Spy Games, Euro Style

So you think the NFL has problems with the whole Patriots 'spygate' scandal? You think the NBA has a problem on its hands with the referee gambling investigation? You think steroids are threatening the future of baseball? In the larger scheme of things, these situations are nothing when compared to whats happening with Formula 1 racing.

The ongoing feud between rival racing teams McLaren and Ferrari has been rocking the racing world for a while now. The fines, suspensions, point penalties, bans, lawsuits, and legal appeals have dominated sports headlines in Europe for over a year. The recent $100 Million court ruling against McLaren should have been the end of the headaches for Formula 1 racing. Instead, things have gone from bad to worse.

McLaren has raised the stakes in Formula One's latest spy scandal by releasing details of its allegations against rival Renault. Renault has been summoned to a Dec. 6 hearing of the World Motor Sport Council in Monaco on charges of having "unauthorized possession of documents and confidential information" of McLaren cars between September 2006 and October 2007.

British newspapers on Friday quoted a memo leaked by McLaren's lawyers suggesting that Renault's activities were more serious than those that resulted in McLaren being fined a record $100 million for possessing Ferrari documents.

The McLaren memo says that 33 files containing more than 780 individual drawings outlining the entire technical blueprint of the 2006 and 2007 McLaren F1 cars were copied onto 11 floppy disks in March 2006.

McLaren says the disks were loaded onto 11 Renault F1 computers in September 2006, when Mackereth joined Renault, and were discussed by up to 18 Renault F1 personnel, including a group of senior engineering chiefs and heads of department.

If Renault receives punishment similar to what McLaren received, it is believed the company will be forced to shut down its racing operation due to financial hardship.

I have a couple thoughts about this. First of all, if these companies are dealing with such sophisticated technology, then why are they still using FLOPPY DISKS to store data? Somebody needs to tell them that CDs are much more efficient these days.

In the United States, all sports fans are outraged by many of the scandals that plague our sports. But at least in the US, the majority of the problems are solved either on the playing surface or internally by the leagues. Its rare that the court system has to weigh in on a decision that could alter the future of the sport forever.

The real tragedy of the F1 story is that these scandals put all the emphasis on the technology, effectively indicating that its the machines rather than the drivers that win races. Anyone who watches F1 racing knows that these are some of the finest drivers in the world, and the majority of races are won by driving skill rather than superiority of design.

As NASCAR continues to grow in popularity, more and more Indy car drivers are making the switch to stock car racing. As the Indy car drivers leave their circuit, we are seeing many F1 drivers switching to fill the Indy void. The current state of affairs in F1 racing is simply giving drivers more motivation to jump ship and go race elsewhere. For a sport struggling to maintain its relevance in the public eye, this is the worst possible scenario.