Quote:
McLaren may decide not to appeal their harsh penalty in the interests of Formula One, team boss Ron Dennis said on Saturday.
The record $100 million USD fine and loss of all McLaren's 2007 constructors' points were imposed by the FIA on Thursday at a hearing into the spying controversy.
"If we do not appeal this, it will be because we want closure," Dennis told reporters at the Belgian Grand Prix.
"The other teams I hope will understand the financial penalty we will swallow in the interests of the sport."
McLaren say they did not gain any competitive advantage from the Ferrari data. However, the hearing in Paris heard how double world champion Fernando Alonso and test driver Pedro de la Rosa were aware Coughlan was getting information from inside Ferrari.
Dennis has six days in which to appeal and he said he would make a recommendation to the McLaren shareholders, who would then have the final say.
Dennis was wary of the prospect of months, if not years, of legal argument ahead and the accompanying distraction to the team management.
But he emphasized that any decision against an appeal must not be interpreted as an admission of guilt.
"I don't want to drag this thing on if I can get closure; and closure is for Formula One. It has to be complete closure," he said, when asked about the prospect of legal action by Ferrari rumbling on in the Italian courts for years to come.
bron: autosport.com
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McLaren gaat niet in beroep ...
Eerst en vooral natuurlijk de verplichte kost dat dit geen schuldbekentenis is en dat ze niet in beroep gaan in het belang van de F1.
Dit moeten ze wel zeggen ... anders maken ze het voor hun partners (Mercedes, Vodafone, ...) wel heel moeilijk om hun steun aan het team te blijven verdedigen.
Anderzijds weet Ron Dennis goed genoeg dat de straf die ze nu gekregen hebben een meevaller is voor McLaren in vergelijking met de straf die ze hadden kunnen krijgen. Een schorsing van 2 jaar was een RAMP geweest voor een Formule 1 Team.