McLaren's title prospects were plunged back into doubt on
Tuesday when Formula One's governing body agreed an appeal court
should have the final say on the 'spy saga' gripping the sport.
Max Mosley, president of the International Automobile Federation
(FIA), granted an Italian request for a review of last week's
controversial FIA decision not to punish McLaren for unauthorised
possession of Ferrari information.
A FIA spokesman said the appeal hearing, in front of a panel of
at least three judges, was likely to be in Paris at the end of
August with leaders McLaren again facing sanctions ranging from a
reprimand to being kicked out of the championship.
McLaren, with 22-year-old British rookie sensation Lewis
Hamilton two points clear of double world champion team mate
Fernando Alonso, lead Ferrari by 27 points with seven races
remaining.
The next grand prix is in Hungary on Sunday.
McLaren, who suspended chief designer Mike Coughlan after the
Briton was found to have some 780 pages of Ferrari technical
information at his home at the beginning of July, said they were
confident the appeal court would also clear them.
The Mercedes-powered team had argued Coughlan was a disgruntled
employee acting in isolation and the FIA's World Motor Sport
Council decided there was insufficient evidence that the team had
benefited from the data.
Italian protest
Ferrari argued that the decision "legitimises dishonest
behavior" and Luigi Macaluso, the president of the Italian
Automobile Federation, wrote to Mosley on that team's behalf to
seek an appeal.
He said Ferrari, who were not allowed to appeal in their own
right, had not been able to present their side of the story.
Mosley, in a reply published on the FIA's Web site
(www.fia.com), agreed they had a case.
"Exclusion or withdrawal of points did not seem appropriate if
it was really just a case of a rogue employee illegitimately
acquiring information for his own purposes," he said.
"Your letter suggests that the outcome may have been different
if the council had given Ferrari further opportunities to be heard
beyond those that were in fact offered.
"Because of this and the importance of public confidence in the
outcome, I will send this matter to the FIA Court of Appeal under
article 23.1 of the FIA statutes," he added.
Mosley said he would ask the court to hear both Ferrari and
McLaren as well as "any other championship competitor who so
requests" to determine whether the first decision was
appropriate.
If not, he added, the court should "substitute such other
decision as may be just."
Ferrari, who are taking legal action in England against Coughlan
and in Italy against their own dismissed employee Nigel Stepney,
welcomed the FIA's decision as "a sensible one".
McLaren accused Ferrari of waging a "thoroughly misleading press
campaign".
"McLaren is not aware of any new information or arguments that
have arisen since the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council and
therefore assumes that these same materials will now be considered
by the FIA International Court of Appeal," the team said in a
statement.
"Whilst this is both disappointing and time-consuming, McLaren
is confident that the FIA International Court of Appeal will also
exonerate McLaren and we will in the meanwhile continue to focus on
our current World Championship program."
(China Daily via Agencies August 2, 2007)