Fia Sets End Of April Date For McLaren F1 Inquiry

The FIA has set a date of 29th April for the McLaren F1 team to appear before the World Motor Sport Council to answer charges relating to a breach of the International Sporting Code during the Australian Grand Prix.

McLaren were found guilty of misleading race stewards following the Australian Grand Prix, which led to Lewis Hamilton being disqualified from the race.

The FIA will hold the extraordinary meeting in Paris where McLaren will be expected to be present.

‘McLaren acknowledge receipt of an invitation to appear at an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on April 29,’ said a McLaren statement.

‘We undertake to co-operate fully with all WMSC processes, and welcome the opportunity to work with the FIA in the best interests of Formula 1.’

The FIA said McLaren knew it was lying when it told race officials that it had not given Hamilton instructions to let Toyota’s Jarno Trulli overtake while the pair were behind the safety car. The FIA also claimed that McLaren had made no attempt to rectify its evidence under scrutiny.

The World Council is the body which disqualified McLaren from the constructors’ championship and fined them £67m for their role in a spy scandal involving Ferrari in 2007.

McLaren driver Hamilton has already admitted his guilt although he said he was ordered to give misleading evidence by sporting director Dave Ryan, who was with him at the hearings. Ryan, who has worked for McLaren for 35 years, has now been sacked.

The two were found guilty of ‘providing evidence deliberately misleading to the stewards’.