Mike Coughlan joins Williams after Stepneygate sentence

[xpensive]

Goghan joining Williams, these are truly the end of days...

[CMSMJ1]

I don't mind. He got busted, he served his time...and now he wants a job.

When is Stepney getting a job in F1 again?

[Pup]

When Coughlan offers him a job?

Actually, I thought the indelible stain on Coughlan wasn't Stepneygate, but the fact that he went to work for StephanGP afterwards.

[andrew]

So expect to see a heavily armoured Williams next year! Coughlan led the project for the design of the Ocelot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocelot_(vehicle)

[donskar]

Goghan joining Williams, tese are ruuly the end of days...

X, lay off the vodka before posting!


Seriously, Coughlan's banning was for 2 years -- not life. He did his time. Now he has a chance to move on with his career.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Point is the guy is still tainted.

If a "fit and proper persons" test was to be implemented in F1, where would we stand?
And are Briatore and Symmonds now also like to reappear in some or other capacity as has been mooted?

This whole thing reeks of desperation on Williams behalf. Never really liked Williams all that much and have reason to now dislike them, sadly.
The new teams could have given this guy a role, but none dared. Seems Williams didnt think better of that....

[ESPImperium]

A good signing, let him move on with his life and career. If he offers Stepney a job, id also like to say the same thing about him as well, and i think this is a team that could take Williams from the doldrums into a new era.

[Giblet]

These guys are under pressures we can barely begin to understand. I fully expect intelligent people with previously proven morals and ethics to snap from time to time. I consider what he did to be less of an infraction than Flavio's who threw in endangering lives/careers on top of cheating and to me that is far more devious and evil.

[bot6]

What I really find amazing is that Alonso, who was a big part of both incidents, systematically came out unscathed...

[andrew]

What I really find amazing is that Alonso, who was a big part of both incidents, systematically came out unscathed...

He made a pact with the Devil, sorry I mean a deal with MrM. Alonso claimed he didn't know the contents of his e-mail inbox and it seems that is enough to be let off the hook. Maybe it was something to do with MrM being desperate to have a go at Ron Dennis. I guess we'll never know until he writes his biography.

And Patrick Head is retiring at some point this year. Date still to be announced.

[bot6]

I think it has more to do with the FIA not being willing to taint the image of a double world champion, as it would bring discredit to the F1 brand and to FIA-overseen competition in general.

Let's not forget F1 is a business first, and it's all about maximizing the impact of a brand. And for that, the FIA and FOM need big stars. Like Alonso. Or like what they are doing with Vettel at the moment, letting him race with a bendy-twisty illegal car for the past two years in order to try and build a new Schumacher.

At the end of the day, F1 is not about being fair. It's about making money. And when a company like Williams, which has entered the stock exchange, performs badly, that company has to take action and do whatever it takes to improve performance, or its value will plummet and they will lose huge amounts of money.

Because of its open capital structure, Williams is under much more pressure for consistent results than other teams with long-term investors willing to "wait it out" when the team has a bad year, which happens in any sport.

But that's the whole problem. F1 is not a sport anymore, it's a business. Especially for Williams because of their dependency on capital value. So they have to think like businessmen, not sportsmen. And there is no place for sentiment or honor in business. You just take the best available, even if they did some bad things before.

[andrew]

Or like what they are doing with Vettel at the moment, letting him race with a bendy-twisty illegal car for the past two years in order to try and build a new Schumacher.

You really believe that?! The Red Bull is legal and the other teams know it. If it wasn't there would be a massive stink being kicked up rather than a few team bosses (well, 2 actually) suffering from jelousy induced moaning. As for the FIA not wanting to taint the image of a 2 times WDC, consider Schumacher in 97. Spygate is far worse than that.

It all boils down to Mosley wanting to get at Ron Dennis/McLaren and hit him where it hurt the most, i.e. his pocket.

[donskar]

Point is the guy is still tainted.

If a "fit and proper persons" test was to be implemented in F1, where would we stand?
And are Briatore and Symmonds now also like to reappear in some or other capacity as has been mooted?

This whole thing reeks of desperation on Williams behalf. Never really liked Williams all that much and have reason to now dislike them, sadly.
The new teams could have given this guy a role, but none dared. Seems Williams didnt think better of that....

"fit and proper" in F1? Think Max M!

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

At the end of the day, F1 is not about being fair. It's about making money. And when a company like Williams, which has entered the stock exchange, performs badly, that company has to take action and do whatever it takes to improve performance, or its value will plummet and they will lose huge amounts of money

Very good post bot, and something you touched on is what irks me about Williams.
They love being held up as independant poster boys, holding the "gargistas" spirit while other teams sell their soul(McLaren, Tyrell et al). During the FOTA vs FIA war Williams defected because of money. They attempted to disgracefully block Brawn GP's request of forwarding prize money to keep the team running. Now we have them listed on the stock exchange, for money?

Williams saying the teams raison d'etre is to race, comes across as very hollow indeed. Especially with appointments such as this(probably got him on the cheap too! )

@ Donskar

We dont have a Max return on the card's thankfully!
Edit: Unless your not telling us something!

[Pup]

Point is the guy is still tainted.

I wonder though how much of his 'talent' at McLaren came from info received from Stepney - and vice-versa, since I have always found it hard to believe that the info was only flowing one way.