McLaren’s being grilled by the FIA. Anything fishy about Formula One’s most controversial team so far this season?
Ron Dennis has repeatedly claimed that nothing contained in the Ferrari technical package has appeared on McLaren’s MP4-22 - which returned to winning ways with Alonso at the Nurburgring Sunday - but paddock rumor claims that the FIA has enough proof that the information has been used to throw the book at McLaren, India Times reported. Despite Dennis’s denials regarding the use of Ferrari intellectual property on McLaren’s car, the information could nevertheless have potentially been used to gain a competitive advantage, the report continued to say.
Additionally, McLaren launched a successful protest against the ‘flexible floor’ introduced by Ferrari at the start of the season - something cynics say would not have been possible without back-up information detailing the part - based on email conversations between Coughlan and Ferrari’s Nigel Stepney. McLaren have submitted a full account of their role in Formula One’s ’spy’ scandal to the FIA. With these controversies, the team, by now, could be fuming fiercely like Mercedes Benz mufflers!
Dennis faces an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sports Council - the FIA’s highest power - in Paris on Thursday. McLaren have been charged with ‘fraudulent conduct’, namely being in "unauthorized possession of documents and confidential information belonging to Ferrari". Dennis has resolutely maintained his team’s innocence, stating "no Ferrari materials or data are, or have ever been, in the possession of any McLaren employee other than chief designer Mike Coughlan.” Dennis, though, is determined to see McLaren’s name cleared.
The ’spy’ scandal dossier
"If there’s anything left unsaid, any unanswered questions, then we will provide you with that information in due course," reported Fox Sports. It is a meeting that does not particularly enthrall Dennis, but he knows it is a necessary step towards hopefully seeing the team cleared from such accusations.
"Whilst it would be wrong to say I look forward to Thursday - because I’m not particularly looking forward to it - nevertheless I am keen to get into the process of putting this behind us," he added. "I am confident the information presented to the FIA is the true account of all the circumstances surrounding this matter."
If McLaren is found guilty, there is a wide-range of penalties open to the FIA, exceeding to potential points deductions, race bans, or even expulsion from the championship.
McLaren spying on Ferrari? The decision will be promulgated today. Let’s just wait for the FIA’s verdict on the matter…