No good outcome

By the time you read this it is likely there may be some word from Paris about the Ferrari-Mclaren Stepney-gate affair, I just watched the newscast from Italian TV and they showed some pretty ominous pictures of all the protagonist heading into the World Motor Sport Council chambers.
I hate to see anything sporting resolved in the courts and I was very much pro the Mclaren side of this issue until it came out that in Ron Dennis' team apparently used the famous 780 page technical dossier to protest Ferrari's "movable floor". As it happens Ferrari were clever in finding a loophole in the regulations and exploited it, along with a number of other teams but not Mclaren.

In the end, it's a bad situation for all: Mclaren could get points taken away or even disqualified and branded as cheaters, Ferrari will get accused of pushing their weight around with the FIA and using lawyers to win championships. The fans will get a fantastic season ruined....

Ferrari has fixed the cost of not winning the championship at 5.5 millon Euro ($7.5M) which probably corresponds to the average F1 team's annual cappuccino costs these days.

Here from Formula1.com an early explanation of the movable floor device. It is interesting that the official F1 site has removed every other technical drawing pertaining to this issue from their archives.

Ferrari F2007 - bib stay

The sprung supporting element on the F2007's bib stay (the front section of floor under the splitter) was the subject of much media attention in Melbourne. Had Ferrari and/or other teams found a way to pass the floor deflection test, but then allow greater upward movement at speed to gain an aerodynamic advantage? The predetermined rate and preload of such a sprung device could make this possible. However, all cars passed scrutineering and Ferrari maintain the device simply allows limited - and legal - movement to avoid damage to the floor as the car rides over kerbs.