Rivals comment on McLaren driver absence
A band of formula one drivers in Turkey sided against the absence on Thursday of their McLaren rivals.
Officially, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton stayed away from the Istanbul circuit for reasons of convenience and traffic congestion -- more likely is speculation that team chiefs did not want them cornered by the media about various controversies including the spy saga and their tetchy teammate relationships.
Attendance on Thursday is however not compulsory for drivers or team members, unless they are called to appear at the FIA press conference.
At that very media gathering, drivers including Nick Heidfeld revealed that Thursday can still be an important day for the teams.
"We have a couple of things to do," the BMW driver said, "but for me it's just part of formula one, that you turn up on the Thursday, do all your meetings -- it's a bit strange that suddenly you stay in the city."
Ferrari's Felipe Massa pointed out that not coming to the track prior to the first day of action means a driver cannot inspect the circuit -- something Alonso and Hamilton have usually done on foot in 2007.
"We also walk the track on Thursday," Renault's Heikki Kovalainen confirmed, "that's tradition with our engineers."
Former McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen, meanwhile, said he thought he knew what was going on behind closed doors at the plush Conrad hotel in Istanbul, an hour's drive away.
"I've been to those meetings," the Finn, who now drives for Ferrari, said.
"They stick one driver in one room and the other driver in another and talk to them separately."
Referring to their absence on Thursday, Raikkonen added: "For sure it doesn't help them, but I don't know if it going to hurt. But it doesn't make anyone's life easier."
McLaren likely to escape spy rap - Bernie
Bernie Ecclestone in Turkey said McLaren are not likely to be punished when the spy saga reconvenes next month.
The FIA's International Court of Appeal will hear the case on September 13, where Ferrari will press its argument about a McLaren employee's confessed possession of team secrets.
But F1 chief executive Ecclestone, a member of the World Motor Sport Council that recently found McLaren guilty but did not hand down a sanction, argues that the appeal is likely to produce a similar result.
"Unless something new comes up, there's not an awful lot one can do because you've got to catch the guy with the shooter in his hands, pulling the trigger," he is quoted as saying by The Sun.
76-year-old Ecclestone admitted, however, that a punishment is still possible.
"They can still be in trouble under the different sections in the rules where they should be in control of what goes on in the company.
"But the big thing is, people would have to show that they were involved in the theft and they were using the material -âE" that's where they would be in big trouble."