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mlittle wrote:

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

Sounds interesting, 3m.........I have my doubts, though, on a couple of points:
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

three-m wrote:

mlittle wrote:

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

Sounds interesting, 3m.........I have my doubts, though, on a couple of points:
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

Agree and disagree, 3m........

~~Yes, Brawn and Stepney were tight during their time at Ferrari and I suspect part of the reasoning behind Stepney's actions likely stemmed from the fact that when Brawn left the Scuderia for his sabbatical, Stepney IMO should've been promoted up the ladder......when he wasn't promoted, that's when I suspect he started going the route of Stepney-Gate........
~~Yes, there are political machinations throughout all of motorsports, from the halls of the FIA right down through the grounds of the Brickyard all the way down to the local short-track; politics, like those in government, are part 'n' parcel of motorsports(just look at the twisted, convoluted logic the FIA used in throwing McLaren out of the Constructors' fight but then deciding to allow Alonso and Hamilton to continue in the Drivers' fight even though the FIA through their ruling had stated the 2007 McLaren entries were illegal due to the use of Ferrari data...... )
~~On the other hand, as I stated in my previous post, it seems to me that Ross Brawn, as long a career as he has had, doesn't seem the type to jeopardize his career and reputation by being involved in Stepney-Gate; oh, don't think for a moment that they didn't talk to each other.....I suspect though that Brawn was probably telling his friend Stepney not to get involved w/Coughlin......in the end, Stepney didn't listen and look at the end result.......

FWIW, I don't think we'll ever completely figure out all the X's and O's from Stepney-Gate.....all I know is, the 2007 season is over with and I, for one, cannot wait for the 2008 season...........RELEASE THE HOUNDS!!!!!

P.S. During the off-season 3m, visit the trivia boards; '07-'08 off-season trivia has started and the second round of questions are up on the boards; give 'em a shot.......

in a few weeks time the Concorde Agreement expires.
SF is already making nasty noises, especially regarding customer cars. so much so, that the Pro-drive project is on hold awaiting clarification of the rules
UH OH!

Felipe Massa does not like driving a Ferrari without driver aids.
MS is testing again in Jerez
Alonso will sit out 2008, because no-one will give him a one year contract prior to his move to Ferrari in '09 ???

Julian Mayo wrote:Felipe Massa does not like driving a Ferrari without driver aids.
MS is testing again in Jerez
Alonso will sit out 2008, because no-one will give him a one year contract prior to his move to Ferrari in '09 ???

Massa'll get used to no driver aids; he's got, what, a three-year contract with the Scuderia? And it might, I hate to say, serve Alonso right to sit out 2008; I'm still wondering why he left Renault for McLaren anyway...............

Prodrive is out for 2008, and doubtful for 2009.
Thank you Sir Frank

Hot gossip has Mercedes/Mclaren running a "B" team now that Prodrive is out, with a view to Mercedes running it's own team in 2010, a similar move to BMW/Sauber

well it really looks as though mclaren is going to end up getting bought out by mercedes and more specifically AMG so it figures that by 2010 it will be a full mercedes works team
3m

Ralf Schumacher to McLaren.

The VW GROUP to enter F1 in 2010

Ralf Scumaker gonna take up cooking and host his own Knockwurst and Schnitzel cooking show on publig German television

3m

three-m wrote:Ralf Scumaker gonna take up cooking and host his own Knockwurst and Schnitzel cooking show on publig German television

3m

How to knock your wurst and get paid too!

w/ Ralfy boy sitting home by the fire admiring Cora's augmented beauty it looks like:

Ferrari kimi/felipe
mclaren lewis/heikki
bmw nick/robert
williams nico/kazuki
renault fernando/nelshino
red bull david/mark
STR sebastian's
honda jenson/rubens
toyota jarno/timo
aguri taku/anthony
force 1 giancarlo/christian


my guess when the lights go out at albert park
3m

Rumor has it that the top bosses w/in Toyota have given the Cologne-based Toyota Formula 1 team, which has seemingly underperformed every year they've been in F1, a two-year ultimatum...........

mlittle wrote:Rumor has it that the top bosses w/in Toyota have given the Cologne-based Toyota Formula 1 team, which has seemingly underperformed every year they've been in F1, a two-year ultimatum...........

To do what.....................find a real F1 driver?