McLaren simply can't stop fibbing

I blogged here and here  a couple of years ago about the dishonest way McLaren Racing, with Ron Dennis in the lead dealt with the theft of technical information brought to them by former Ferrari employee Nigel Stepney. Failing to contact the FIA, motor sport's governing body, and coming clean about what had happened, cost them dearly. They were chucked out of the 2007 World Constructors Championship and fined $100 million .

 They were lucky. 

Their behaviour after the Australian Grand Prix is quite inexplicable. What happened on the last lap of that race has been described in detail here. For the sake of a single world championship point, and perhaps more importantly,  to prevent their competitors witnessing what a huge error they had made advising their driver Hamilton to allow Jarno Trulli to pass, their Sporting Director David Ryan and team leader Hamilton, decided to lie to the stewards.

 Hamilton appears to have escaped lightly. He goes on the tv gets close to blubbing and tells the world he's not dishonest. Rubbish. He's an adult. He's world champion and team teader for McLaren. He was asked to lie to the stewards. He went along with this conspiracy. Why on earth he didn't challenge Ryan before they went onto the stewards meeting baffles me. You've got to be particularly gullible to believe that it was all down to Ryan. In his interview Hamilton claimed he was mislead by Ryan. This is just plain nonsense. Indeed it's yet another Hamilton fib.

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh, fibbed in his interview with the BBC after the Australian race, confirming that neither Ryan nor Hamilton had lied to the stewards. They were " not explicit enough" in the content of the radio communications.

So now McCaren are once again up to their shins in it, and deservedly so. 

As with the Stepney affair, the team were given  chances to put the record straight. But such must be the the culture of dishonesty within the team, they refused. Once again the truth has to be dragged out of this team.

Anyone in any doubt just has to read the allegations McLaren will have to answer at the end of the month. 

• On 29 March, 2009, told the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton to allow Jarno Trulli to pass when both cars were behind the safety car, knowing this statement to be untrue.- Procured its driver, Hamilton to support and confirm this untrue statement to the stewards.  
• Although knowing that as a direct result of its untrue statement to the stewards, another driver and a rival team had been unfairly penalized, made no attempt to rectify the situation either by contacting the FIA or otherwise. 
  
• On 2 April, 2009, at a second hearing before the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix, (meeting in Malaysia) made no attempt to correct the untrue statement of 29 March but, on the contrary, continued to maintain the statement was true, despite being allowed to listen to a recording of the team instructing Hamilton to let Trulli past, and despite being given more than one opportunity to correct its false statement.
  
• On 2 April, 2009, at the second stewards' hearing, procured its driver Hamilton to continue to assert the truth of the false statement given to the stewards on 29 March, while knowing what he was saying to the stewards was not true.

These are very serious allegations. At the moment it's difficult to see what defence to them they could mount. For Hamilton and Ryan to attempt to get Trulli penalised is bad enough. But then when faced with the incontrovertible   evidence of the radio recording, they still maintained their dishonesty. 

The World Motor Sports Council have never had to deal with allegations of such seriousness before.

And bearing in mind McLaren's previous conviction the punishment they will impose with reflect this.  This team are in serious trouble.