Benetton problems blamed on espionage.

Former East German secret service operatives have been accused of causing Benetton's poor start to the season - by stealing plans of Renault's original comeback engine.

According to Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper and the BBC, members of the infamous stasi have been blamed by Renault boss Jean-Jacques His for hacking into the company's computers and downloading designs intended for the track in this year's world championship.

His claims that Renault then had to start from scratch with a new engine, which has led to problems as the radical 111-degree unit was rushed into service for Melbourne and struggled to compete with front-running rivals ever since.

"We discovered in July last year that some of the data from the design of the engine had gone," he said, "We had to scrap a lot of our work after someone got into the system. We did not believe it at first, but then we were shown what information had gone. It was a problem for us, but I am 99 per cent certain there is nothing on the engine now that others could have seen."

Industrial espionage has become a hot topic in Formula One circles this season, with teams becoming increasingly secretive at both races and tests, hastily erecting screens around their cars to prevent prying eyes from stealing advances that may have been made as the season progresses. Almost all the team bosses have said that they would rather open their garages up to the spectators, whose money keeps the teams in business, but will not do so until the 'spies' are stopped.

Now it would appear that the pit-lane is not the only danger zone as, if His' theories are to be believed, even high-tech factories can be infiltrated.

Benetton has scored a single point so far this season, with Giancarlo Fisichella reaching the top six in Brazil, but neither the Italian or team-mate Jenson Button were able to compete at the front at Silverstone last weekend.