The McLaren team has revealed its disappointment with the announcement that the FIA has called the team to an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council to answers charges relating to the current 'spy row' enveloping Formula 1.
The FIA announced on Thursday that it was calling the team to a meeting in Paris on 26 July to answer charges relating to 'fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally' – a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code put in place by the governing body.
The decision to summon the team came despite denials from McLaren chief Ron Dennis that any information in the secret dossier of technical data passed to chief designer Mike Coughlan from within the Ferrari camp had been used in the design of the MP4-22, with the team stating in the run up to last weekends British Grand Prix that it had no knowledge of the transfer until information was found at Coughlan's home.
As a result, the team expressed disappointment in the news that it will now have to go before the WMSC, with a statement again emphasising that the information included in the document had in now way been implemented on the cars of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
"McLaren is extremely disappointed to note that it has been asked by the FIA to answer a charge of being in possession of certain documents and confidential information belonging to Ferrari," the statement read. "Whilst McLaren wishes to continue its full co-operation with any investigation into this matter, it does wish to make it very clear that the documents and confidential information were only in the possession of one currently suspended employee on an unauthorised basis and no element of it has been used in relation to McLaren's Formula 1 cars."
Coughlan, currently suspended by McLaren, announced yesterday that he will provide Ferrari with a sworn declaration as to how he came to have the documents in his possession. Ferrari has already said that the recently dismissed Nigel Stepney is the suspected source of the leak – claims the Briton has denied.
