Dennis to face investigators as F1 ‘spying’ probe rumbles on

MCLAREN team principal Ron Dennis will today give his version of events in the Formula One espionage saga that has rocked the sport.

It will not be the end of the matter as a criminal investigation will remain ongoing in England and Italy, but for Dennis it will be a conclusion for now.

The outcome lies in the hands of 25 members of the World Motor Sports Council, the FIA’s highest power, who have been summoned to judge whether McLaren is guilty of “fraudulent conduct”.

A fortnight ago McLaren were formally charged by the FIA of being in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code.

The rule relates to “any fraudulent conduct, or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition, or to the interests of motorsport generally”.

Specifically, the FIA charge deems McLaren “had unauthorised possession of documents and confidential information belonging to Ferrari, including information that could be used to design, engineer, build, check, test, develop and/or run a 2007 Ferrari Formula One car”.

Following a search of his home by High Court-appointed officials, Mike Coughlan, McLaren’s suspended chief designer, was caught in possession of a 780-page Ferrari technical dossier.

It is believed Coughlan received the documents from Nigel Stepney, sacked by Ferrari from his role as head of performance development.

Stepney, who is embroiled in a criminal investigation in Italy with regard to the alleged sabotage of Ferrari’s Formula One cars ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix in May, denied the claims.

Following a High Court hearing, Coughlan — along with wife Trudy, as it emerged she visited a photocopying shop to have the dossier formatted onto computer disk — has since provided a sworn affidavit as to how he came into possession of the documents. The affidavit was provided on the basis it would not be used against him in the related criminal proceedings in Italy.

McLaren, Ferrari and the FIA have all viewed the affidavit, which is likely to lead to Dennis being asked searching questions by the WMSC at the FIA’s headquarters in Paris.

There have been apparent leaks of the affidavit in which it is alleged Coughlan showed the Ferrari dossier to a number of high-profile McLaren team members, including chief executive Martin Whitmarsh and managing director Jonathan Neale.

If the leaks have any substance, that will put McLaren’s defence to the test as they are insisting Coughlan worked alone and, if he did show the documents to any McLaren personnel, he was immediately told to destroy them.

McClaren last Friday submitted a full account of their role in the scandal that will form the basis of their defence. Ferrari boss Jean Todt, who normally sits on the WMSC, will be on the other side of the table to provide his own team’s submission into the matter.

Dennis has every confidence his team will be cleared, especially as he has long preached about honesty and integrity. Speaking at the British Grand Prix just over two weeks ago, a then emotional Dennis said: “I can comfortably say this will not end in anything that causes McLaren any embarrassment.”

If found guilty, the WMSC have a wide range of powers open to them that could see McLaren docked points, banned from races, or even thrown out of the competition altogether.

With young British star Lewis Hamilton leading team-mate Fernando Alonso by two points in the drivers’ standings, and McLaren enjoying a healthy lead in the constructors’, those situations are currently in jeopardy.

Above all, though, as FIA president Max Mosley recently commented: “The credibility of F1 and sporting fairness is at stake.”