63 replies to this topic

[miniman]

when are our UK friends going to do away with those anachronistic distinctions?

[le chat noir]

Originally posted by miniman
when are our UK friends going to do away with those anachronistic distinctions?

when they become anachronistic maybe?

[undersquare]

Originally posted by miniman
when are our UK friends going to do away with those anachronistic distinctions?

Well yes they are quite discredited now. Apparently everyone who has ever given £1m or more to the Labour party has been knighted or ennobled.

But to the extent that it is still a mark of respect, I personally would give it to Ron. I think the opportunism of having Stepney ratting out Ferrari has been exaggerated into a moral outrage by Ron's enemies. Not to say it was right, but the mood has changed during the year so now spying is less accepted than it was at the beginning of the year.

Imperfect he may be, but Ron is still one of the greats of modern F1, even if for some he is a "great" bad guy.

[scottb32]

In essence, I don't see why not. After all, the "spygate" affair was industrial espionage - of a company that is not in England.

His "Ron-speak" and "neat-freak/control-freak" image are funny. Regardless, his achievements are remarkable (as well as others in F1 - Ross Brawn, Adrian Newey - England has created an enormous amout of talent).

Now, what would you make his armor out of? Beryllium? Maybe not...

[pingu666]

it wasnt the ferrari floor thing that would of been a problem, but im sure the fia didnt like it ;)
so if ron knew that stepney had supplied them info about the floor, then thats ok, but did he know about the continuation? or extent beyond the acceptable? probably not...

[Johny Bravo]

Sir McCheat of Spy Valley. Sounds good.

[Lifew12]

Originally posted by littlewoodenboy
knight the printer that blew the whistle on the single most dishonorable event to ever occur in grand prix not ron. never ron .

The single most dishonourable event? You already forgotten that Renault had McLaren drawings floating around? That Spyker had Red Bull drawings? The Toyota saga? The BAR fuel tank? And that's just in recent years.

Knight him? No.

[prty]

He deserves it after all he's done to help his fellow countryman this season

[Chiara]

Originally posted by undersquare

I think the opportunism of having Stepney ratting out Ferrari has been exaggerated into a moral outrage by Ron's enemies. Not to say it was right, but the mood has changed during the year so now spying is less accepted than it was at the beginning of the year.

Imperfect he may be, but Ron is still one of the greats of modern F1, even if for some he is a "great" bad guy.

Firstly I have to say I disagree. Personally my outrage as you term it, at Stepney has nothing to do with Ron. Irrespective of the fact McLaren were involved.

My anger at what Stepney did is because of the way he stabbed in the back all those people alongside him in Ferrari who worked their damned socks off, and when caught acted as if he was the victim. While he was handing over information willy-nilly to his pal Mike Coughlan he was going into work everyday with those people, some who he had worked with for 15 years. Irrespective of his disagreement and the disintegration of his relationship with the management, where was his loyalty and support to his team-mates, his colleagues the people who trusted in him?

McLaren were opportunistic, they took advantage of the situation. I can only speak from my perspective, that wasn't what annoyed me. What annoyed me more than anything was the persistent and systematic lying that when on after the fact. If McLaren had just held their hands up said fair enough yeah we had it our bad, they could have had a few points docked, a slap over the wrist and promised not to do it again - and everything would have been fine.

Will spying go on again in F1? more than likely. Probably people will just be more careful how they do it.

Will Ron get a Knighthood - I very much doubt it this year, given that it would put out the wrong message at this point in time. That doesn't mean it might not necessarily happen in the future.

[For sure]

http://petitions.pm....ntknightDennis/

[Sébastien]

Originally posted by For sure
http://petitions.pm....ntknightDennis/

Ron Dennis, CEO of McLaren Racing, has presided over a company that has been caught indulging in industrial espionage. Dennis has either been complicit in this, or too incompetent to know what is going on within his own company. We believe this is not the kind of person who should be rewarded with a knighthood.

must be RDM behind this ;)

funny to read all kinds of crazy petitions though, there is one anti Jeremy Clarkson too:

Much as I love motoring and Top Gear, finding Jeremy Clarkson often very funny, rewarding Mr Clarkson with a knighthood for lauding the motor car and merely for being an entertaining celebrity would be totally inappropriate. Knighthoods and honours have already been debased by being awarded willy-nilly to entertainers and celebrities like cliff Richard and Kylie Minogue.

[glorius&victorius]

Originally posted by For sure
http://petitions.pm....ntknightDennis/

fantastic! must be max behind this one.

[Chiara]

Originally posted by glorius&victorius


fantastic! must be max behind this one.

Rumour is that Bernie might be getting it anyway

[hobbes]

Allow me to bring a rocket to GPs so that i can finish first on track and lose the points on paper. ( yes yes i know they didnt cheat in that way, nor was their car much faster)