Ecclestone corrects the situation

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone denies rumors suggesting that McLaren could start the 2008 season with a points penalty following this year’s espionage case.

« I did not say the team was going to lose its points, » the Briton said Thursday to Reuters. These remarks come the day after an Ecclestone interview was published in the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport.

« I cannot say at the moment that this is going to happen, nor can the president of the International Automobile Federation, Max Mosley.

« What Max revealed after the last Council meeting is that if the FIA finds something on the McLaren car, the team could be penalized, » he specified.

« But first, we must find something suspicious about the cars before discussing potential sanctions. If this is the case, the World Council will take note and decide on an action. »

« Thus, no one, including Max Mosley, can as of today say anything about it, » declared Ecclestone.

Ecclestone’s comments in the German magazine were interpreted in a way that suggested McLaren-Mercedes could endure another points penalty if their 2008 cars were influenced by Ferrari’s data.

The British team was fined 100 million dollars and stripped of all its points in the constructors’ championship. These are the penalties of the verdict in the espionage case between Scuderia and McLaren through chief designer Mike Coughlan.

This espionage case has somewhat overshadowed the sporting side of F1. To date, it is Renault that finds itself at the center of another espionage case. The team is also summoned to a hearing in Monaco next week to face the accusations made by McLaren, with Renault having had in its possession technical information from the British team.

The FIA stated in September that this new story will benefit from a complete technical report on 2008. The case will therefore be examined in December for possible sanctions.

As for the McLaren-Ferrari case, the former has always denied the presence of information concerning Ferrari on their cars and adds that it has nothing to fear from any other inspections.