> Stepney's McLaren Links

ApeX

Ferrari confirm Stepney link to McLaren probe
(Reuters)

Ferrari accused former technical manager Nigel Stepney on Tuesday of passing secrets to Formula One rivals McLaren.

"Ferrari confirm that we have brought an action against Nigel Stepney and a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes technical engineer in a court in Modena regarding the theft of technical information," a spokesman said.

He said Ferrari had also taken legal action in England against the unnamed McLaren employee.

"A search was carried out of the engineer's house, where we found this information," he added.

Stepney, who has accused Ferrari of waging a dirty tricks campaign against him and denied accusations of sabotage, has been linked to other teams since he fell out with Ferrari following the departure of technical director Ross Brawn.

Ferrari said earlier on Tuesday they had dismissed the 47-year-old.

Ferrari sources said that a significant amount of classified information was involved and they were not ruling out other teams having also received some.

According to Auto Motor & Sport the team member at McLaren who was charged is Mike Coughlan, chief designer at McLaren. The employee in question has been suspended by McLaren.

OMG!! Thats terrible! Shocking...

Safin

umm i don't actually get it?
Mclaren actually fired a guy of their own who was accused by ferrari?

According to Auto Motor & Sport the team member at McLaren who was charged is Mike Coughlan, chief designer at McLaren. The employee in question has been suspended by McLaren.

err thats like admitting guilt..

MA5K

er.. dont jump the gun till all the details are out

Safin

Originally Posted by MA5K

er.. dont jump the gun till all the details are out

no but that part is confirmed news right?

Nikhil

It is confirmed...wanted to post it last night, but FE was down.

McLaren's Coughlan implicated in spy case

The McLaren engineer at the centre of the espionage saga that has rocked Formula 1 is believed to be the team’s erstwhile chief designer Mike Coughlan.

McLaren announced on Tuesday that it had suspended a senior member of its technical staff after learning that he had received classified information from a Ferrari employee at the end of April.

The Woking squad did not identify the individual, but reports in the British and Italian media have named Coughlan, who worked closely with Nigel Stepney at Benetton and Ferrari in the 1990s.

Stepney, a longstanding Ferrari employee, is currently being investigated by the public prosecution office in Modena, Italy, after the Maranello team lodged a formal complaint last month.

On Tuesday morning Ferrari announced that it had dismissed Stepney after conducting its own internal inquiry into his actions.

The team later confirmed that it instigated legal action in England against the McLaren engineer and obtained a warrant for a search of his property.

That evidence came to light after a police search of Coughlan’s house uncovered documents allegedly belonging to Ferrari.

In a statement issued on Tuesday evening, the Italian team said: “Ferrari announces it has recently presented a case against Nigel Stepney and an engineer from the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team with the Modena Tribunal, concerning the theft of technical information.

“Furthermore, legal action has been instigated in England and a search warrant has been issued concerning the engineer. This produced a positive outcome.

“Ferrari reserves the right to consider all implications, be they criminal, civil or of any other nature, according to the applicable laws.”

Stepney, who is on holiday in the Philippines, has maintained his innocence and claims that he is the victim of a dirty tricks campaign.

Ferrari dismisses Nigel Stepney
Nigel Stepney, the Ferrari engineer at the centre of a legal investigation in Italy, has been dismissed by the team, according to reports in the Italian press.

Ferrari confirmed to ITV Sport at the French Grand Prix that it was carrying out its own inquiry into Stepney's conduct in parallel with the police investigation.

Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport now reports that Ferrari's investigation is complete and the squad has formally ended Stepney's contract.

Stepney is currently on holiday in the Philippines, but is expected to return later this week.

He has maintained his innocence throughout the affair and is expected to give a press conference when he returns.

According to Gazzetta, Stepney's lawyer Sonia Bartolini was not surprised by Ferrari's decision, but says the British engineer will be able to prove that he has done nothing wrong.

Although few details have been released about the nature of the investigation, Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni told ITV Sport that it related to irregularities discovered at the Ferrari factory prior to the Monaco Grand Prix.

itv.com/f1 - McLaren's Coughlan implicated in spy case
itv.com/f1 - Ferrari dismisses Nigel Stepney
itv.com/f1 - McLaren suspends senior employee

Agnel

Mclaren SUX....

XTerminator

McLaren had to resort to such means to make Ferrari underperform so their car could be faster....what loosers!!!!!

medpal

this really causes some worry.

now almost every other sports mimicks WWE with fixed outcomes.

Nikhil

FIA to investigate espionage case

The FIA has confirmed that it has begun an investigation into the espionage case that Ferrari and McLaren have become involved in.

McLaren had earlier invited the governing body to conduct a full inspection of its cars to allay any concerns that it could have benefited from the confidential Ferrari information that was leaked to a member of its senior staff, believed to be chief designer Mike Coughlan.

"With the full cooperation of both teams, the FIA has initiated an investigation into matters involving Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes," the FIA said in a statement.

Ferrari has already initiated legal proceedings against both Nigel Stepney, the Ferrari stalwart at the centre of the case, and the McLaren engineer.

Both teams have also conducted their own internal inquiries, with Ferrari announcing yesterday morning that it had dismissed Stepney.

McLaren suspended the employee involved, and issued a statement saying it was certain that the information he had received had not been shared with other members of staff, or incorporated into McLaren's design.

The FIA says its investigation will be limited to any breaches of the sporting regulations that arise from the case.

"The remit of this investigation will focus solely on the requirements of the International Sporting Code and the Formula One Regulations," said the statement.

McLaren moves to allay leak concerns

McLaren has moved to allay concerns that it could have benefited from the confidential Ferrari information that was allegedly passed on to a senior member of its staff.

Yesterday McLaren announced that it had suspended an engineer, believed to be chief designer Mike Coughlan, after discovering that he had received classified technical information from a Ferrari employee earlier this season.

Ferrari subsequently confirmed that the case was related to the legal case it had instigated into its long-time engineer Nigel Stepney.

McLaren conducted an immediate investigation, and has now issued a statement saying it is satisfied that the information was not shared with other staff or used in any way on McLaren's own car.

"Following our statement of 3rd July 2007, 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," said the McLaren statement.

"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."

The team added that the FIA, motor racing's governing body, was welcome to check the McLaren design to ensure that it had not benefited from the Ferrari information.

"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," the statement concluded.