mlittle wrote:Sounds interesting, 3m.........I have my doubts, though, on a couple of points:three-m wrote:ok since this is the rumor thread I figured it would be safe and appropriate to start some fun here......c'mon now it's a long winter here in the midwest of North America...at least give me the salvation of passing the time w/ some good olde fashion F1 speculation
Consider this....
When the Stepney saga began I beleive it was fact that both he and Coughlan originally wanted to take the Ferrari info and run to Nick Fry with it and get better paying jobs at Honda and accelrate their program w/ the technical information. Now that didn't happen because Nick didn't want to touch the hot potatoe with a 10 foot pole. Now keep things in check here folks as again, this is the rumor section. But could it possibly perhaps be related to Ross's move to Honda...let's consider the following:
Is it possible that Nigel and Ross discussed the possiblity of moving to Honday to improve their programme together? Could it be that Nigel told Ross.."Hey I can get Coghlin" to go with me and we'll head over there and get a head start for your return in '08?
Is it possible that Ross knew of this sh*t a long time ago and just bowed out to lay low?
I guess it's possible, it's also possible that it's coincidence too
but it is fun to think about and I would put any past Nick Fry either...remember when Honda got caught cheating and Nick fry slipped up at the FIA hearing admitting they cheated then he tried to recant quickly...I wish someone had that audio clip it was pretty funny stuff.
oh well I am done..........discuss
3m
1--when Stepney-Gate first broke, both Nigel Stepney and Mike Coughlin had originally planned to take all the Ferrari data and go to Honda, which Honda to their credit wisely rejected(since Honda had gotten busted themselves a while back, they were right to reject the above)
2--considering Ross Brawn's reputation in the F1 paddock, having worked with Michael Schumacher for over a decade dating all the way back to their days at Benetton, I'm still at a loss as to why Brawn, who had been on a year-long sabbatical after leaving Ferrari, would risk everything he's worked for by involving himself in Stepney-Gate....
3--it's indeed possible Brawn knew about what Stepney was doing, but isn't it also possible that Brawn also stayed out of the way, believing that the consequences of helping Stepney, who by rights should've been promoted up the Scuderia ladder following Brawn's departure, way overweighed any possible benefits of joining Stepney and Coughlin in a "super-team" of sorts along with Honda's Nick Fry
Of course, all this might have academic had Coughlin's spouse not made the sheer boneheaded decision to have all those Ferrari docs copied at a print shop just minutes from McLaren's Woking facilities(which IIRC is what put Stepney-Gate into the public sphere......)
All I know is it going to be a very interesting off-season in F1(where's that bottle of Motrin........
mlittle very interesting take I applaud the response and appreciate the thought...
I do know that Stepney and Brawn were pretty tight over there w/ the prancing horse hence my surmizing as such from the above post. Let's go one step further here....as with most things and all things F1 there is no shortage of beaurocracy and politic's...I think the wheel's started spinning on the Stepneygate thing a while back and either caused or was the result of RB leaving or at the very least had some relation to it. I think they wanted to move JT up and they were just waiting for MS to hang it up...see the domino effect that followed?
oh well mere speculation from me....oh to be a fly on Coughlin's or Stepney's wall
cheers
3m
