Fernando Alonso, the reigning world champion, has been fully implicated in the FIA’s findings behind the unprecedented sanctions handed out to McLaren over the Ferrari spy scandal.
McLaren were stripped of all their constructors’ points for this season and handed a record £50 million fine and although neither Alonso or Lewis Hamilton, his McLaren team-mate who leads the world drivers’ championship, were punished at the hearing of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC), it appears that the Spaniard was in unauthorised possession of confidential technical information belonging to Ferrari. TimesOnline
In their 15-page judgment released on Friday, the FIA have published details of emails exchanged between Alonso and test driver Pedro de la Rosa proving they were in unauthorised possession of highly confidential technical information belonging to Ferrari.
One section of the report reads: “The emails show unequivocally that both Mr Alonso and Mr de la Rosa received confidential Ferrari information via (Mike) Coughlan. Ian Parkes, SportingLife
One email exchange between de la Rosa and Alonso, dated March 25, 2007, relates to the weight distribution of Ferrari’s cars as set up for the Australian Grand Prix on March 18.
The email from De la Rosa is quoted as saying: “All the information from Ferrari is very reliable. It comes from Nigel Stepney, their former chief mechanic - I don’t know what post he holds now. Andy Hooper, Telegraph.co
The FIA is believed to have been tipped-off to the nature of this email and subsequently sent correspondence to McLaren’s drivers, as well as all the teams, reminding them that it was their duty to provide the governing body with information pertaining to the case.
Alonso and de la Rosa are also thought to have been offered an ‘amnesty’ from any censure in return for their full cooperation. ITV.com
The F1 case broke in July when a 780-page technical dossier on Ferrari cars was found at the home of Coughlan, who was later suspended. Ferrari mechanic Nigel Stepney, who allegedly supplied the documents, was fired.
“The e-mails show unequivocally that both Mr. Alonso and Mr. de la Rosa received confidential Ferrari information via Coughlan; that both drivers knew that this information was confidential Ferrari information and that both knew that the information was being received by Coughlan from Stepney,” FIA said Friday. ESPN.com
| 
|