Formula 1 - Jail Terms For Culprits In The Stepneygate ?

July 15th, 2007

Formula 1 - Jail Terms For Culprits In The Stepneygate ?

While browsing the web I got somehow directed to paddocktalk.com. They published several articles on the Ferrari / McLaren espionage saga over past few days. These are basically summaries of and their opinions on the information that became available in a course of past week. However there is one interesting take on the possibility of jail terms in this saga.

‘Nigel Stepney risks four years in jail if he is ultimately found guilty by Italian prosecutors of espionage and intentional sabotage, according to reports.’Then the article continues and closes with:

‘Is racing so important that jail time is necessary?’

Well, racing is a sport. But to participate in this sport requires to invest (spend?) tens to hundreds of millions dollars every year. The teams are big commercial operations employing hundreds of people. This case is very likely about theft of multimillion dollar intellectual property.

I hope that no one ends up in jail. But if someone will be proven guilty, the fact that this is just racing should make no difference. Theft is a theft … Some people end up in jail because of some stupid teenage shoplifting.

tags: Tags: Stepneygate