Renault Charged With ‘spying’ On McLaren
The F1 spying scandal has taken another turn after the Renault team was ordered before the sport’s governing body to answer charges of possessing confidential technical information on McLaren cars.
Renault will appear before the FIA world motorsport council on 6th December to explain why information including ‘the layout and critical dimensions of the McLaren F1 car’ was found in their possession.
An FIA statement said Renault were accused of ‘unauthorised possession’ between September 2006 and October 2007 ‘of documents and confidential information belonging to McLaren’.
The FIA statement said that documents detailed ‘the layout and critical dimensions of the McLaren F1 car, together with details of the McLaren fuelling system, gear assembly, oil cooling system, hydraulic control system and a novel suspension component used by the 2006 and 2007 McLaren F1 cars.’
The FIA has already fined McLaren a record £47.5m and thrown the team out of this season’s constructors’ championship after the team was found guilty on a similar charge in September.
The FIA made the announcement on the day it emerged that its inspectors had visited McLaren as part of their investigation to ensure no Ferrari ideas would be on the 2008 McLaren car.
