2026 McLaren Mastercard F1 Team

[Badger]

McLaren cheated and could have been punished even harder. Hamilton would have won the title that year if he turned left rather than going off the track.

LOL Max Mosley is that you from the afterlife? There was zero evidence that McLaren cheated and even Mosley's own inquiry cleared them.
Agreed on HAM losing the title on his own though

As I recall they were initially cleared due to a lack of evidence, but then Alonso leaked those internal e-mails and the whole thing unravelled. Alonso's farewell present to Ron.

[Darth-Piekus]

The car went under technical investigation two times and nothing from Ferrari was found. The emails didn't really prove anything but Mr.Mosley wanted to give one last gift.

[Macklaren]

McLaren cheated and could have been punished even harder. Hamilton would have won the title that year if he turned left rather than going off the track.

LOL Max Mosley is that you from the afterlife? There was zero evidence that McLaren cheated and even Mosley's own inquiry cleared them.
Agreed on HAM losing the title on his own though

As I recall they were initially cleared due to a lack of evidence, but then Alonso leaked those internal e-mails and the whole thing unravelled. Alonso's farewell present to Ron.

Even after his emails (which didn't really show anything which is why Ron proactively went to Max with them), Mosley said that 99 million of the fine was because he thought Ron was an ahole

Anyways, we are talking about 2007 two days into this summer break. BRING ON THE TRIPLE HEADERS ASAP!

[RonMexico]

No he didn't. After Mclaren was disqualified, Lewis Hamilton became the target of the FIA and from various drivers. His DNF in China is controversial as also the sudden engine stalling in Brazil not to mention the two BMW Saubers and the one Williams who were found to have breached the rules. It was decided under the table that no Mclaren driver would be allowed to win the title.

Nothing short of a conspiracy theory.

The driver had a meltdown, recovered from it the following season and is now one of the all time F1 legends.

[Badger]

LOL Max Mosley is that you from the afterlife? There was zero evidence that McLaren cheated and even Mosley's own inquiry cleared them.
Agreed on HAM losing the title on his own though

As I recall they were initially cleared due to a lack of evidence, but then Alonso leaked those internal e-mails and the whole thing unravelled. Alonso's farewell present to Ron.

Even after his emails (which didn't really show anything which is why Ron proactively went to Max with them), Mosley said that 99 million of the fine was because he thought Ron was an ahole

Anyways, we are talking about 2007 two days into this summer break. BRING ON THE TRIPLE HEADERS ASAP!

Ron didn't volunteer anything proactively, he went to Mosley because Alonso had threatened to expose him. He tried to assure Mosley that the e-mails were nothing, which was another lie. Ron/McLaren had already tried to convince the FIA that no one except Coughlan had known about or had access to these documents, but in truth everyone including the reserve driver had known

Maybe the fine was excessive but the bottom line is McLaren were guilty and Ron got caught lying repeatedly to Mosley (who did not need a second invitation to squeeze him). He was bluffing in a high stakes poker game and lost.

[Ground Effect]

McLaren cheated and could have been punished even harder. Hamilton would have won the title that year if he turned left rather than going off the track.

LOL Max Mosley is that you from the afterlife? There was zero evidence that McLaren cheated and even Mosley's own inquiry cleared them.
Agreed on HAM losing the title on his own though

As I recall they were initially cleared due to a lack of evidence, but then Alonso leaked those internal e-mails and the whole thing unravelled. Alonso's farewell present to Ron.

I read a very interesting piece by Andrew Benson a few years ago where he claimed Fernando didn't leak anything regarding Spygate, nor did he threaten to. There was something else he tried to force the team to do in light of his penalty after qualifying at Hungary.

[Darth-Piekus]

There was no exposition there. The emails did not give anything significant other than some people knowing that Coughlan had some files. The car was fully checked two times and nothing was found or proven that the files were used. Mosley basically wanted to do damage and he found the perfect chance giving a last gift to Ferrari before departing.

But you are right on one thing. Alonso did try to blackmail his team unless he got Number 1 status.

Three weeks break until Zandvoort.

[Slahinki]

Spygate was a painful subject on F1. A chance from Max Mosley to damage Ron Dennis in their own personal vendetta, an innocent team paid the price of two mechanics who wanted to go to Honda together and a last gift of departure from the old Ferrari International Assistance as it was back then called before they retired and replaced. A year that ended with Hamilton getting his rightful title stolen from his hands with underhanded tactics and illegal cars in front of him not getting disqualified.The year ended with Renault having done the same thing to Mclaren and escaping scot free. Alonso after leaving Mclaren in ruins left for Renault and it's ironic that karma paid him 10fold from then along with Ferrari.

Except Renault were actually found to be doing the exact thing McLaren were accused of by Ferrari. Renault were found with McLaren IP on their '07 car, introduced by a former McLaren employee that moved teams in 2006. It should have been Renault that were punished, but we all know why it was McLaren. All of it was just an excuse for Mosley to have a go at Ron.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

Did I fall through a wormhole and travel back in time??

Or are you all just very off topic lol

[Slahinki]

Did I fall through a wormhole and travel back in time??

Or are you all just very off topic lol

Just a bit off topic, I think.

[Darth-Piekus]

Just remembering some old stories of pain.

[Macklaren]

Just remembering some old stories of pain.

It is good therapy to balance when times are really good!

[Darth-Piekus]

It is also a way of looking how things have turned around. Ferrari and Alonso haven't seen a title since then, Hamilton pretty much obliterated them both (wiping every single record of Ferrari and Schumacher and setting new records) and Ferrari is on the recieving end of politics in the FIA instead of dictating the rules. Mclaren bounced back, created new infrastructure, hired the best of the best, lead in the final years of the last era and trying to also lead in the new era (maybe not this year but if the upgrades keep delivering like the last one in 2027).

[Waz]

Alonso nor Spygate had anything to do with McLaren even needing to bounce back. They were perfectly competitive from 2008 to end of 2012.

The slide to near bankruptcy was Ron Dennis and his band of merry Muppets dictating to Honda and any potential sponsors.

Fortunately, Zak Brown and his marketing team are extremely good at signing sponsors, which allowed them to buy out a Honda contract with no performance clauses.

Alonso at Ferrari still finished ahead of Hamilton each year. Let's not rewrite too much history.

[Macklaren]

Alonso nor Spygate had anything to do with McLaren even needing to bounce back. They were perfectly competitive from 2008 to end of 2012.

The slide to near bankruptcy was Ron Dennis and his band of merry Muppets dictating to Honda and any potential sponsors.

Fortunately, Zak Brown and his marketing team are extremely good at signing sponsors, which allowed them to buy out a Honda contract with no performance clauses.

Alonso at Ferrari still finished ahead of Hamilton each year. Let's not rewrite too much history.

Speaking of rewriting history....Ron only lost his power and his sponsors because of Spygate. That made Mercedes and Vodafone break up with McLaren after a longstanding relationship. He still managed to sign Honda but -- much like AMR last year -- only realized that trouble he was in, too late to do anything about it. "The engine is a piece of jewelry" is a comment that will forever go down in infamy as a case study for how NOT to collaborate.