Sports / Motor Racing
Ferrari broke the rules, say McLaren
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-08-02 08:30
BUDAPEST - Formula One leaders McLaren have accused rivals Ferrari of
running an illegal car at the start of the season and making 'grossly
misleading' statements in a spy controversy overshadowing the
championship.
In a long and detailed letter to the head of the Italian Automobile Club
(ACI) published on the McLaren Web site (www.mclaren.com), team boss Ron
Dennis took issue with Ferrari's allegations.
The governing FIA ruled last week that McLaren, 27 points clear of
Ferrari in the standings before Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, had been
in unauthorised possession of Ferrari data but imposed no penalty because
there was inconclusive evidence they had gained from it.
The matter will now go to appeal after protests from Ferrari and the
Italian body.
Dennis referred to two incidents involving McLaren and Ferrari data, one
of which he said was a clear case of whistleblowing.
He said Ferrari employee Nigel Stepney, since dismissed by the team, had
tipped off McLaren's chief designer Mike Coughlan in March that the
Italian team's car was in breach of the regulations.
"Specifically, he told Mr Coughlan about a floor attachment mechanism and
a rear wing separator, both of which could be and were seen on the
Ferrari car prior to the Australian Grand Prix," said Dennis.
He said the governing body declared the rear wing separator to be legal
but not the floor device.
"As far as we are aware, Ferrari ran their cars with this illegal device
at the Australian Grand Prix, which they won," said Dennis.
"In the interests of the sport, McLaren chose not to protest the result
of the Australian Grand Prix even though it seems clear that Ferrari had
an illegal competitive advantage."
Dennis said Stepney had "acted properly and in the interests of the
sport" in bringing the matter out into the open.
"It is in the interests of Formula One that whistle-blowing is encouraged
and not discouraged," he said.
Dennis said McLaren had instructed Coughlan to cease contact with Stepney
but they met in Barcelona on April 28.
In July, two computer discs with Ferrari material were found in a search
of Coughlan's house carried out on the orders of the Italian team.
"As it is now in the public domain, Mr Coughlan has admitted that Mr
Stepney gave him a dossier of Ferrari documents in Barcelona which he
took for his own private reasons," wrote Dennis.
"He kept these documents at his home and later with the assistance of his
wife copied (them) onto two CDs at a shop near their home before
shredding the originals using a home shredder and burning them in his
back garden."
Dennis said Ferrari had gone to "extraordinary length to try to maximise
the damage to McLaren, no doubt hoping to gain some advantage for the
world championship" since that discovery.
He again ruled out anyone else at McLaren being aware of the documents or
of any Ferrari details finding their way into the design process.
"McLaren's reputation has been unfairly sullied by incorrect press
reports from Italy and grossly misleading statements from Ferrari," said
Dennis.
"It would be a tragedy if one of the best world championships in years
was derailed by the acts of one Ferrari and one McLaren employee acting
for their own purposes wholly unconnected with Ferrari or McLaren."
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