The case against Lewis Hamilton’s Formula One team, McLaren Mercedes, over allegations that they have cheated this season by using secret technical information stolen from Ferrari consists of a large body of new evidence running to 166 pages in length, The Times has learnt.
As McLaren prepare for their appearance before the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in Paris tomorrow, it has also become clear that the apparent “amnesty” offered to McLaren’s drivers in return for their cooperation in the FIA’s investigation may not save them from having points docked as part of the team’s punishment.
The dossier of new evidence collected by the FIA is thought to centre not just on e-mail traffic between the McLaren test driver, Pedro De La Rosa, and Hamilton’s teammate, Fernando Alonso, but also on details of the phone and text message traffic between McLaren’s suspended chief designer, Mike Coughlan, and the former Ferrari chief mechanic, Nigel Stepney, supplied to the FIA by the authorities in Italy.
Although the evidence does not include details of what was said in phone calls and texts, the FIA is thought to be able to demonstrate how the rate of calls and messages between Stepney and Coughlan allegedly matches e-mail traffic between Alonso and De La Rosa. The implication being that if the drivers needed a detail checked, they then referred the matter to Coughlan, who passed on queries to Stepney.
The scandal began in early July when Ferrari discovered by chance that Stepney had supplied Coughlan with a 780-page blueprint of Ferrari’s present race car and their research and track operations, an allegation Stepney denies. The information at the heart of the new evidence, however, predates the transfer of the dossier between Stepney and Coughlan in late April and is thought to centre on incidents in March.
It is understood that all 26 members of the WMSC received a copy of the new evidence last Friday, the same day that McLaren were given their own copy of the case against themselves. McLaren will face questioning from WMSC members at the hearing, where Ferrari will also be able to make their own submission before the Council considers its verdict and any sanction should McLaren be found guilty.
McLaren are expected to present a robust defence and will argue that the e-mail traffic was limited in scope and does not show that Ferrari information was used on their race cars. The view among sources close to the team is that the drivers have done nothing wrong and the case linking the e-mails with the phone calls between Coughlan and Stepney is tenuous.
As one source put it: “In terms of the drivers, they haven’t done anything wrong and certainly not done anything that would amount to a serious breach of the regulations.” He described the whole situation as a mess and said it would be very difficult for the FIA to prove its case. “I have no idea how they are going to demonstrate how McLaren used the information,” the source said.
Another element of McLaren’s defence is thought to be the proposition that if they are found guilty, then rival teams such as Renault should also be punished for reasons McLaren have not specified. McLaren’s lawyers have put this point to the FIA, but the organisation has made clear that it considers that irrelevant to its case against McLaren.
During the Italian Grand Prix at Monza last weekend, the FIA published a letter sent by its president, Max Mosley, to all three McLaren drivers requesting that they hand over information they may have had concerning the use of Ferrari information. The letter included the following: “I can confirm, given the importance of this issue, that any information you may make available in response to this letter will not result in any proceedings against you under the International Sporting Code or the Formula One regulations.”
This was taken, by some, to mean that both Hamilton and Alonso would not have championship points removed should McLaren be found to have cheated and the punishment would centre on constructors’ points and a fine. However, The Timesunderstands that this is not the case and that the FIA regards the WMSC as having a free hand when it comes to deciding on any sanctions.
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