The
FIA has revealed the reasoning behind its decision not to impose any penalty on
Renault following the latest instalment of the
Formula 1 spying row, insisting that there was a lack of evidence that the championship was affected.
The
Regie was called to appear before the World Motor Sport Council after it was found that former McLaren employee Phil Mackereth had taken confidential information with him after switching teams in September 2006.
As a result, Renault was charged with a breach of Article 151(c) of the International Sporting Code, stating that it had 'unauthorised possession of documents and confidential information belonging to
McLaren, including, but not limited to 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' - a breach the Enstone-based squad admitted to.
However, the meeting of the WMSC found that three of the four drawings viewed by Renault engineers – including the fuel system and gear layout of the McLaren car - were of no use to the team, with the only one used by Renault relating to the so-called 'J-damper' in use by the Mercedes-powered squad.
However, 'fundamental misunderstandings' on the part of Renault into the workings of the system led the FIA to deem that an effect on the championship couldn't be established.
In reaching its verdict, the WMSC admitted that Renault had breached the rules in having information belonging to its rival, but stated that the matter was between McLaren and its former employee, with the FIA stating that it was only 'concerned with what Renault had access to or was influenced by as only this could have had an impact on the Championship'.
