After last weeks horrendous miscarriage of justice court decision, Ferrari were told that they would not have a right to appeal. Thankfully though, they appear to have found a loophole.
Because only the McLaren team were allowed to present their case, Ferrari have claimed that they have not had a chance to present all of their own evidence. Which is fair enough really, I mean, nobody likes to be kicked out of a room where others are talking about them do they? As a result the court of appeals has now agreed to review the case along with Ferrari and any other teams input.
This is potentially catastrophic for McLaren as the previous court statement said (in plain English) ‘If McLaren are found to have gained any advantage from this spying in the future, then they will be banned from the World Championship’. That statement was carefully constructed to not sound like McLaren were being let off scott-free for spying on their main rivals, but the FIA were not planning on the case reaching appeal.
Now the precedent has been set and if Ferrari can prove that McLaren did indeed, gain an advantage from having 780 pages of secret technical data (can we say: ‘No Brainer’?) then the court will be forced to ban the McLaren team (which includes rookie Lewis Hamilton) from this years World Title race.
A quick reminder about the rolling bohemuth that is Epic Carnival. We’re two weeks in now and it’s going swell, so if you’ve got some time to kill (and you know you do) then head on over and take a look.
Come on now, you remember Ivan Lendl don’t you? The Tennis star whose own country tried to stop him from playing?
Well it turns out that instead of becoming star tennis players, Lendls seeds have turned to a different (and far duller) sport. Three of his five daughters have become excellent junior golfers.
Marika, Isabelle and Daniela Lendel, 17, 15 and 14 respectively, regularly take on and beat their Pa over the greens and both Marika and Isabelle have competed on the Us Junior Championship circuit. Marika, the eldest of the three, has even made the Junior American Ryder Cup Team, which probably
sounds more impressive then it actually is.
Whilst Ivan tours the celebrity circuit, where he plays a 2 – handicap, his daughters all have an eye on turning pro. And with a handicap of 1 in their teenage years, it looks like they have every chance.
Understandably, Ferrari are feeling a tiny bit outraged at the complete lack of punishment the McLaren team received for spying on them.
“We are reflecting on what to do after the incomprehensible and grave decision made in Paris,”
…was the head of Ferrari, Jean Todt’s comment after McLaren were let off scott-free. And he’s right too; It’s a bit like a kid who steals exam results and then claims that his grade is valid because he didn’t ‘use the information to his advantage’. Just to clarify, McLaren were found guilty of spying but were not given any punishment because ‘There was no evidence that the stolen information was used to gain an advantage’.
“It’s difficult to understand that one who is deemed to be guilty goes unpunished,”
And this isn’t some small over-blown incident either, McLaren’s chief designer was caught with a 780 page dossier of Ferrari’s technical information. I am a little less stunned then Ferrari about the lack of punishment here, as Formula-1 has regularly shown a bias against the Ferrari team. The biggest issue here though, is that it sets a dangerous precedent for other sports. What the court has essentially said is that the act of espionage itself, is not a crime in the sporting world.
It would be fair to say that this is one of the worst judgements in sporting history and it is not going to go away quickly.
After making one wild eyed predicition about the Yankees, twins takes a more rational angle toward the NL West in the Thursday Debate. [Complete Sports]
Ranking Formula-1 drivers is not an easy thing to do whether it be pre, mid or close season. The fact is that the cars play a major role in how good a driver looks and in order to rank them, you have to look at how they compare to others in their particular bracket of car strength.
And then you have to bite the bullet and admit that those two assbags that you hate (including that robot who drives for your team, ragnamit) are actually competing for top five spots in your list.
So that’s what I did and, for good or for ill, here’s my rankings:
#1 – Kimi Raikkonen (Robotkonen) – Yes he’s a humourless, personalityless drone but the truth is that when Kimi drives at 100% (and he rarely does) he is the best driver in Formula-1 today.
#2 Lewis Hamilton – Lewis is without a doubt the most difficult man to place. Since F1 has returned to Europe, Hamilton’s lack of experience has shown, but but but… this kid is a rookie who made the podium in all of his first nine races and that just doesn’t happen in Formula-1. He has constantly bitch-slapped his team-mate, who just happens to be the reigning World Champion and, although it’s unlikely, he may just win the whole damn thing this year. Where the heck else can you place him?
Reports are coming in that the Tour de France pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov has failed a drugs test. The Kazakh rider has asked for a second sample to be tested but well, this is cycling… I think we know what’s going on by now.
So not only do we have the leader of the race missing a test but we also have two other riders with failures to their names. This year was supposed to herald the ‘New Cycling’ but so far it’s looking to be worse then the ‘old cycling’.
So because of this one schmuck, the whole of the Astana team has been pulled out of the race by their sponsors. What with this and the German news team pulling out last week, you have to ask yourself how long cycling can last as a legitimate sport. Oh wait, that boat already sailed…
Admit it football fans, you’re kind of intrigued by John Beck aren’t ya?
Here’s a kid who went on a mission yadayada came back and threw 69% completions for BYU and ended up as a 26 year old rookie for a team that despoerately needs a future franchise QB.
We’re so used to seeing these guys like Reggie Bush come straight out of college and into starting roles in the NFL that sometimes we forget how important developmental players can be. Guys like Beck aren’t going to come into a team and set the world alight in their rookie season or have everyone proclaiming what a great pick they were. But what they will do is watch, learn and develop over a year or two and then become the player that can do great things for the franchise.
I’ve had to put up with umpteen million idiots telling me how wrong I am about the Dolphins having a good draft this year and I know that my redemption probably won’t come for one or two seasons yet. But know this naysayers; I know where all of you live and in a of couple years, when it’s ‘Beck to Ginn’ 30 times a game, I’m coming round to a deliver a big old bag of ‘I Told ya so!’ right to your front door.
So, Alonso wins the European Grand Prix in style whilst Hamilton is relegated back to 9th place and zero points. You can read my full report here, but before you do, check out this new Mercedes ad below. It plays on the media frenzy around Alonso and Hamiltons’ supposedly strained relationship. And it’s brilliant.
For those of you not in the know, the guy at the end is former McLaren Formula-1 World Champion, Mika Hakkinen.
Lewis Hamilton is shaken but not stirred after a wheel failure saw him hit the barrier at 150mph. After the crash Hamilton had trouble getting out of the car and was eventually taken to the medical centre by ambulance.
The reports are good, no obvious physical injury or loss of conciousness but it is still undecided whether he can race tomorrow or not. On Thursday over on Epic Carnival that Lewios would not win any of the five remaining European based Grand Prix’s but I didn’t think this would be the reason. The wheel failure was caused by a ‘Right wheel gun’ malfunction which meant that the wheel was never properly attached in the pit lane. It was fortunate for Alonso that Hamilton went out on track first, as his wheel was also fitted with the same and gun and on checking, the McLaren mechanics found that his wheel was loose as well.
At the end of the session Kimi Robotknen had won pole, Alonso second and Massa third.
After last weeks 
Come on now, you remember Ivan Lendl don’t you? The Tennis star whose own country tried to stop him from playing?
Understandably, Ferrari are feeling a tiny bit outraged at the complete lack of punishment the McLaren team received for spying on them.
Ranking Formula-1 drivers is not an easy thing to do whether it be pre, mid or close season. The fact is that the cars play a major role in how good a driver looks and in order to rank them, you have to look at how they compare to others in their particular bracket of car strength.
Reports are coming in that the Tour de France pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov has failed a drugs test. The Kazakh rider has asked for a second sample to be tested but well, this is cycling… I think we know what’s going on by now.
Admit it football fans, you’re kind of intrigued by John Beck aren’t ya?
150mph. After the crash Hamilton had trouble getting out of the car and was eventually taken to the medical centre by ambulance.
There are other teams too, but really, this is all that matters.