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Chronology of a Scandal


The route to Victoria's High Court for the matter between MINARDI S.p.A and FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE de L'AUTOMOBILES ASSOCIATION (sic) AND NINE OTHERS (the teams, including one referred to as PANASONIC TOYOTA) started not in Melbourne this Wednesday past, nor even Europe last month. It started, believe it or not, in Shanghai way back in September last year - and, if that is an indictment on the slow processes in the world's fastest sport, it is, too, a point to ponder when analysing the court-case-that-should-not-have-been-in-a-matter-that-certainly-should-never-have-existed.

It was during the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix weekend that Minardi boss Paul Stoddart first let slip that his team would apply for permission to run their cars to 2004-specifications for the opening first races. He had, he said, calculated that a standard PS04 would still be trounced by an F2005 or MP4-20 running reduced downforce as required by the fast-tracked 2005 regulations. As the Concorde Agreement, which controls the administrative aspects of the sport, permits rules and regulations to be amended subject to unanimous agreement amongst teams, the wiry Australian figured that, with nine signatures acquiescing to his request, he could run a standard PS04 in 2005.

Right there is where the first error was committed: Stoddart applied commercial clauses to technical regulations. And, right there the FIA compounded the situation: rather than point out the error of his interpretation, the governing body did not, until 17 February this year, pass official comment on his intentions. And, when it did, it appeared to agree, for, in a confidential fax to Stoddart - portions of which have been seen by Autosport-Atlas - FIA President Max Mosley implied that Minardi could run to 2004-specifications subject to all (nine) competing team bosses agreeing to same in writing, and on the proviso that their cars complied with all prevailing safety requirements.

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