Mosley Wanted McLaren Drivers Expelled

FIA president Max Mosley has revealed that he voted for a much heavier penalty,
including the expulsion of team drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, in
the verdict on McLaren’s ‘spying’ of rival team Ferrari.

Mosley stated that he was in a minority on the World Motor Sport Council that
wanted to penalise McLaren more severely over the issue which ultimately saw
McLaren docked all their points in the constructors’ championship and fined
£49.2m.

The FIA president commented: ‘I would have taken all the points away from
Hamilton and Alonso. There is a suspicion they had an advantage that they should
not have had.

‘I’m slightly disappointed because when history comes to be written and all
the emotions are gone they will say, ‘Hang on a minute, we just don’t know what
happened and would Raikkonen or Massa have won had it not been for this
information?

‘The lawyers all felt everything should go because how can you give the cup
to a driver who may have had an unfair advantage over the other drivers.

‘But on the other side of it we have a brilliant championship between Alonso
and Hamilton, and the sporting people were saying ‘If you interfere with that
you are spoiling a very good championship. It wasn’t the drivers’ fault.”

A significant majority on the council thought the drivers should keep their
points, with about five including Mosley voting in favour of excluding Hamilton
and Alonso from this year’s championship.

Ironically, only the immunity Mosley granted the McLaren drivers – including
test driver Pedro de la Rosa – in return for information prevented them from
being thrown out.

The row emerged after a 750-page dossier belonging to Ferrari was found in
the home of a McLaren technician.