The McLaren Summons

Was it a new hero in the making? The new golden boy of Formula 1? It does appear now that Lewis Hamilton's driving and results are too good to be true. From the reports, the stolen technical data aspect makes perfect sense. From a report in the Guardian:

"McLaren are being summoned for an alleged breach of article 151c of the international sporting code which covers "any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motorsport in general". Penalties can range from a reprimand to expulsion from the championship. Under formula one technical regulations, teams must design and manufacture their complete car and this dispute is about whether McLaren could have had any interest in adapting Ferrari technology in the design of their current MP4-22 model."

I don't think FIA will bar McLaren. There is simply too much money involved. Hamilton should be safe.

On a somewhat unrelated topic, I have always wondered about Lance Armstrong. Patriotic Americans may attribute it to a Francophile anti-Americanism. Somehow...


Addendum

The best bit of this? McLaren's defence is based on the premise that the document is exposed only to a single rogue employee! And of course, the single rogue employee is Mike Coughlan, their chief designer! Woo!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article2056456.ece