Formula One news

FIA to investigate espionage affair

Formula One's governing body has launched an investigation into the current espionage saga between Ferrari and McLaren. After McLaren issued a second statement today, confirming that its recipient of technical information from rivals Ferrari was working alone and his actions had no influence on the MP4-22, the FIA has decided to step in. 

Keen to clear its name, McLaren invited the FIA to examine its cars and the sport's governing body has duly accepted.

Today's statement from McLaren read: "McLaren has completed a thorough investigation and can confirm that no Ferrari intellectual property has been passed to any other members of the team or incorporated into its cars.

"McLaren has in the meanwhile openly disclosed these matters to the FIA and Ferrari and sought to satisfy any concerns that have arisen from this matter. In order to address some of the speculation McLaren has invited the FIA to conduct a full review of its cars to satisfy itself that the team has not benefited from any intellectual property of another competitor."

Whilst investigating the suspect actions of Nigel Stepney, Ferrari's findings prompted the authorities in Britain to search the home of a McLaren employee on Tuesday. The search confirmed that Ferrari technical information had been passed onto the McLaren technical person and McLaren suspended its employee immediately. The FIA will now look into the matter itself.

A statement from the FIA read: "With the full cooperation of both teams, the FIA has initiated an investigation into matters involving Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes. The remit of this investigation will focus solely on the requirements of the International Sporting Code and the Formula One Regulations."

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