same result. All the team's engineers protest their innocence.

It strikes me that the e-mails aren't conclusive proof of McLaren's guilt as a whole, although Coughlan was part of the team and Dennis has to take some responsibility for that. We knew all that at the original hearing, and no action was taken.