Q & A with Dennis and Whitmarsh

Martin Whitmarsh: "The starting point is, we do not believe that we should have been punished in this way. And I think today we should just concentrate on this situation, not what's happening to other teams."

Q: Do you think FIA president Max Mosley's attitude has changed from the last World Motor Sport Council meeting (in July)?

Ron Dennis: "I have no comment on that."

Q: What was the new evidence submitted in today's hearing?

Dennis: "The evidence today was primarily email traffic between our drivers. And in one instance - Mike Coughlan."

Whitmarsh: "As we've said earlier, these were a few emails, and the drivers have stated categorically that no information was passed to the team."

Dennis: "And of course the team had no knowledge of this email traffic at any stage."

Q: How damaging financially is the punishment to McLaren?

Dennis: "Firstly, effectively, we will still have as an offset the revenue from the points earned to date. That will effectively half the size of the cheque we have to sign, if we ultimately accept this fine.

"But as you can see if you read our accounts, we turn over roughly $450-500 million USD a year, and we are debt-free, so obviously we are a very strong company with phenomenal growth.

"I jokingly asked [Mercedes motorsport director] Norbert [Haug] if he was going to chip in half, but we haven't really come to a conclusion on that negotiation."

Q: And does today's verdict make you consider your own future?

Dennis: "My personal future was never in question as far as I was concerned. I'm very committed to this company, I'm very passionate about motor racing, and I have absolutely no intention of retiring.

"I've made a firm commitment to Martin (Whitmarsh) to succeed me as CEO, and that decision - whenever it's taken - will not have any bearing on today's affair or any other issues this year."

Q: How is this going to affect the future of your drivers?

Dennis: "We have multi-year contracts with both of our drivers, and there has been no discussion about varying them.

"We have two of the best drivers in the world, and our commitment to winning races is undiminished. That's what we exist to do - to win races.

"And if there is any variation to those contracts, it will be by mutual agreements."

Q: Do you have a feeling that the FIA has held double standards in this decision?

Dennis: "I'm not going to make any comment as to the FIA's findings other than the fact that we are firmly of the opinion that we definitely do not concur with their findings.

"But until we have all the details from the FIA, it is impossible for me to have a position on it.

"They've issued [a statement about] the penalties but they haven't issued the actual findings, and it would be wholly inappropriate for me to make any comment until we have those findings."