Lewis Hamilton's McLaren team can look forward to next season
without the threat of a further points penalty after Formula One's
governing body formally closed a spy controversy on Tuesday.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a
statement that its World Motor Sport Council had agreed to cancel a
Paris hearing scheduled for February 14 to assess McLaren's 2008
car.
FIA president Max Mosley proposed the cancellation last Thursday
after McLaren apologized for having Ferrari data in their
possession and recognized that it had penetrated deeper into the
team than suspected.
The hearing had been called after an FIA technical report raised
suspicions that some of the systems in the 2008 McLaren design
could be influenced by the leaked Ferrari information.
McLaren were stripped of all their constructors' points and
fined $100 million this year for the spy saga and the February
meeting had threatened to prolong the agony with the possibility of
a further sanction.
The team, who saw British rookie Hamilton lose the championship
by a single point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, have offered to
freeze development of the suspect systems.
Ferrari have meanwhile agreed to close the controversy on a
sporting level but are to continue legal action against individuals
in Italy and Britain.
The 2008 season starts in Australia in March.
Second controversy
McLaren were also involved in a second controversy when former
champions Renault were found at a hearing this month to have had
McLaren data in their possession since last year.
Renault, who failed to win a race in 2007, were not punished
however because the FIA ruled there was insufficient evidence that
the championship had been affected.
In a 77-page transcript of that hearing published on the FIA Web
site (www.fia.com), the French manufacturer argued that the case
was one of simple stupidity rather than any deliberate intention to
cheat.
They denied gaining any advantage and said former McLaren
engineer Phil Mackereth, who took technical information with him
when he joined Renault, had acted for personal reasons.
"His actions in this situation were stupidity, naivety and a
degree of recklessness -- and little more than that," the
transcript recorded Renault's technical director Bob Bell telling
the hearing.
"There is no malevolence, there is no intention to deliberately
do wrong or to cheat. That is not in his make-up."
Renault's lawyer described Mackereth, who appeared at the
hearing, as being like "a rabbit in the headlights.
"He is a very unhappy, very guilty and very contrite man," he
added.
(Agencies via China Daily December 19, 2007)