Nigel Stepney under investigation
Discussion
CatherineJ said:
Couldn't see another thread running on this so thought I would start one.
According to the Times Nigel Stepney is being investigated for sabotage of the 2 Ferraris. They have found a white powder in the fuel tanks of the 2 cars before the Monaco Grand Prix.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUKL2183581520070621According to the Times Nigel Stepney is being investigated for sabotage of the 2 Ferraris. They have found a white powder in the fuel tanks of the 2 cars before the Monaco Grand Prix.
MARANELLO, Italy (Reuters) - Ferrari said on Thursday that they had started court action against the Formula One team's former technical manager Nigel Stepney, but declined to give details on what he was alleged to have done.
The action has been brought in a court in Modena, the nearest large Italian town to Ferrari's base in Maranello.
"Nigel Stepney is still an employee but we have brought an action against him," said a Ferrari spokesman, who refused to give details.
"It is not related to any event, it is related to his behaviour," he said.
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.
He was then moved to a new role, in charge of team performance development, away from the racetrack.
The Briton, who joined in 1992 as chief mechanic before the start of a golden period for Ferrari, played an important role in leading the pit crew at race weekends.
Ferrari, 35 points behind McLaren in this year's championship, have undergone major restructuring in their technical department with tactical supremo Ross Brawn leaving along with engine head Paolo Martinelli.
http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_244235...
Ferrari have reportedly started legal proceedings against performance development chief Nigel Stepney for undisclosed reasons.
Stepney, who joined Ferrari in 1992 and played an instrumental role in their rise to the top of F1, revealed at the start of the season that he was unhappy with the team's management structure.
He even went as far as to say he is open to offers from other teams once his Ferrari contract expires at the end of this season.
Stepney subsequently changed roles within the team and was put in charge of the team's performance development.
However, the relationship between the two parties appears to have taken a turn for the worse, with Ferrari revealing that they have started court actions against Stepney.
The team, though, refused to say why.
"Nigel Stepney is still an employee but we have brought an action against him," a Ferrari spokesman told Reuters.
"It is not related to any event, it is related to his behaviour."
The legal proceedings will take place in Modena, Italy.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/60025
The Modena district attorney in Italy has opened criminal investigation against Ferrari stalwart Nigel Stepney, after the Maranello outfit filed a formal complaint earlier this week.
The team would not divulge the nature of their complaint or what Stepney is accused of, but a team spokesman has confirmed to autosport.com that the Briton is at the centre of investigation.
"Ferrari have taken action against Nigel Stepney, and there is now an investigation," the spokesman said, adding that Stepney is still an employee of Ferrari.
Ferrari refused to offer any additional information, saying they will refrain from making any comment on the matter while the investigation is ongoing.
Stepney himself is currently on holiday, and all attempts to reach him for comment over the last few days have failed.
Autosport.com understands the Modena district attorney has launched a criminal investigation after receiving Ferrari's complaint with accompanying documents. A public defence lawyer has been appointed to represent Stepney in the investigation in his absence.
Just a few months ago, two former Ferrari employees were found guilty of taking team secrets to Toyota.
Stepney is responsible for team performance development at Ferrari, having been the Scuderia's race and test technical manager until earlier this year.
The Briton, who joined Ferrari a decade ago from Benetton, was moved to his new position after claiming he was unhappy at the technical department following Ross Brawn's departure.
Stepney had hoped to be able to take a sabbatical this year, but that request was declined by the team who instead gave him a new factory-based role.
Speaking to Autosport magazine earlier this year, he said: "I am looking at spending a year away from Ferrari.
"I'm not currently happy with the situation within the team - I really want to move forward with my career and that's something that's not happening right now.
"Ideally, I'd like to move into a new environment here at Ferrari - but if an opportunity arose with another team, I would definitely consider it."
Stepney has been widely linked with a possible move to Honda.
loneranger said:
Rumour has his donkey salary at £750,000.
Also that when Byrne left he expected promotion, instead they brought in two Italians and put them above him.
Nobody who knows him can believe that he did such a thing.
He really does have a phenomenol reputation as a winning race engineer.
Byren was chief designer. Aldo Costa was long groomed to replace Byrne. Stepney is an engineer, not a designer, closer in fact to Brawn's skillset than Byrne'sAlso that when Byrne left he expected promotion, instead they brought in two Italians and put them above him.
Nobody who knows him can believe that he did such a thing.
He really does have a phenomenol reputation as a winning race engineer.
rubystone said:
loneranger said:
Rumour has his donkey salary at £750,000.
Also that when Byrne left he expected promotion, instead they brought in two Italians and put them above him.
Nobody who knows him can believe that he did such a thing.
He really does have a phenomenol reputation as a winning race engineer.
Byren was chief designer. Aldo Costa was long groomed to replace Byrne. Stepney is an engineer, not a designer, closer in fact to Brawn's skillset than Byrne'sAlso that when Byrne left he expected promotion, instead they brought in two Italians and put them above him.
Nobody who knows him can believe that he did such a thing.
He really does have a phenomenol reputation as a winning race engineer.
He claims he's innocent
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/60114
...and why the hell should he bother to do something like that? Hardly makes him hot property for any other team does it?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/60114
...and why the hell should he bother to do something like that? Hardly makes him hot property for any other team does it?
rubystone said:
loneranger said:
Just telling you rumour.
No doubt he was pissed off because he had expected a promotion, but not on the design side. Perhpas he wanted Brawn's job?...or at least "team manager" position? Frankly, I'd be very happy with a new Ferrari every 2 years and £750,000
Frik said:
rubystone said:
Stepney is an engineer, not a designer, closer in fact to Brawn's skillset than Byrne's
I'm presuming you mean a Race Engineer, as opposed to a Design Engineer.engineer = spanner monkey
... saying that, in our industry vernacular ...
designer = draughtsman ;}
Cheers,
Eric
Frik said:
rubystone said:
Stepney is an engineer, not a designer, closer in fact to Brawn's skillset than Byrne's
I'm presuming you mean a Race Engineer, as opposed to a Design Engineer.
Edited by Frik on Sunday 24th June 12:51
rubystone said:
It's Loneranger that thinks he's a design engineer (he refers to him as wanting Byrne's job, hence my comparison with Brawn)
No I don't and I did not say that.Please read what I have posted before making accusations.
Loneranger said:
Rumour.............
.........that when Byrne left he expected promotion.
.........that when Byrne left he expected promotion.
Edited by loneranger on Monday 25th June 09:19
Its a strange one all right.
Stepney commands serious respect, both inside Ferrari and the wider F1 world. Which makes events on both sides even stranger. I fail to understand why Stepney would go public and say he was open to offers...that is pretty unprofessional at that level. Equally, Ferrari's reaction is seriously over the top, essentially they have gone to war on him. Now I know Maranello has never exactly been an oasis of calm, but that Toyota thing must have got them into serious paranoia mode. I dont understand why Stepney has gone so blatently public in his disagreements with them, esp if they gave him a new job this yr. If you want out and your contract is up at the end of the season, just do the job till then and then walk. You can afford to take a yr off and frankly then walk back into any top team in any race series you want with his reputation. Hell, he could probably have doubled his money with Merc or Audi just on their DTM racing programs alone!
Stepney commands serious respect, both inside Ferrari and the wider F1 world. Which makes events on both sides even stranger. I fail to understand why Stepney would go public and say he was open to offers...that is pretty unprofessional at that level. Equally, Ferrari's reaction is seriously over the top, essentially they have gone to war on him. Now I know Maranello has never exactly been an oasis of calm, but that Toyota thing must have got them into serious paranoia mode. I dont understand why Stepney has gone so blatently public in his disagreements with them, esp if they gave him a new job this yr. If you want out and your contract is up at the end of the season, just do the job till then and then walk. You can afford to take a yr off and frankly then walk back into any top team in any race series you want with his reputation. Hell, he could probably have doubled his money with Merc or Audi just on their DTM racing programs alone!
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