Nigel Stepney accused of Sabotage

[cosworth151]

Ferrari have accused Nigel Stepney of attempted sabotage and have started court proceedings against the 48 Englishman.


Stepney, who is thought to be moving to Honda, is accused of attempting to tamper with the two Ferrari cars on the eve of the Monaco Grand Prix.


Modena’s Public Minister Giuseppe Tibis has been presented with documentation provided by the Maranello-based squad where they explore the hypothesis that Stepney had attempted to damage he cars of Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa after a mysterious powder was discovered in the cars tanks.


Ferrari have refused to comment saying only: "Nigel Stepney is still an employee but we have brought an action against him. It is not related to any event, it is related to his behaviour."


Stepney, who has a Ferrari contract until the end of 2007, said in February that he was open to offers from rival teams after expressing unhappiness at management changes.

credit ESPN

[Wizzo]

UPDATE:

Nigel Stepney has accused the Formula One team of waging a dirty tricks campaign against him amid legal proceedings and allegations of sabotage.

"I have confidence I'll be cleared by the legal process that is now taking place," the 47-year-old Briton told the Sunday Times newspaper.

"It is just part of a dirty tricks campaign and everything is in the hands of my lawyer, so we'll wait and see what happens."

Ferrari said on Thursday that they had started court action against Stepney, who remains an employee, but declined to give details. A spokesman said they had also started internal disciplinary procedures against the Briton.

Stepney said in February that he was open to offers after expressing unhappiness at management changes following the departure of technical director and compatriot Ross Brawn.

He was moved to a new role, in charge of team performance development and away from the racetrack, before the start of the season in March. The Briton has also been linked to a possible switch to struggling rivals Honda.

Stepney had previously played an important role in leading the pit crew at races after joining Ferrari in 1992 as chief mechanic. His time at the team coincided with Michael Schumacher's golden period there.

Italian and British newspapers have mentioned a mysterious white powder that was allegedly found in the petrol tanks of the Ferrari race cars six days before this year's Monaco Grand Prix.

The Sunday Times said Italian police had also searched Stepney's house near the Maranello factory and left with a small container.

A Ferrari spokesman refused to comment on the speculation on Sunday, other than observing that "clearly there are a few papers that are very well informed".

Stepney, holidaying in the Philippines with his partner and child, dismissed suggestions that he had fled the country.
"Why would anyone say I am not contactable," he told the Sunday Times. "I booked the flights through the Ferrari travel office. They know where I am."

[Dare]

mmore distractions for Ferrari,really must have Kimi
questioning his move to Ferrari

[Chameleon]

I love it!  This is the way Ferrari always used to be before the MS/JT/RB triumvirate took over - dirty deeds at the crossroads and the quick flash of a dagger in the back by moonlight.  Ahhh, the good old days...

[Dare]

Welcome to the site Chameleon,come
back often

[Neil.P]

Hi Chameleon welcome along

Neil.P

[vegasmike433]

What type of "powdery substance" would be introduced into a fuel tank? And how or why would someone even suspect that something was not kosher and undertake to examine the fuel tanks in any case.

The entire controversy seems something right out of a fiction novel. Is this for real? At first reading I thought it was like an article from Onion.com.

Michael P. Whelan

Las Vegas, Nevada. U.S.A.

[Willy]

Okay, this is F1 and Monaco, and there is nothing but big money being bandied about. So I ask, what was the powdery substance that was supposed to be put in the Ferrari tanks by Stepney? Not Cocaine? Maybe he had to hide his stash in a hurry. Didn't they also notice the bevy of bimbo's dashing out the back of the Ferrari garage with what looked like powered sugar all over their faces?
I smell a bad dime novel in the making.

Sorry, I spent too many years working in the film industry and still can't seem to shake that way of thinking.

[cosworth151]

Welcome Chameleon, vegasmike and Willy! This makes me think of the "Powder in the fuel" flap with the Toyota teams at Daytona this past Feb. Wonder if Ferrari got caught and said' "He did it!"

[BobSpain]

Hi again,

surely this has to be a joke?  Sabotage?

Six minutes before a race, perhaps, but six days?

Whatever the truth of this remarkably undetailed allegation it surely cannot be sabotage!  The reason for sabotage...the poor accusee WORKS there, for God's sake.  What would be the point in destroying your own team's performance 6 days in advance of a race?

Absolutely none!

And what is this myserious 'white powder' anyway?  Sugar? (a little 'old hat' and too easily discovered, don't you think?)

Drugs?  Nuff said there...Formula 1 cars are probably the most examined vehicles in the history of the world...so smuggling has got to be 'out', Right?

Kimi's face powder?    Well there is possibly some mileage in this, he must use something to keep his face from ever appearing to smile (or show any other expression, if it comes to that)  He surely is the most emotionless, dreary, spokesman for our favourite sport.

A mysterious performance enhancer?  This seems to be in the realms of science fiction, as mentioned before evry aspect of the modern Formula 1 car is examined over and over again at all stages of the practice, the race and afterwards...Ferrari using some illegal substance?...I really don't think so.

Ferrari are not my favourite team, especially after the several years of Max Moseley's personal (and financially beneficial) vendetta against everything not Ferrari and not Bridgestone, but I cannot believe they would 'add a white powder' to their fuel tank.  (of course, they might add it to Maclaren's?  ...Naaaaah!

Maybe something will be revealed one day, but think about it...If you owned and run a Formula 1 racing team and you caught someone putting a white powder (or anything else) into a fuel tank how long do you think that person would last?  Ten minutes?  Ten seconds?

The man is still employed, so the 'revelations' would appear to be, at the very least, unsubstantiated, and in all probability pure fiction.

But long live Formula 1.

BobSpain

[Steven Roy]

I can't believe Nigel Stepney did anything to hinder Ferrari.  He may not be keen on his current position but it is clear that had he not gone there when he did and instilled some discipline into their procedures there is no way Schumacher, Brawn and co would have gone anywhere near Maranello.

The idea that anyone could introduce something that either negatively or positively affected performance.  Forget about the FIA finding it the Ferrari telemetry would find it before the car left the garage.

Sounds to me like Ferrari are trying to discredit him to prevent him being employed elsewhere.

[raindancer]

Hi Steven. Rambler from the pit lane club. Looks like my prophecies are coming true as far as Ferrari goes and it is a team in strife.
This could be the start of Ferrari's downhill and coupled with the fantastic resurgence of Mclaren and improvement by BMW its only a matter of time before Ferrari shoots itself.
Says very little of a World Champion and a Technical Director who couldn't or didn't want to ensure continuity.

[Steven Roy]

I think you could be right.  It looks like some people in Ferrari haven't learned that the only reason they succeeded for so long was by being disciplined and keeping all the umpleasant stuff behind closed doors.  Makes you wonder why Ross Brawn would want to go back into it when he could probably go to any team he wanted.  You would have thought ten years of doing things right would have killed off all the political nonesene at Maranello but it looks like it has been operating under the surface the whole time.  I wonder who is stoking it.  Todt? deMontezemolo? Schumacher?

At least if it takes them out of the championship for a few seasons we can have things decided fairly on the track rather than the FIA pulling rule changes out of a hat to make sure the red cars win.  I wish Ferrari had gone the way of Maserati and Lancia a few decades ago.

[johnbull]

I think it was Chameleon that said this is shades of the Ferrari of old - the Ferrari we knew, before MS and co.

But please, pardon my ignorance, but would somebody kindly enlighten me how Nige Stepney, working well away from anything to do with F1 this year, puts something into the F1 car fuel tanks - weeks before - and nobody notices. I was under the impression he wasn't allowed anywhere near the cars anyway, and we know what the security is like at Maranello.

I know Ferrari are great and all that but have they got as far as working miracles........already?

Just the sort of crap which is going to make Ferrari move backwards - FAST. And just the sort of thing that will make Ross B decide not to return.

[raindancer]

Hi John,
This is Rambler from the pitlane club. Is Oonga around ?