Verdict will not change - McLAren

McLaren are confident they will again avoid punishment following FIA president Max Mosley’s decision to revert the spying case involving Ferrari to the Court of Appeal.

At a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris last week, McLaren were found guilty of fraudulent conduct.

But due to what the WMSC described as ’insufficient evidence’, it was decided no sanction would be imposed against the Woking-based team.

That sparked fury and protestations from Ferrari who claimed the decision “legitimises dishonest behaviour.”

Mike Coughlan, McLaren’s suspended chief designer, was found to be in possession of 780 pages of Ferrari technical data.

McLaren argued at the WMSC hearing that Coughlan worked alone and that the team had not benefited from the information.

Mosley has now agreed to a request in a strongly-worded letter from Luigi Macaluso, the president of the Italian Automobile Federation, that the matter be referred to the Court of Appeal.

Unsurprisingly, McLaren are far from happy the affair will rumble on, but are certain the Court of Appeal will uphold the initial FIA decision.

A statement read: “Following a thoroughly misleading press campaign by Ferrari and pressure from the Automobile Club D’ Italia, the FIA has asked the FIA International Court of Appeal to consider the unanimous decision made by the World Motor Sport Council on July 26, 2007.

“Having considered in great detail the full submissions of both Ferrari and McLaren, the World Motorsport Council determined that there was no evidence that any information, passed by a Ferrari team member to a McLaren employee, had been brought into the organisation or provided any benefit whatsoever to the McLaren programme.

“McLaren is not aware of any new information or arguments that have arisen since the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council and therefore assumes that these same materials will now be considered by the FIA International Court of Appeal.

“Whilst this is both disappointing and time-consuming, McLaren is confident that the FIA International Court of Appeal will also exonerate McLaren and we will in the meanwhile continue to focus on our current World Championship programme.”

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and team boss Jean Todt have led the chorus of disapproval emanating from Italy with regard to the WMSC decision.

That led to Macaluso expressing his organisation’s disbelief McLaren had not been penalised despite being in breach of one of the rules of the International Sporting Code, the FIA’s bible.

In his letter, Macaluso stated: “We fear that the decision of the World Motor Sport Council could create a precedent which, at this level of the sport and stage of the competition, would be highly inappropriate and detrimental to the sport.”

The Court of Appeal hearing, likely to take place at the end of August in Paris, will allow Ferrari to put forward their own submissions as they were merely observers last Thursday.

Noting Macaluso’s complaint, Mosley replied: “Your letter suggests that the outcome may have been different if the council had given Ferrari further opportunities to be heard beyond those that were in fact offered.

“Because of this, and the importance of public confidence in the outcome, I will send this matter to the FIA Court of Appeal…with a request that the court hear both Ferrari and McLaren, and any other championship competitor who so requests.

“This will determine whether the decision of the WMSC was appropriate and, if not, substitute such other decisions as may be just.”

Mosley’s intervention has been applauded as “a sensible one” by Ferrari.

A spokesman added: “The FIA has correctly noted that Ferrari, as the injured party, should be able to enjoy all the rights of a party in a trial and that was not the case in the audience of the world council.”

It means McLaren are still open to the same penalties as before, ranging from a reprimand through to a points deduction, race bans or even expulsion from the championship.

The world title dreams of Lewis Hamilton, who leads team-mate Fernando Alonso by two points ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, remain on the line.