SEPTEMBER 14, 2007

A positive thing in all this mess

The mood at Spa this morning is somewhat subdued but there is possibly one ray of hope that something good will come out of the current McLaren-FIA mess. The team's fine of $100m is, in reality, not quite that because around $30m of that will not be in cash but rather deducted from the FOM prize and TV funds. Nonetheless the $70m that will go to the FIA may not be used to pay for the president's executive jet or limousines and expensive dinners for the World Council members and could end up in a trust fund which would be used to help national motor clubs fund the careers of promising young racing drivers around the world.

It remains to be seen whether this will actually happen and some of the F1 teams are expressing the opinion that the fine should be put back into into the F1 pot to help them fund their activities.

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