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On Thursday, July 12, 2007, sees a new episode in the spy story involving Ferrari and Mike Coughlan, the chief designer of McLaren-Mercedes. The engineer is accused of allegedly embezzling documents from Ferrari. The scheduled hearing at the High Court in London was cancelled because the two parties reached an agreement. The British chief designer agreed to hand over a written defence to the judges and Ferrari. On the other hand, the Maranello team's lawyers waived the right to transmit the brief to the Italian authorities. Ferrari and Coughlan reached an agreement outside the courtroom that was ratified by Judge Michael Briggs. The McLaren-Mercedes designer submitted an affidavit (a legal term for a defence memorandum) explaining how he got the incriminating material. In return, Ferrari waived the right to transmit the affidavit to the court in Modena. With this move, Ferrari's lawyers managed to unblock the proceedings, which were in danger of stalling due to Coughlan's obstructionism. The British engineer accepted the compromise because he was worried that the document would be used against him in criminal proceedings in Italy. Says Duncan Andred, one of Ferrari's lawyers:
"Ferrari, after studying the contents of the memorandum, will consider whether to take further legal action".
Coughlan's brief will be studied in the coming days by the Cavallino's lawyers and will be forwarded to both the Fia leadership and McLaren itself. Meanwhile, the investigators are not stopping and want to investigate a third computer, the one Coughlan uses at McLaren's headquarters in Woking. A new High Court order will not be necessary for this inspection, because the British team has already ensured that it is available for inspection. As the computer shop skit may suggest, Mr and Mrs Coughlan are not very smart people. This was confirmed when the naive Mike Coughlan, called into court to tell his version, tried to bail McLaren out of trouble and got the opposite result.
"It was my fault, at McLaren they knew I had those documents but they told me to get rid of them".
Who knew? Jonathan Neale and others, says MIke Coughlan candidly, probably unaware that Jonathan Neale is the team's director manager who would have been obliged to at least report it to the FIA, and that because of that omission, the World Championship is now virtually lost. It is no coincidence that Neale has never spoken in this whole affair, knowing full well that every word he said could have carried weight before the FIA. Mike Coughlan then also tried to save Nigel Stepney by not naming the person who sent him those papers. But the attempt turned out to be in vain because, at the same time in Italy, the public prosecutor's office found proof of the sending in the former Ferrari technician's papers. The cards on the table, in short, are all in favour of Ferrari, which could see the Federation court hand over the world title. And at the same time, they might be able to get rid, in a completely painless manner, of a very inconvenient employee. However, something could also get in the way. There is still much to be clarified. There is, for example, the deafening silence of Ross Brawn, who, in recent months, has been negotiating a return to Maranello. Then there are the statements made publicly by Stepney:
"Now I am afraid because in Italy touching Ferrari is like touching the Vatican. The truth is that there were four other people in the team who were willing to go elsewhere with me. They told me they would be willing to work in another team".
Who were they? Did they have anything to do with the spy story? Whichever way it turns out, the impression is that Ferrari is unlikely to come out on top. Many in the paddock, in the pits, accuse the Maranello team of violating some sort of unwritten pact, blowing the whistle on what has always happened in F1 and will always happen. Meanwhile, it turns out what was supposed to have happened, at least in the intentions of the alleged saboteur, by throwing some of that white powder into Ferrari's tanks: a big white smoke from the Ferrari engine, in the middle of practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.
This was the conclusion reached by the Carabinieri of the Ris of Parma, who had been commissioned by the Modena Public Prosecutor's Office to carry out analyses on that powder and who in recent days have had the first results. According to them, the incriminating substance was calcium phosphate, a salt that dissolves in petrol and damages piston rings and pistons. In short, it destroys the engine. Obviously this is only an initial indication, still to be verified. Modena public prosecutor Giuseppe Tibis explains:
"This information is awaiting confirmation. The Ris will send the substance to another institute for further analysis, then we'll see".
In addition, the results will also be submitted to an expert to establish exactly how much damage it could have caused. Everything should arrive at the prosecutor's office by the end of July. Starting from the type of substance found, however, it is already possible to draw some conclusions. The main one: whoever put that powder in the Ferrari's tanks (the Maranello team is convinced that it was Nigel Stepney, the chief mechanic already at the centre of the spy story of the projects that ended up in the hands of McLaren engineers) not only knew perfectly well what he was doing but also had a fair amount of technical expertise, as well as having free access to that substance, which was certainly not in common use. Put in these terms, the matter does not look good for Nigel Stepney, who would fit this sketch (which, it must be said, is very rough). Also weighing on the technician are the testimonies of those within the team who saw him fiddling with the white powder in the vicinity of the filling station. On the other hand, however, it is undeniable that Stepney's line of defence is slowly making inroads with many of the investigators. But does it make sense to you,' is the technician's argument in summary, 'that tailed as I was and in the midst of an internal controversy, with all these years of experience in this world, I would have committed the naivety of being seen to scatter white powder around the garage?’. Meanwhile, six lines arrive from Paris to formalise an accusation, the most infamous there can be in the world of Formula 1:
"Representatives of McLaren have been summoned to Paris on July 26. They will have to answer the charge that, between March and July 2007, in violation of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, McLaren-Mercedes unlawfully came into possession of confidential documents and information belonging to Ferrari, including material that could be used to design, build, analyse, test develop and/or put on the track a F2007".
There is no need even to read between the lines, it is as clear as day: McLaren becomes the big defendant in the Ferrari espionage case, robbed of a 780-page dossier (of technical information) by former employee Nigel Stepney, who then handed it over to (currently suspended) McLaren engineer Mike Coughlan. What was the effect? Like a deflagration: nobody in F1 imagined such a thing. The FIA's summons to the British team radically changes the scenario of this spy story and dismantles the hypotheses of those who foresaw a serene ending, as has happened before in the world of motorsport in controversial cases. But this time, things have taken a different turn, and there must be something in the affidavit written by Coughlan, in that defensive memorandum of his that Ferrari delivered to the Federation and that made Max Mosley jump out of his armchair and made him convene an extraordinary FIA Council with just one item on the agenda: the McLaren case. It is no longer time for skirmishes. Perhaps McLaren's position has worsened because of the possible involvement in the case of the general manager, Jonathan Neale, whose name (but rumours already included him) popped up on Tuesday at the High Court hearing in London as an informed person. And the date of July 26, 2007, does not seem to be coincidental: it coincides with the end of the three-week investigation that the FIA president had referred to on the very last F1 weekend, at Silverstone.
"At the end of the month we will be able to close the sports investigation".
Also in England, Max Mosley had contradicted Bernie Ecclestone who, in a personal capacity, had said that he imagined - at most - a penalty for the team but not for the drivers.
"A priori I cannot exclude any sanction if a team is found guilty".
But what does Article 151c of the International Sporting Code say? It punishes any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or the interests of motorsport in general. And there is also a precedent, which certainly will not help Ron Dennis sleep peacefully, although it concerns the world of rallying: in 1995, Toyota, at the end of the Catalan Grand Prix, was discovered to have an irregular turbocharger. What happened? The Japanese team defended itself by shifting the responsibility onto a non-leading engineer. A strategy that bore no fruit. Toyota was deleted from the rankings for the 1995 season and excluded from the following championship. It is difficult to make predictions, so much so that even an English bookmaker has closed its bets on the world championship (and Codacons is threatening compensation). Perhaps Jean Todt is right who, in the aftermath of the British Grand Prix, said:
"The facts will come out little by little".
A plot twist a day. And, in fact, a handwritten note at the foot of one of the 780 pages at the centre of the Ferrari-McLaren spy story may be the next twist. A few lines that do not even have anything to do with Formula 1 and the Maranello team's plans that were stolen, but which can be considered once in the investigation. Those lines, technically, are their own business, say the investigators. Two friends talking about something else. Minor stuff, which, however, found in some sheets of paper kept in Nigel Stepney's house and later found in Mike Coughlan's documents arriving from London, has had the effect of plunging Formula 1's two most talked-about technicians down the tunnel of suspicion. A tunnel that began on Tuesday, July 3, 2007, when Ferrari fired Nigel Stepney (already accused of sabotage because of the story of the powder in the tanks) and, with a perfect coincidence of timing, McLaren announced that it had suspended Mike Coughlan. It was only the next day that it was discovered that at the McLaren technician's home, the British investigators activated by Ferrari had found the famous 780 pages of plans bearing the Maranello team's logo, photocopied and digitised at the copy shop near the McLaren factory by Mrs Trudy, Coughlan's wife. Who sent those papers to London and why? The link with Stepney is automatic. Because Stepney and Coughlan are old friends, because Ferrari's chief mechanic is in dispute with his team, because someone saw the two old friends having lunch together at the port of Barcelona, and because the two, earlier in the season, had gone together to Honda to look for another job (but had been politely turned down). A natural connection between the two, then. But certainly not. At least not from a judicial point of view: because the evidence is lacking. The Modena public prosecutor's office (which, investigating the sabotage, would be delighted to find proof that suspect number one was also conspiring against Ferrari, thus strengthening the motive of his accusation) sent the postal police to search Nigel Stepney's house for anything that might link him to the discovery of Mike Coughlan's dossier. Thus begins a series of break-ins at Stepney's home and his former office. In one of which, this famous autographed note from the former Ferrari employee was found. A photocopy of which was attached to the dossier taken to the copy shop by Mrs Trudy and digitised there. A kind of signature, the investigators claim, that Stepney would have unwittingly affixed to the theft of the documents. The men of the postal police are, however, looking for other matches (they have also taken some of Stepney's mobile phones, a PDA and a PC from the Ferrari and started analysing them).
"Now Stepney will have a field day saying that he had nothing to do with it, that someone else sent those documents: his hand in this story is unmistakable".
It remains, if anything, to clarify what is now widely referred to as the case of dates. Because in his affidavit Coughlan spoke of multiple data transmissions - there would be some in both March and May - while in McLaren's first communications there was only talk of April. For his part, Nigel Stepney continues to repeat that he is innocent. And indeed he raises the bar:
"You will see that in the end a lot of surprises will come out of this story because there were many within Ferrari who had access to that data and who were no longer happy to work there".
Two fixed low beams in the centre of the rear-view mirror. Always at the same distance, always at the same speed. For kilometres. Then, exhausted and unnerved by that presence, Nigel Stepney climbs up, accelerates and tries to lose those two lights that have been stuck behind him since the Bologna airport. But whoever is driving that car is someone who knows what he is doing, and does not lose a single metre. We are between Pavullo and Serramazzoni, in the heart of the Apennines. The road, silent and full of bends, is filled with the sounds of pursuit. Stepney drives, and well, a BMW. But those two headlights do not come off. So the hunted man tries everything. He slams on the brakes and gets out of the car. Forcing his pursuers to do the same. As he gets closer, Nigel Stepney has time to memorise the number plate (the detail, it will become clear later why, is very important) and to consider that the guy really does drive well if he has managed to keep up with him in a station wagon. Then the door opens: and the Ferrari mechanic finds two people in front of him.
'Who are you? What do you want? Who sent you?"
Nothing. Silence. The door closes again and they drive off. Stepney gets back into the car, tries to calm his wife down and drives off again. Three corners later two more headlights follow. Same distance, same speed, all the way to Via Giardini Nord 4210. Stepney’s house. Thus begins, with this chase through the Apennine hills, the latest mystery of the Spy Story that is scorching the summer of Formula One. And it is a mystery that risks embarrassing Ferrari, until now protected by its comfortable role as victim-director of the whole affair. Because it would have been Ferrari itself to have its unfaithful mechanic tailed, to spy on him. An asphyxiating and continuous tailing, of which the chase is but one, perhaps the most unpleasant, of the episodes. It was Stepney himself who publicly denounced it before he left Italy.
"I had just returned from my holiday in the Philippines when this thing happened. Someone was in danger of getting hurt so I decided to leave".
Also on that occasion, the British mechanic told of stakeouts, bugs and other pursuits. Stepney's words did not explicitly accuse Ferrari. But you only have to ask around to get more than a little confirmation of Ferrari's hand behind those pursuits. Our behaviour,' is in essence the position of the Maranello team, which officially makes no statement on the point, 'was perfectly legal: there was an unfaithful employee and we decided to shed light on the whole affair. Considerations that, obviously, are not at all shared by Nigel Stepney's lawyers. Attorney Sonia Bartolini announces:
"At the appropriate time we will make our considerations. Right now we are trying to trace the number plates of the people who were tailing Stepney and then we will file a complaint. Of course, if it were confirmed that Ferrari was behind it, it would be a very serious matter: it's one thing to monitor an employee at work, it's another to spy on him at home and follow him at night as he returns from holiday. If that's the case, those at Maranello will be called to account in court".
This is not the only point on which the two sides apparently disagree. According to Ferrari's opinion, the checks on Nigel Stepney began immediately after the powder incident (the technician had been caught trying to get rid of the white powder he had just tried to put into the Ferrari's tanks at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix). According to Stepney, the tailing and stalking would have started quite some time before. This may be more relevant than it seems. Because it could shed new light on the genesis, which remains quite peculiar, of the whole affair. Which, if everything were confirmed, would then have to be framed differently, perhaps as a complicated labour dispute rather than a simple sporting affair that degenerated due to a misunderstanding or some out-of-control ambition. The truth will be known within a few days. Although the main news, at the moment, is expected more from the sports world - which will meet to decide on this story on Thursday, July 26, in Paris - than from the criminal world. In fact, the Modena public prosecutor, Giuseppe Tibis, closed the first part of his investigation in the morning on Saturday, July 14. All that remains is to wait for some consultations entrusted to the Ris of Parma and to experts. The first results are expected at the beginning of August. With those answers, the matter could become much clearer. But by then the Formula One circus may no longer be the one we know.
"Ferrari has violated the pacts".
The formal accusation, which arrived by fax at Maranello on Tuesday, July 17, 2007, in the course of the morning, is signed by McLaren and, in fact, inaugurates what promises to be an unprecedented legal battle that will culminate in the sporting trial. The issue, according to McLaren, is quite simple. The whole process of the Formula One spy story rests on the agreement signed in the night between Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 July 2007 between the two protagonist teams: in that agreement, the British undertook to make their chief designer Mike Coughlan collaborate with Ferrari, and to make him tell how, when and why he had come into possession of the infamous 780 pages of documents; on the other hand, Ferrari undertook not to use those declarations within the criminal proceedings opened in Modena by the prosecutor Giuseppe Tibis. Both teams then undertook not to make those papers public, at least until the start of the sporting trial. Immediately after signing that agreement, Mike Coughlan entrusted the London court (and Ferrari extracted a copy) with his truth. A truth that could now be devastating for McLaren: because, among other things, the chief designer told of having come into possession of those documents in Barcelona (Nigel Stepney handed them to him) and of having spoken about them with three prominent members of the British team (Jonathan Neale, Paddy Lowe and Martin Whitmarsh). Now, the surprise move. Because McLaren, after reading numerous articles in newspapers all over Europe over the weekend based on the contents of that affidavit (above all, the Times of London, very concerned about the negative outcome of the sporting proceedings) has decided to go on the counter-attack. And to at least put some pressure on its adversaries. Thus, by identifying Ferrari as the source of the alleged leak, it has decided to formalise its accusation, reserving the right to take future legal action that is unpredictable at the moment (there are even those who claim that it may ask the Paris Commission to deem Coughlan's words useless). The move sounds a little grotesque and, in a certain sense, clumsy, indicative of the state of confusion in which the entire British team seems to have been in for some time now, especially if read in parallel with the press release that, for the past couple of days, the team's staff have been circulating to agencies and websites.
"No material or data from Ferrari is or has been in the possession of any McLaren employee except the individual accused by Ferrari. (McLaren has for some weeks now been calling Coughlan just that: the individual accused by Ferrari, ed). The fact that he had confidential Ferrari material in his house was not known to any member of the team before July 3".
A clear and unambiguous statement denying, in no uncertain terms, what the newspapers have attributed to Mike Coughlan. But then what pacts would Ferrari have broken? Which leaks would it have been responsible for? While waiting to understand exactly the strategic sense of the fax sent to Ferrari, what could be McLaren's defensive strategy, which will have two objectives, begins to become clear.
The first: to prove that no one in the team knew anything about Mike Coughlan's actions (in this sense it is the chief designer's word against that of his superiors) and thus avoid the dangers of strict liability; the second: to prove that never and in no way did Mike Coughlan's knowledge result in any modification of the car, race strategies or various procedures. Both objectives are very difficult to achieve, but particularly the second: because as the Times itself wrote, it is indemonstrable that, once he had read those papers, Mike Coughlan never referred to them, not even indirectly, in carrying out his daily work. In the meantime, there would be an F1 Grand Prix, on Sunday, July 22, 2007. But, behind the spy story and the expected Parisian ruling scheduled for the middle of next week, it is in danger of fading into the background. Instead, the race to be held at the Nurburgring circuit on German soil - the race that Mercedes considers to be its home - is crucial for the two teams fighting for the World Championship, obviously McLaren and Ferrari. The stage returns to its rightful owners, the drivers. What is going to happen, after the bang (Monaco/Canada/USA) of the British team and the response (France-Great Britain) of the Maranello team? Says Fernando Alonso without mincing words:
"On Sunday I want to return to victory".
The World Champion tried to shift analysis and strategy to a track where he has had some very positive races in the last two years. There are also other motivations:
"For the first time I will be in the McLaren racing in front of everyone in the pack. It will be exciting and I hope to give them a great race".
Three other drivers in particular will contribute to making the race exciting: first of all the championship leader, Lewis Hamilton, and then the two Ferrari drivers, Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen. Actually, the question was: who stops Kimi Räikkönen? The point is that the Finn has never had any luck at the Nurburgring.
"A couple of times I stopped when I was in the lead: definitely a bad memory."
He tells Kimi that he even resorted to Michael Schumacher to overcome his personal taboo:
"In the past, when I was on the other side, many times I had the feeling that Michael there was invincible: it seemed that, whatever we did, a Ferrari always had to pass first under the chequered flag. Now it's my turn and I hope I can do the same".
The tests in Belgium have said that Ferrari's competitiveness is growing, although Martin Whitmarsh reiterates that Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso will not be surprised.
"We know what to do".
But Räikkönen retorts:
"The car went perhaps even better than at Silverstone: we are making progress race after race. At Spa we completed almost all the planned programme. The Nurburgring is a very different track to the Belgian one, but I think we will still be very competitive on this track".
And, to further comfort him, the mechanics of the Maranello team remind him of the famous proverb of no twos without threes: against taboos everything is useful.
"This time McLaren won't be saved even by Dr House".
This is how they were joking on Thursday evening between Modena and Maranello when commenting on the latest developments in this interminable Formula 1 spy story. And in fact, things seem to be getting worse and worse for the British team, whose lawyers will have to perform no small logical feat to avoid the inevitable: that is, the Times' prophecy that condemnation of the team and drivers is practically inevitable. After the discovery, in the home of McLaren's chief designer, Mike Coughlan, of the Ferrari dossier (a sort of manual on how to make and perfect a Ferrari at home, 2007 version), after the admissions of the chief designer himself (who said he had spoken about the dossier with the team's top management), after the opening of an enquiry by the Federation against McLaren, after all this comes the coup de grace. A coup de grace, recounted by the weekly Autosport, that has the innocuous and familiar appearance of an e-mail, confidential, sent to the usual Mike Coughlan (it was on his PC) by another of the protagonists of this scorching summer of secrets, lies and stalking: the Ferrari mechanic, Nigel Stepney. It is late March and the Formula 1 world is terrified. Because the Ferraris, on their debut at the Melbourne circuit, have done very well. Kimi Räikkönen won and the performance of the cars was excellent even in practice. But suddenly, in the inbox, on Mike Coughlan's Outlook arrives the message that could change the season:
"Why don't you take a look at Ferrari's new moving flat floor? Maybe it's illegal".
Asks, or rather suggests, the Ferrari technician. The moving flat floor was one of Ferrari's big innovations in 2007. A few days after the arrival of that email, before the Malaysian Grand Prix, McLaren asked the FIA for a clarification on the regulations with particular reference precisely to the flat floor; a sort of warning, in response to which Ferrari, prudently, went back to using the old floor, the non-moving one. What happened after the email arrived, whether it was Mike Coughlan who passed the information on to his team's top management, is not known for sure. But certainly the World Council members who will have to decide on McLaren's behaviour are unlikely to ignore the coincidence. In Formula One, coincidences are generally not believed in. To this one, then, which has already been pointed out in the charge brought against McLaren by the FIA, even less so. In addition to anticipating the start of industrial espionage by a few months, the e-mail issue, if confirmed, appears particularly weighty because it incinerates in one fell swoop the two main arguments that were at the basis of the defence strategy devised by Ron Dennis and Co. In fact, the British team's lawyers before the court would like to be able to affirm that never, ever, was any data acquired by the man accused by Ferrari (that's the derogatory way McLaren calls Mike Coughlan these days) used by the team. Which then, is exactly the sore point highlighted by the Times, when it explained in recent days that the difficult thing to do will be to prove that never did Coughlan, once he read the Ferrari papers, use his knowledge to favour McLaren. The second objective the lawyers had set themselves was to convince the court that no member of the team, with the exception of the usual one accused by Ferrari, was ever in possession of information or documents from Maranello; nor did they ever know that Coughlan had those papers. Before that e-mail was found, it was very difficult to prove any of this. Now it is virtually impossible. Unless we find confirmation of the so-called Stepney theory. This theory can be summarised as follows:
"It's all a set-up by someone. A set-up".
Meanwhile, around the Nurburgring circuit and in the surrounding air, there is a sense of emptiness. Not because Michael Schumacher is missing, the invincible driver who, after so many years, does not run his home Grand Prix, the battle of the Nurburgring, less than 100 kilometres from Kerpen, his home town. Maybe the German fans will feel orphaned by him, he has retired, he has left them, he is gone, Saturday and Sunday he will be here because they will name a corner of the circuit after him, but it will not be the same. Michael Schumacher's orphan may be the public. But the sense of emptiness that pervades the teams has another origin, they are orphans of those phrases, perhaps banal, that spoke of the fight for pole position, the challenge on Sunday, the duel for the World Championship.
Once upon a time, on Thursdays, we delighted in predictions, we talked about technique or strategy, now it is only the spy story that holds the headlines, the murky affair in which Ferrari has fallen victim, in which McLaren plays the uncomfortable role of the great accused, in a surreal atmosphere in which pit stops have given way to investigating agents, where no one gives a damn about predicting the winner, but about how the FIA intends to revolutionise the standings next Thursday when the World Council will give its verdict in Paris on exchanged documents, dust in the tanks and spying by e-mail. The best symbol of this changed wind is Lewis Hamilton, the terrible rookie, the man who commands the World Championship, who always ends up on the podium, who until a few weeks ago had his heart in his roses and who now finds himself living with the thorns of a possible penalty. He should be smiling and instead, the look is grim.
"No, I don't expect any disqualification, neither for my team nor for me. Because I know McLaren, I have lived in it for nine years, and the honesty of our team is recognised. We will not be punished, simply because we have not committed anything illegal. I have faith in the judges, but above all I have faith in my team. I believe in all the men who work with me, I do not accept the idea of losing points in the standings. I am convinced that we will come out clean from this story. Because nothing wrong has been done. And therefore nothing can happen".
A heartfelt defence. Of his record, of the world around him. Hamilton is Ron Dennis' favourite driver, he grew up inside the British team, and this storm has visibly tested him. Fernando Alonso's approach is different, as are his words. The Spaniard directs his confidence towards the FIA.
"They have everything in hand, what they decide will be right. They know the cards, we drivers on the other hand can only express ourselves on rumours, which are often not true. I try not to think about the whole affair, let alone the trial in Paris. I fight to win the World Championship, I want to win it. I came here to race, all my concentration is on the corners of the Nurburgring. We have to beat Ferrari. Everything else doesn't count".
Agreed, but meanwhile, Norbert Haug, the boss of Mercedes, a host at the Nurburgring, would gladly do without defending himself in front of any microphone.
"We knew nothing about those papers, we are innocent, what we had to say we wrote in the last official statement and I think there is little to add. No one inside the team knew about the material in Coughlan's hands, in Italy they say so much nonsense".
It will be interesting to see who the Ferrari judges will agree with. In the meantime, the two Ferrari drivers are trying to keep away from any dangerous statements. Felipe Massa says:
"It bothers me that we only talk about this story, I would prefer to go back to discussing only the duels on the track. I don't comment, because it doesn't concern me".
What if Kimi Räikkönen, due to the loss of points to Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, finds himself leading the World Championship at the end of next week? Laconic was the Finn's comment:
"Maybe it will happen, but that doesn't change my approach to the race. First I have to beat McLaren on the track".
On Friday, July 20, 2007, also saw the resounding change of heart by one of the FIA's advisors, the Spaniard Ioaquin Verdegay. Who not more than five days ago had imprudently reassured everyone by saying that it would be difficult to prove that McLaren had done anything wrong and that, consequently, Ron Dennis, Lewis Hamilton and the others could rest easy. But then, after the international press gave prominence to the email sent by Nigel Stepney to Mike Coughlan with directions to make a formal protest against Ferrari's innovative 2007 flat floor - Verdegay says something else entirely. Namely that he has been misunderstood and that it remains to be seen. Verdegay is one of the three judges who disqualified Michael Schumacher last season at Monte-Carlo, forcing him to start from the back row because he had gone sideways during practice and prevented Fernando Alonso from completing a flying lap.
"It will be very difficult to prove McLaren's offence. But I think that after hearing from the team, we will be able to resolve the matter on Thursday. At the moment there are only two unfaithful engineers. One per team. Now we have to understand what kind of crime they committed, who knew about it and then what use was made of it. Then we will have to find out what kind of advantage, if any, the team in question has gained from it".
In short:
"Anything is possible".
A fine reversal that gives a good idea of the clouds gathering over the future of the British team, which for its part continues to try to remain calm (without much result). Proof of this are the words of the boss of Mercedes' sports division, Norbert Haug. Who insists on declaring himself and his team above suspicion, repeating.
"Everything will be clarified. We are calm, I am convinced that the hearing will go well. I cannot imagine anything happening".
All kinds of indiscretions continue to rain down on this affair. And almost all of them concern the initial phase. The latest one, in particular, comes from England and has to do with the type of substance found in the tanks of the Ferrari at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix. It would be detergent (and not calcium phosphate as leaked in recent days). Still, on the most mysterious aspect of the spy story, i.e. its real genesis, we should finally record Ferrari's definitive refusal to hear Nigel Stepney. A refusal only apparently incomprehensible. On the strategic level, the men from Maranello are currently in optimal conditions. They have everything, perfectly under control. To move anything could only cause damage. And not necessarily the truth of Stepney (who, not having yet received his dismissal letter, is bound to silence) could contribute to Ferrari's cause. At least not between now and Thursday, the date of the trial. Meanwhile, on Friday, July 20, 2007, Grandma brings good luck to Kimi Räikkönen. The cool Finnish driver has a reverence for his grandmother Sirkka, who, if he could, he would take with him in the car, and last year he almost did, as for her 80th birthday, with the collaboration of his father and brother, he got her into a kart. He had been asking for a long time for the sprightly grandmother to appear at a Grand Prix and this time Mrs Sirkka obliged. No sooner said than done: Grandma is in the pits and Kimi Räikkönen ends the second free practice session in the lead, 0.139 seconds faster than Lewis Hamilton, 0.251 seconds faster than his team-mate, Felipe Massa, almost 0.3 seconds quicker than the other McLaren, that of Fernando Alonso. It was a performance that bodes well for the Finn, who did well to fend off the threat of the wind, an annoying breeze that disturbed all the cars and hit this Nurburgring in an autumn version after the rain had watered the track in abundance. Räikkönen makes his grandmother happy, and this joyous family picture serves to dilute a little of the tension of a weekend that was nonetheless marked by poison.
It is hard to think only of the sporting aspect, even if Ferrari and McLaren are trying their best, forbidding their drivers to talk about Stepney, Coughlan and the trial that the FIA will hold on Thursday in Paris, imposing circumstantial phrases and no heavy-handed comments. You see the McLaren men and you think about how much they are trembling, as inevitable is the usual refrain from Norbert Haug, the Mercedes mastermind, who as the German master of the house cannot escape the microphones, only to repeat endlessly the innocence of his own team. But Ecclestone still finds a way to read this spy story in a useful way:
"Image damage? The opposite: we are gaining fans who did not follow us before".
You see the cars on the track and you wonder if it is all in vain, because maybe on Thursday the FIA will drown out McLaren and after ten furious battles, in which the British have often done better than Ferrari, it will decree the end of the World Championship. Poison and low blows are unrelenting, but Kimi Räikkönen, with his low voice and candid face, tries to make people talk just for the chronometer.
"By now I am perfectly comfortable with the car, we are improving with every race, we have a great chance of victory here too. Three wins in a row would be the best way to prove that I can score more points than everyone else".
That is, to win the World Championship, and on the track, without outside aids, FIA rulings or anything else. Kimi Räikkönen won at Magny Cours, at Silverstone, and the conditions are in place for the story to continue. Lewis Hamilton, however, does not think so, second in the early afternoon, but the best in the morning, when the rain had not yet started to fall.
"I feel it will be different this time, my car is much better than at Silverstone, the two Ferraris don't worry me. I had some problems with the soft tyres, in the afternoon the track was dirty, it was very windy, but in the first session we were the best".
A thought that also runs through Fernando Alonso's head, provided he does not find traffic on his fast lap during the fight for pole position.
"We are all very close, on the edge of thousandths, starting in front can be decisive. Ferrari once again could be superior in race pace, but not on the single lap. We have to make the most of this weapon of ours".
To start at the front and never let them pass again. That is Fernando Alonso's intention, which Felipe Massa is ready to counter.
"With the soft tyres, the fastest, we went better. To get pole is everyone's dream. We can achieve it".
And if it rains? Massa shrugs:
"Any weather is fine. My Ferrari is strong anyway".
On Saturday, July 21, 2007, qualifying takes place, which will determine the starting grid for the European Grand Prix. In Q1, David Coulthard and Jenson Button, in a Honda that leaves something to be desired, are eliminated. Incredibly, both Super Aguri cars pass, while the best time is set by Fernando Alonso. In Q2, the Super Aguri are eliminated, Rubens Barrichello, who had just signed with Honda for another year, the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella, slowed by Jacques Villeneuve returning to the pits, the two Williams of Alexander Wurz and Nico Rosberg. First time for Felipe Massa in a Ferrari; visibly angry after a compromised performance, Fisichella comes into the BAR pit box in front of his colleague Villeneuve, insulting him for obstructing him and thus preventing him from entering a possible Q3.
In Q3, all the drivers start to lap slowly, a second or two faster than usual. With five minutes to go, Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton, set off to set the fastest lap, mounted soft tyres, and, to hurry, a McLaren mechanic mounted Lewis Hamilton's right front tyre looser. At Schumacher’s corner, the tyre punctures, and Lewis Hamilton goes straight into the barriers. Immediately after the crash, the British driver remains in the cockpit for a long time. Lewis tries to get up on his own before being rescued by the track officials who transport him to the Medical Centre at the racetrack. He was then transferred to the nearby military hospital in Koblenz to undergo a full examination. McLaren team principal Ron Dennis says that the driver's condition is good and rules out the possibility of fractures. As for the World Championship leader's participation in the race, the British manager is optimistic.
"First we will check his condition and then we will ask him how he feels. Although it will ultimately be up to the FIA doctor to determine whether Hamilton can race or not".
The driver himself will later say that he feels fine and that he hopes to race and confirms that the team knows the cause of the accident. Practice is interrupted, only to resume after half an hour. Pole position goes to Kimi Räikkönen, followed by Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, while Mark Webber, sixth, does well.
"This is the first and last time my grandmother will come to a Grand Prix".
She brought good luck, but too many strong emotions at her age.
"I don't think it's fair to subject her to this stress at the age of 81".
Kimi Räikkönen made thirteen (career pole positions), in front of the gaze of grandmother Sirkka and mother Paula, unleashed in the grandstands, he did not fail, he got what he wanted, to start ahead of everyone in the battle at the Nurburgring.
"And I think this feat is a good mortgage for a new victory".
With his Ferrari, he had triumphed in the last two races, at Magny Cours and Silverstone:
"All the conditions are in place for a trio. I missed the pole, I finally managed to do a lap as I wanted, without mistakes, to exploit the full potential of my car. Already at Silverstone, a fortnight ago, I could have beaten everyone in qualifying, but an uncertainty in the last corner had ruined everything. It was since Australia, four months ago, that I hadn't been able to cheer on Saturday. This time everything went perfectly. I was perfect".
Most of all, for once, it was his temperament that helped, that being cold, insensitive to every emotion. Often his glaciality does not help, few words, mumbled, little desire to spread his feelings to the outside world, but in this case, it allowed him to remain calm, always lucid, in the long stop after Lewis Hamilton's accident. The McLaren driver had crashed into a wall of tyres, smashed his McLaren, and for 33 minutes, the fight was at a standstill, with a red flag, drivers in the pits, palpable tension and only five minutes and 13 seconds to make the time to transfer to the grid. The stop must have hurt Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, a Latin character who had dominated the first two rounds. On their return to the track, their performance was disappointing.
The Spaniard, in truth, had an outstanding half lap, but only because he had lost control of his car in the first part, had ended up on the grass and then sideways, resulting in leaving at least a second on the asphalt.
"When I realised at the finish that I was second, I couldn't believe my eyes. I was sure I had lost an eternity, I continued hoping to place fifth or sixth, to be on the front row seems like a dream. The mistake must not have cost me much or I was a rocket in the final".
Both things are possible, the fact remains that Fernando Alonso tried to make up for it, but in all likelihood lost pole position, the result that his car (said to be low on petrol) demanded. It also went badly for Felipe Massa, on the track with mourning on his arm to remember the São Paulo air tragedy. He had been fastest in round two, at the time of Lewis Hamilton's accident he was flying.
"I was dreaming of pole, I was convinced I could take it. Satisfied with the balance of my car, its speed, it was all there".
Instead:
"I lost concentration. There were only a few minutes left, only one attempt, I had cold tyres, I couldn't do any more".
A third place that is very indigestible, as uncomfortable as sweet appears the first to Kimi Räikkönen.
"I know what it's like in those moments, the wait was long, but bearable. I stayed cool: I still had a set of new tyres, I knew I couldn't make a mistake".
So well that he earned the applause of Flavio Briatore (rumoured FIA president in place of Max Mosley starting from October 2009) and Michael Schumacher, who was present in the pits, as they named a corner after him, the one where Hamilton crashed. Kimi Räikkönen smiles, but beware: here two years ago, on the last lap, he lost an already certain victory, due to the suspension breakage of his McLaren. He had dominated. Fear of precedent?
“No, because here I have often had bad luck, but with the Ferrari I'm having fun. It's an ideal track”.
On Sunday, July 22, 2007, at the start of the European Grand Prix, both Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso start well, but Felipe Massa does even better, passing the Spaniard's McLaren at the first corner, putting himself behind his teammate. The best start, however, is that of Lewis Hamilton, who immediately climbs from tenth place to sixth behind the two BMWs driven by Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica. It is precisely between the two German cars that disaster strikes: at the second corner, Robert Kubica, wanting to pass the other BMW, hits Nick Heidfeld, sending him into a spin. Lewis Hamilton, trying to avoid the collision, goes to the outside of the corner, but the German driver's BMW touches the McLaren on the left rear tyre, causing a puncture and sending the Brit to the middle of the pack, where a situation of tremendous confusion is created, caused mainly by the McLaren slowing everyone down (because of the puncture) and also by the rain that is already beginning to fall. At Turn 5, the cars of David Coulthard and Anthony Davidson come into contact, with the Scotsman's Red Bull Racing car getting the worst of it and going off the track, though without sustaining any particular damage and therefore being able to continue, and in taking on the Schumacher-S Nico Rosberg hits Rubens Barrichello, damaging his front wing and sending the Brazilian into the gravel. Already towards the end of the first lap the rain increases its intensity, forcing the drivers to change to wet weather tyres: Kimi Räikkönen enters the pit lane, but slips and returns to the track and is therefore forced to stay on the track until the next lap, losing a lot of time.
Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen, the two Toro Reds of Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi, Anthony Davidson, Ralf Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Rubens Barrichello, Lewis Hamilton, Adrian Sutil and the two BMWs of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld then stop in the pits; the others stay on the track, hoping that the rain will stop soon. But the conditions worsen, and the rain becomes a violent downpour. Between the second and third laps, in fact, due to tremendous aquaplaning, Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, and the two Toro Rosso cars all go off the track at the first corner. Lewis Hamilton also goes off the track at Turn 1 due to the water but is put back on track by a crane, having kept his engine running. Then, the Safety Car comes out but only stays out for one lap as the race is suspended. Markus Winkelhock with Spyker, who had paid no less than $750.000 to race in this Grand Prix as a replacement for Christijan Albers, who had been exonerated by the team for sponsorship reasons, incredibly finds himself in first position, having passed Kimi Räikkönen on the track during the second lap, thanks to the strategy of changing tyres after the warm-up lap, starting from the pit lane accordingly. After fifteen minutes, they restart with two laps behind the Safety car. At the restart, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso immediately pass, like everyone else, the Spyker of Markus Winkelhock, also since the latter is on wet tyres hoping for the rain to return (the other cars are on intermediate tyres), in the meantime Kimi Räikkönen is seventh; Lewis Hamilton had been able to unlap himself behind the safety car and had played the dry tyre card before rejoining the group. The track was still too wet, however, and he was lapped again by most of the field after a trip through the gravel. Then Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso and the two Red Bull Racing drivers swap positions in the opening laps, with Mark Webber eventually getting back in front of David Coulthard. Heikki Kovalainen is fifth ahead of Kimi Räikkönen, who fails to pass.
The Finn puts on dry tyres on lap 11, one ahead of the leaders, and thanks to this move, climbs to third place. He is followed by the excellent Alexander Wurz, who becomes fifth behind Mark Webber when everyone has switched to dry tyres. On lap 18, Heikki Kovalainen passes Alexander Wurz at the first corner, but already nine laps later, he stops for his third stop, slipping back. During lap 19, meanwhile, two home drivers touch each other: after the NGK, Nick Heidfeld is faster than Ralf Schumacher, ninth, and tries to overtake at the Coca-Cola Kurve, but Ralf Schumacher closes the door and ends up off the track, race over for Ralf Schumacher and not for Nick Heidfeld, who on the next lap, as he crosses the line, raises his arm in apology. At this stage, Felipe Massa is very fast and increases the gap to Fernando Alonso, as Kimi Räikkönen rejoins behind him. On lap 35, however, Kimi Räikkönen has a hydraulic problem and retires, leaving the podium to either Mark Webber or Alexander Wurz. Felipe Massa's third and, in theory, final stop changes the balance of power at the front. After touching a maximum gap of 8.5, Fernando Alonso starts to lap faster than Felipe Massa, reducing the gap to 4.5 seconds when there are about ten laps to go; too much, if it were not for the fact that with seven laps to go it starts to rain and the drivers stop in the pits to mount wet weather tyres. Two laps later, Fernando Alonso, much faster than Felipe Massa, starts to follow him closely and overtakes him at Ford corner on lap 56 with a slight contact. Fernando Alonso wins the European Grand Prix, followed by Felipe Massa and Mark Webber. Alexander Wurz is fourth, followed in turn by David Coulthard, Nick Heidfeld, Robert Kubica, and Heikki Kovalainen. When the race is over, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa park their cars, and the Spaniard points to the camera at the car's damage (specifically the side deflector of car number 1), turns his finger towards himself and says no as if to say:
"I don't do these things".
And finally, he points at the culprit: Felipe Massa. Who has already walked away, but has done so in time to see Fernando Alonso's tantrum in front of the cameras. The real siparietto will be staged in the cool-down room before the podium, where the two will surprisingly confront each other speaking Italian.
Massa: "I didn't do it on purpose".
Alonso: "You broke my whole deflector".
Massa: "Fuck off, you win and you say something like that, you're an asshole".
Alonso: "I fought with Heidfeld, I fought with everyone, but you can't do that with three laps to go".
Massa: "You win and you do something like that, man try to learn".
Alonso: "You try to learn, I've been fighting with everyone and with three laps to go we touch".
Massa: "Well done".
Alonso: "Well done you".
At this point Ron Dennis, the McLaren team principal, approaches, urging them both to calm down and Felipe Massa gestures as if to tell him to go to hell. Later, in the press conference, sitting side by side, tones begin to cool, with Fernando Alonso taking a step back:
"We touched each other twice and now I apologise to Massa because I was so stressed before. It's just that we risked not finishing the race. But it only took five minutes for me to realise that this is racing. Anyway, now I want to enjoy the victory and forget everything else".
While Felipe Massa tries to explain what happened, not hiding a certain disappointment for that mocking second place:
"I couldn't keep up anymore. It wasn't a set-up problem because the first time it started to rain, I was fast. But at the end, after I put those tyres on, I started to feel too much vibration and I no longer had the balance. I was very surprised when Alonso told me I had done it on purpose. When I make a mistake I am the first to admit it, but this time I didn't do anything wrong. It was like in Barcelona when we fought at the start and I got the better of it. They can tell me anything, but not that I am dishonest".
Arms raised. The clenched fist. The hands clapped hard, applauding himself for the feat. The kiss to the camera. The arms again, first the right, then the left, as he enters the corner of the podium. The only thing missing is the jump, the one he avoids, perhaps out of respect for Michael Schumacher, who is close by, and with a longer chin than usual he is already forced to acknowledge Ron Dennis, the lifelong enemy, the representative of the team that has won and who withdraws the cup with gusto, taken then from those hands there, one of the Ferrari image men par excellence. The unbridled joy of Fernando Alonso. He monopolises the last images of the craziest race of the year after he had already filled it on the track, with that overtake on the fifth-to-last lap in the wet on Felipe Massa and immediately after the finish line, with that violent quarrel in full agonistic rapture with the Brazilian from Ferrari, an altercation for the use of TV all over the world, with Fernando Alonso who absolutely does not want to let the matter pass unnoticed, so much so that it is he who calls the camera, shows his damaged McLaren (he touched with Massa at the moment of overtaking) and then points an accusing finger at the Brazilian. Alonso exults. He gloats. He has triumphed in an unexpected way. And he is convinced with this feat that he has taken back the World Championship, that he has regained it after it seemed to have become Lewis Hamilton's fiefdom for months. The English rookie was empty-handed this time, he raced, received the OK from the FIA doctors in the morning but finished ninth, outside the points zone. Lewis Hamilton remains in the lead, but Fernando Alonso is now very close, just two points behind.
And psychologically, the Spaniard is convinced he has turned the season around. Taking the fight right to the end. In the forbidden blows between Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa and first in the spectacular overtaking move that decided the race. But there was no shortage of emotions and twists and turns on a Sunday that the crazy weather in this corner of Germany made incandescent. Fate had its fun, just think that the announced rain did not arrive a few seconds before the start of the race but just a minute later. The race had started, Kimi Räikkönen had taken the lead, and Felipe Massa had overtaken Fernando Alonso when the storm broke out at the stroke of the first lap. Lap number two is hell, puddles are wasted, and in the corner at the end of the straight, six cars, including Lewis Hamilton's, run off the track. Adrian Sutil, Anthony Davidson, Scott Speed and Nico Rosberg limit the damage, Vitantonio Liuzzi gets quite a scare as he brushes against a crane. It is the means needed to recover a few cars, not the five second-tier ones, unlucky because they have their engines out, but that of Lewis Hamilton, who has managed to keep it running and in the name of safety (at the limits of the regulations, but the FIA tolerates) is brought back onto the track. In these conditions it is not possible to continue, the red flag comes out, and a 22-minute suspension follows. The break will make the race pass the two-hour time limit, and then the race classification will be drawn up ex officio. But from this year, the rules have changed. Eventually, five teams will go to complain, including McLaren (had Lewis Hamilton eighth after 120 minutes), but the FIA will reject them, saying that the race lasted one hour and 44 minutes and that the break should no longer be counted.
The fact is that they restarted from lap five behind the Safety car and with Markus Winkelhock in the lead because he was the only one to have started from the pits on wet tyres. Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, who became first and second, had done so immediately, Kimi Räikkönen had not, he had skidded, lost his way into the pits, and the delayed stop had cost him six positions. From lap eight (Lewis Hamilton had to overtake everyone and queued last to allow the safety car to leave), the sun returned and the hierarchies were restored. There is Felipe Massa in front, Fernando Alonso second, Kimi Räikkönen third. All this until lap 35, when the Finn is forced to retire due to a hydraulic problem. Emotions over? Not by a long shot. Behind Lewis Hamilton (also finished for lawns) makes a comeback, in front, the rain revolutionises everything again. It is lap 53, seven to go, and everyone in the pits again. But this time it is a stroke of luck for Fernando Alonso, who flies in the wet and annihilates Felipe Massa on lap 56. The two touch, and only the Spaniard enjoys it. Felipe Massa also takes his insults. And he curses the sky. One should never give him up for dead when dealing with Fernando Alonso. He always reacts with the flair of a champion, and for his upcoming birthday, he could not give himself a better present: winning a Grand Prix in front of the eyes of his wife Raquel, who has been missing from the paddock for months. There would not even be a need for words, for the Spaniard speaks body language: never seen so much grit on the podium. In the past, he has expressed his joy in different ways, but in Germany, he really let the anger inside him explode. He has suffered five months, and now he is only two points behind Lewis Hamilton, the comeback is almost complete and life must seem like something else to him. He also has other reasons: what he predicted in Monte-Carlo, and what he hoped in his heart would happen to his teammate, has come true:
"Did Lewis risk crashing into a corner? He came close to going right, another time left: sooner or later he will really stop".
Of course, he was not thinking of serious accidents like the one that happened to the Englishman on Saturday. Still, in one of his low moments, he pointed out to the media that:
“Statistically, sooner or later bad luck will leave me and Hamilton won't always be OK”.
In Germany, fate was finally on his side: if it had not rained:
"Ferrari would have been superior. You could see that they were faster than us".
And even the drops at the end of the Grand Prix were providence, they made the difference:
"There were six laps to go, so I was able to overtake Massa".
Rain, he revealed, is in his DNA:
"As a kid, when I was racing in Asturias, back home, fifty per cent of the races were held in the rain. So I get on well with water".
Certainly not in the conditions at the start of the race:
"The first three laps were unforgettable: it was right to stop, you just couldn't continue. I understand that it was exciting from the grandstands, but we were taking risks".
Having closed the month of July as best he could, new prospects now open up for the holder:
"I am satisfied. But you cannot exult, because the championship is long and you cannot know what will happen on Sunday, August 5, 2007, in Budapest. Anything can happen, even the opposite".
Alonso still has in mind the ups and downs of last year: his exciting start, then Michael Schumacher's comeback with the overtake in China. Finally, in Japan, the German's retirement that handed him the world title.
"I will repeat it endlessly: with seven races the road is long. Take Ferrari: without rain, it was faster. Then, suddenly, Räikkönen suffers mechanical problems. Then it rains and McLaren wins the race. That's how racing goes, nothing is predictable. I, for example, would not bet a euro on any driver in the next races because you don't know who will win".
The recipe remains one, then, for the Spaniard:
"The approach. Knowing that you go into a race thinking you are going to give it your all, then sometimes it goes well and sometimes it doesn't. They said about Hungary: I'm two points away, and I'll give my best, we'll have fun. I hope to score more points than the current championship leader".
And there is satisfaction, of course, at McLaren:
"Fernando deserved to win, too bad for Hamilton who had problems both yesterday and today. It was meant to be this way".
Says Norbert Haug, who also addresses the issue of spying, four days after the FIA decision.
"I reiterate that we have not done anything wrong, we have not copied anything".
Finally, a surprise podium for the Australian Mark Webber, which relaunched his career:
"I'm thoroughly enjoying this result, it was important to keep control of the car, I tried to do well in the last laps, and I did it, important decisions had to be made, especially at the end. Today's points are very important, everyone on the staff did their best today, we did something exceptional, and we can only improve, however, when you get a result like today, you have an injection of energy and motivation for everyone".
While Kimi Räikkönen says just that to the media, before running away very disappointed from the Nurburgring, a circuit that for him proves to be cursed.
"All the fault of a hydraulic problem. But my World Championship is not over".
He had paid his dues in 2003, Mercedes engine failure when he was in the lead, and worse still in 2005, first on the penultimate lap, a bad tyre, a suspension that gave way, his McLaren starting to spin in the gravel, while Alonso's Renault ran happily, with the unexpected winner waving goodbye. He thought, Räikkönen, that this was enough, that the price paid to bad luck was enough, but he was wrong. The premise had been good, the pole on Saturday, but the race was a disaster. The Finn immediately hurt himself. Having started in front, in the lead at the first corner, when the downpour started he should have gone straight to the pits. Jean Todt would later say:
"We had ordered both drivers to pit, only one did".
That is Felipe Massa, who was good at seizing the moment, changing tyres, putting on wet ones, and finding himself in the lead. Räikkönen did not disobey, he simply did not make it. It is not clear whether he came in too fast, Ferrari does not get into it, nor does the driver, or whether the puddles were too big at that point. The fact is that he swerved and, rather than crashing into the wall, preferred to stay on the track and do another lap. As a result, with water to dodge, he found himself in seventh position before the race was suspended for 22 minutes. That alone was enough to ruin Sunday. Then reliability set in. The sun was back, the Ferrari was fast, he was third, now behind Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, but at least he would have consoled himself with a podium finish. Instead, there was another trouble, the hydraulic system began to go haywire, with various leaks, problems with the differential and traction control. Jean Todt again explains.
"Without reliability, you don't go anywhere, in this aspect we have to improve. Kimi had already had a similar problem at Magny Cours, in Friday's free practice. Then everything was resolved without damage, this time instead he was forced to stop".
A parking space that threatens to put his dreams on hold. Perhaps Keke Rosberg, Finnish driver and 1982 World Champion, is exaggerating. He judges on Helsinki TV:
"His World Championship is over. He has three rivals in front of him, Hamilton and Alonso are far behind, he had a great chance to close the gap and he blew it".
Jean Todt is more possibilistic:
"We have the potential to win all the races, if Kimi does his job well, he can still do it, eighteen points is not an enormity".
But it cannot be denied that Kimi Räikkönen was hoping for something different. He had even summoned a lucky charm, his grandmother Sirkka, who is now weeping disconsolately:
"My boy will make up for it, but the blow was very hard. I am very sad. I thought he would win, when I saw him stop, I burst into tears".
There was nothing to be done. The cold Finn has only to clench his fists.
"We have to improve in terms of reliability, but this retirement will not let me give up. My World Championship is not over, even Hamilton didn't take any points, anything can still happen".
On the grey Ferrari day not even Felipe Massa can smile. Violent quarrel with Fernando Alonso aside, he saw a victory that he deserved until five laps from the end slip from under his nose.
"Everything had been perfect, the start, the timely pit stop, the race under the sun. My Ferrari had no problems, I was able to manage the lead calmly. Then came the rain and the final disaster".
In the wet, he was fooled by Fernando Alonso, but there is a technical explanation:
"The car started to vibrate, it became undrivable. There was no more balance, I was struggling with every braking. In those conditions it was impossible to resist Alonso".
Here, too, mystery and reliability. The last set of tyres, the wet set, radically changed the car, Ferrari must investigate, and understand why. All this while Felipe Massa says:
"I bring home eight points, I get closer to Hamilton, but what an opportunity I missed".
He adds:
"I was shocked when Alonso came to tell me that I had touched him on purpose. It's not true, if he thinks so that's worse for him. I made a good start, I managed to overtake Alonso straight away, the car had a very good pace even if there were some difficulties, it was not easy to control the car in those conditions".
Then Ferrari had taken off as the track dried out.
"The car then behaved very well in dry conditions, I had a very good pace. Unfortunately, then the rain came again: at the beginning, I was still holding on, then I don't know what happened with the last set of tyres, I felt vibrations everywhere, Alonso got closer and closer and eventually passed me".
In the cursed Nurburgring. Two retirements, in Barcelona and Germany. Two zeroes, which heavily conditioned Kimi Räikkönen's classification.
Two serious lapses, but that is not all: there is also the gearbox breakage on Saturday in Australia for Felipe Massa, an issue that deprived the Brazilian of an announced triumph, Kimi Räikkönen who, in Malaysia, is forced to take laps and power from his engine, put at risk by a water leak in the previous, albeit victorious, race in Melbourne, and then the Ferrari that remains stationary on the grid at Silverstone, Felipe Massa who complains that combustion problems have shut down his engine and forced him to start last, from the pits, prelude to a harried comeback that will give him fifth place, but keep him off the podium. Reliability problems. Many, too many. Once upon a time, there was an indestructible car, the one that never broke down, that allowed Michael Schumacher to fight on equal terms with probably stronger cars, the Williams of Jacques Villeneuve, but above all, the McLaren of Mika Hakkinen. Ferrari always came in, it was the others who were cursing for assorted troubles and breakdowns. Today, this sweet tale no longer exists. The Maranello car on the track is almost always the fastest but often fails to capitalise on this superiority because it suddenly discovers itself to be fragile or at least more exposed to the mishaps of the enemy McLaren. The paradox, which ends up making all the difference, at least at the moment, in the World Championship standings, is that another novelty has also dissolved, certainly for those who were its less sweet victims: that of the McLaren ready to stop for faults at least once a month; the very powerful Mercedes engine, but always ready for impressive smoke, the suspensions that give out on the last lap (it happened to Kimi Räikkönen, when he was still on the other side of the barricade, right at the Nurburgring), when it is not the clutch, the hydraulic system or the electrical system that shatters. Again, you have to say once upon a time. Because today McLaren no longer breaks down, it never stops, in ten races it has always brought both drivers to the finish line, with Lewis Hamilton suffering at the Nurburgring, but before that, he had always finished on the podium, with Fernando Alonso occasionally getting into trouble (the broken gearbox on Saturday at Magny Cours forced him to a miserable seventh place, the rain in Canada forced him to settle for the same placing), but like a good little ant, a tactic that Michael Schumacher also liked a lot, he always brought home some points. It was McLaren that became indestructible. This explains the gap in the standings (five wins each, but Ferrari is 27 points behind in the Constructors' Championship) and makes Jean Todt, the big boss of the Maranello team, particularly suffer.
"Without reliability you go nowhere. We have to do more. If you are faster on the track, the classification at the finish must also say so. We were superior in Germany and achieved less than our potential".
A shortcoming that risks being paid dearly, because Kimi Räikkönen has won the same races (three) as Fernando Alonso and one more than Lewis Hamilton, but he is almost out of the title fight. If in Barcelona the alternator wiring and at the Nurburgring the hydraulic system had not betrayed him, the story would be different, but this is the stark reality and one has to live with it. Kimi Räikkönen does not intend to give up.
"The talk is not over, my World Championship is not over".
But even he, who had already had so much trouble in McLaren, insists on the concept:
"We have to improve the reliability".
Which translated means: in the last seven races you cannot make any more mistakes (not even him, as he did on Saturday in qualifying at Monte-Carlo by crashing); the Finn to hope for a miracle would have to win almost every time and to do so he has to get to the finish line. Reasoning that also applies to Felipe Massa. The Brazilian was only left empty-handed in Canada (disqualified, black-flagged for coming into the pits when they were closed), but the 7 points from Australia and Great Britain could well have been 18. Look at that: he would be tied with Lewis Hamilton.
"A sports problem measured in millions of euros".
This is how the lawyers who have been frequenting the palace in Place de la Concorde, Paris, for years explain the hearing that will open next Thursday before the FIA World Council. It sounds like a cliché, a shortcut, but it is not.
"Usually the main concern of a board such as the one that McLaren and Ferrari's lawyers will be facing is to issue, yes, a balanced and fair ruling from a sporting point of view but, above all, one that does not alter the underlying economic balance too much".
And so, in the end, the summer Spy story involving McLaren (as the villain) and Ferrari (the victim) will be reduced to a question of money. Almost all the considerations that world councillors will have to make in the handful of hours that separate the opening of the hearing from the reading of the sentence will revolve around there, rather than around the reconstruction of the fact. They will range from questions more closely related to the trial (how is the damage suffered by Ferrari quantifiable? or at least the unfair advantage gained by McLaren) to those related to the consequences of the final judgement (what damage is caused to a team by more or less directly revoking a Formula One Constructors' World Championship? and what damage is caused to the system by conditioning the Drivers' World Championship?). This assumption mitigates McLaren's risks, although it does not entirely neutralise them. The affidavit delivered by Mike Coughlan into the hands of Ferrari's lawyers is an indictment that is difficult to counter. And the British team's lawyers will have their hands full trying to prove that they took no advantage of the Maranello team's information that their chief designer had come to acquire - apparently - at the hands of disloyal mechanic Nigel Stepney. They will have their hands full trying to prove that no one inside the team had any idea what Coughlan was up to. According to the feeling on the eve of the race, no one will at least save it from the charge of having violated Article 151 paragraph C of the sporting regulations. Which sanctions, in its generic wording, even abnormal behaviour. The type of sanction is at the total discretion of the judge (in all, there will be 24 councillors although the graduation of the sentence will then be decided by a small group) ranging from a warning to a penalty in terms of points or even disqualification. The FIA has to decide, in particular, whether to affect the constructors' classification (the one that is more relevant from an economic point of view) or the drivers' classification (more relevant from a sports point of view).
"It will probably combine the two types of penalty in such a way as not to cause huge economic damage and, at the same time, keep the championship alive, sending a signal to everyone".
With the queen piece of evidence in Ferrari's hands (the fateful dossier found in Mike Coughlan's house), the trial will be mainly about nuance. Those who have read the papers explain that it will be very difficult to deny that McLaren, albeit indirectly and not necessarily knowingly, took advantage of the information in that dossier. The problem has less to do with Ferrari's 2007 plans and more to do with the test data from Maranello contained in those papers. Starting from that basis, the team led by Ron Dennis had to work much less than it would otherwise have done. Then there is the impact that the e-mail found in Coughlan's house, the one sent by Stepney explaining that the floor designed for 2007 could be irregular, could have on the whole issue. McLaren took formal action on the point and then used illegally acquired information. And this could be the decisive element. On Thursday, July 26, 2007, the FIA trial of McLaren will take place in Paris: the risks for the British giant are high. There are twenty-six members of the World Council, chaired by Max Mosley. It will start at 9:30 a.m., but the verdict - the discussion promises to be long and articulate - could slip to the next day. Ferrari CEO Jean Todt, one of the twenty-six on the board, will leave at the time of the verdict: he does not vote. Instead, Bernie Ecclestone votes. There will be two Italian judges: Marco Piccinini, deputy chairman, and Luigi Macaluso. They both have the right to vote, as does the Englishman. In the meantime, Nigel Stepney has returned home and discovered that he is always being tailed.
He returned to his stone villa in Serramazzoni, in the Modena hills, with his partner and daughter. And once again he found a suspicious car with a man on board beneath the house. The number plate, this time, was noted down and passed on to the Carabinieri. Together with a complaint against unknown persons to report to the Modena public prosecutor's office - which is investigating Stepney's hypothesis of sabotage against Ferrari - that the stalking and intimidation activities have not subsided. Nigel Stepney has decided to stop talking precisely to try to stop this undue pressure:
"I have to prevent harmful interference with my person and family members".
To understand this story properly, one has to imagine it as a double-bottomed box. Looking at it absent-mindedly, everything is perfect. But then, looking closer, one discovers that there is a point at which things become confusing and, at times, unbelievable. This is the beginning, a handful of reports made by the Carabinieri in Maranello, called in by Ferrari after a strange powder was found near the refuelling facility. It is Thursday, May 17, 2007, the eve of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. Those minutes have been, until now, summarily recounted, simplified. But a closer look at them reveals some striking details. The main one is this: that day in the workshop at Maranello it was Nigel Stepney (the mechanic accused of everything) who was the first to raise the alarm; to say that there was something wrong with the petrol, that it was dirty. Very strange behaviour for someone who had just put half a kilo of powder in the tanks. The powder in question would later be found in Stepney's trouser pockets. Now: apart from being scarcely credible (a saboteur walking around with half a kilo of powder in a plastic bag stuffed in his trouser pocket is more the stuff of a comedy film than a spy story), it is also not entirely true. It was Nigel Stepney himself who found that powder in his own pockets and emptied them before the curious eyes of his colleagues. The series of anomalies is long. Suffice it to say that Stepney's first phone call to his lawyer to confide his fear, indeed his worried certainty, of being stalked dates back to February. The powder scene, on the other hand, is from May. The question from the investigators themselves is, therefore, almost automatic: who, knowing he is being followed and probably suspecting he is being followed by his own company, would ever commit the naivety of attempting sabotage in such a manner? But the strangest part, the darkest point of the false bottom, is the report of industrial espionage (the infamous 780-page dossier) that reached Ferrari from London about three weeks ago. Until then Ferrari's problem with Nigel Stepney only concerned the question of the powder in the tanks. From then on the plan shifts and the issue becomes much more serious (it involves the whole McLaren team) and also much more credible. If it were not for a strange character, the owner of the shop in Surrey, the one where Mrs Trudy Coughlan (wife of McLaren's chief designer) went to have the papers sent to her husband - according to the prosecution, if you want to call it that, since Ferrari, curiously enough, never made a complaint - by Stepney digitised. Work that the lady paid for (as it happens) with a cheque for £70. A cheque that leaves many traces. Today, that shopkeeper lives besieged by English journalists, among whom he has sparked off an auction to sell (payment in sterling) his truth, which, evidently, is not the one told so far, (i.e. that of the Ferrari fan who saw Ferrari's plans and defended the myth). It is much more likely that someone knew what was going to happen and acted in advance. In short, the feeling is that there is still a lot unsaid in this whole story, perhaps nothing sensational, perhaps just something embarrassing. Be that as it may, none of the protagonists seem to have the interest or the strength to dig in. Although a somewhat venomous statement by Ron Dennis suggests that something is moving:
"We respect procedures, and do not say or provide anything, unlike others".
Meanwhile, on Friday, July 20, 2007, McLaren handed over its voluminous defence brief to the FIA ahead of Thursday's Paris judgement. Balancing out the statement count is an interview given by Montezemolo:
"It is an ugly and serious affair that hurts the sport, because the principles of fairness are broken. Think what would have happened if Ferrari had been not the victim but the culprit".