Formula One leaders McLaren reassured Ferrari on Wednesday that they had not used any leaked technical information from their rivals to design their own race-winning cars. The Mercedes-powered team have suspended a senior employee, identified in Italian and British newspapers as chief designer Mike Coughlan, pending an investigation into the receipt of classified information from Ferrari.
Ferrari said on Tuesday they had taken legal action in Italy against their former technical manager Nigel Stepney and the McLaren employee, whom they did not name, "regarding the theft of technical information".
McLaren, Ferrari's main rivals in this weekend's British Grand Prix, had said there would be no further comment after Tuesday's announcement. However they issued a second statement a day later to dampen speculation that the revelations could affect the outcome of both the drivers' and constructors' championships, should Ferrari protest against recent results.
"McLaren has completed a thorough investigation and can confirm that no Ferrari intellectual property has been passed to any other members of the team or incorporated into its cars," the team said in a statement. McLaren said it had also openly discussed matters with Ferrari and the sport's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA).
"In order to address some of the speculation, McLaren has invited the FIA to conduct a full review of its cars to satisfy itself that the team has not benefited from any intellectual property of another competitor," it said. The revelations have rocked the sport, an intensely competitive world where teams spend hundreds of millions of dollars on research and development, with claims of spying and sabotage.
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