The drivers weren't just looking at data handed over they were requesting specific details by email. How pedro was ever allowed near F1 again amazes me.
I hear what you are saying, but for a driver (or any employee) to make such a request, means that the flow of information was green lit by somebody high up (I'm thinking Ron Denis - though there is no proof of this and RD denies any knowledge of the entire incident). If the flow of information is green lit, then by all means the driver can make a request, but it is ultimately up to the informant (who in this case is Stepney), to decide whether he is going to steal the info and pass it on to the driver.
Let me put it this way, if I walk into a store, where my mate works. He has access to receipts on which there are many customer credit card details. I ask him, "Mate, can you give me those receipts with the cc details?" My mate must then decide whether or not he is going to co-operate.
If my mate says, "Yes, there you go, take them." Who is committing the real crime/offence - me (the requester) or my mate (the thief/informant)?
In my book, although I am encouraging him to commit the offence, it is ultimately my mate who is committing the offence - not me.
Yes, Alonso/PDLR (and probably someone high up at McLaren), did encourage/request for some information, but the major offender in all of this is the guy who passed on top secret info from Ferrari (his employers) to a 3rd party (McLaren).
If I was a driver at McLaren and Ferrari info was being freely passed around, I would definitely take a look at it...especially if the said information has been green lit by one of my bosses.
