Regarding McLaren appearing before WMSC

Having watched a previous thread for awhile and seen it decline into derogatory comments about Lewis Hamilton for spurious reasons, I think it is time to return to the main topic of the thread, specifically McLaren appearing before the WMSC of FIA.

There are serious accusations and rumors about McLaren being banned from competition. McLaren has not been talking much about the situation, but has been taking action with firing Ryan, and there is talk of Whitmarsh possibly resigning. McLaren has been subject to several disciplinary actions of varying degrees from FIA, and I would say they must be feeling rather gunshy, and perhaps persecuted by these repeated actions. The bottom line question is whether FIA can be considered impartial in the situation, or are they pursuing McLaren progressively more out of vindictiveness and out of proportion to the circumstances.

Max Mosley should be careful here, because his personal reputation is already sullied from his private shenanigans, and there is a serious questions about whether or not he will be reelected as FIA president. Is he trying to get his last knife in the back of McLaren, while he can.

Bernie has been a fair weather friend of McLaren at best, and his support for Hamilton seems to waning with his proposal to switch the driver's championship to a "medal" competition instead of points. He is in a precarious financial situation regarding loan payments for CVC, requiring 260 millions per year payment to avoid defaulting on loans to formerly Lehman Brothers and RBS, now held by recent acquirers of the debt. The point of this discussion revolves around the market value of F1, and how popular it will remain. If McLaren is tossed into the dustbin, and their race campaign must be abandoned, how impartial will FIA appear towards other teams. There is already a perception that FIA favors Ferrari, who currently seem challenged at just tying their shoes properly.
smilie(':confused:')

If F1 wants to be considered a serious ongoing concern in North America, they need to consider the reputation of the administration. In Indianapolis, they have shot their bolt, and most race fans are still smarting over the Michelin affair, and the Schumacher - Barrachello debacle at the finish line. There is no open contract for Long Beach, and I don't think any NASCAR track in the south would seriously have them, nor could the F1 cars survive the high banked turns. So, prancing off to Las Vegas will do loads of good for their karma. I am sure no one would consider whether Max would take a excursion to a nearby bordello. And the last F1 race in Vegas was done in the parking lot of Caesar's Palace, and was abandoned after a couple of years. If Bernie thinks he can waltz into Vegas and have them set up a street circuit as his personal preference, he will need to consider whether or not he will have to reimburse the casinos, not whether he can receive $25 -35 millions in race fees.
java script:smilie(':rolleyes:')

Of course, if the American auto companies continue to implode and enter bankruptcy, I am sure the bankruptcy courts will happy to let them throw money away on auto racing, which will have implications not just for F1, but also NASCAR and IRL. The Japanese auto companies are wobbling in their support for auto racing, and how can the european companies like Mercedes and Fiat continue their largesse.
java script:smilie('):')

I would think an appropriate cartoon might be one of Max and Bernie as two Humpty Dumpty egglike figures on a wall about to teeter off the edge and fall to their peril. The only question will be, who will they drag down with them.

One only hopes that courageous guys like Ross Brawn and Peter Windsor, let alone the F1 drivers don't get pulled down as well.

You posted the same post in that thread. Please continue there:

http://forums.autosp...=&pagenumber=30

Quality has been resumed ;)