21 Oct 2007
Mosley: FIA to go through 2008 McLaren with fine-tooth comb
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FIA President Max Mosley has said Formula One racing’s governing body will rigorously examine next season’s McLaren to ensure it does not contain intellectual property obtained from Ferrari.
McLaren were stripped of their 2007 constructors’ points and fined $100 million earlier this season after being found guilty of benefiting from possession of confidential Ferrari data. Although no proof of its use was found in the design of the team’s current car, Mosley wants to provide reassurance that it does not feature in next season’s either.
“We want to play fair with McLaren, but want to give the other teams and the public the guarantee that the new McLaren is not built upon Ferrari information,” said Mosley. “We are now facing the situation of going through the ‘08 McLaren with a fine-tooth comb. And we are not speaking about a single component but of the incorporation of intellectual property and ideas in order to solve technical problems.”
Mosley described the case as still “wide open and very difficult”, but said he hoped it can be closed at a meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council on December 7.
Asked to hypothesize on what might happen if the new McLaren were found to contain Ferrari material, Mosley added: “As penalty I could imagine sending McLaren into the ‘08 season with a minus of championship points as is used in soccer - or exclude the team for the whole season.”
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