McClaren fight back in spying row
McLaren have come out fighting as the off-track furore intensified ahead of today’s Italian Grand Prix.
In a statement, the team have slammed as “wholly unnecessary the visit to the Formula One paddock at Monza yesterday made by the Italian authorities immediately prior to qualifying.
Modena prosecutors served notice McLaren are now involved in the ongoing investigation in relation to the spying affair that continues to tear apart Formula One, overshadowing the on-track scrap for the title.
McLaren believe it was a deliberate act designed to throw their plans for the session into chaos, as well as for Thursday’s crucial World Motor Sport Council hearing in Paris.
Drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton at least played their part in putting the matter to one side as they will start first and second on the grid.
However, with regard to the Council hearing, any evidence the team now present in front of the 25-man panel could be used against them should they be charged at a later date.
But a defiant statement read: “McLaren did receive some contact from the Italian authorities yesterday, but was not charged with anything.
“We strongly suspect that the nature and timing of this wholly unnecessary contact, just before the start of qualifying, was to disrupt our preparation for this important session and Thursday’s World Motor Sport Council hearing.
“McLaren is completely confident that were any proceedings of this type ever to be brought we would be completely exonerated.”
Criminal proceedings are active against Nigel Stepney, who was sacked by Ferrari from his role as head of performance development in July.
Stepney is being investigated for allegedly sabotaging the team’s cars ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix in May.
A mysterious white powder was apparently discovered around the petrol caps of the cars driven by Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen days before the race in Monte Carlo.
Stepney is also accused of passing on a 780-page technical dossier to McLaren’s suspended chief designer Mike Coughlan, although he has strongly protested his innocence in both cases.
McLaren face a second Council hearing after new evidence recently surfaced into the fact they were caught in possession of the technical information.
The team were found guilty of fraudulent conduct, but no penalty was imposed due to insufficient evidence.
The latest allegation reportedly centres around an email exchange between Alonso and test driver Pedro de la Rosa.
