Formula 1 News

Mike Coughlan was spying on Ferrari. McLaren’s Chief Designer suspended. 

The Anglo-German team discovered today that their Chief Designer Mike Coughlan was investigated from Maranello’s team for having received classified informations from Nigel Stepney, Ferrari’s ex mechanics coordinator. Immediate the stop, made official with a note.

Another thriller shakes the world of Formula 1, and surely it won’t be the last one. McLaren Team adopted a suspension provision for Mike Coughlan, Chief Designer of the anglo-german team, ex Benetton and Ferrari, after having learnt that he had obtained informations regarding Ferrari at the end of April.

The official notice – In the official notice coming from Woking, the English town located in the county of Surry in South East England where McLaren-Mercedes Technology Centre is located, the Anglo-German team states that “became aware today that a senior member of its technical organization was the subject of a Ferrari investigation regarding the receipt of technical information”. McLaren specifies also that has no involvement in the matter, “condemns such actions” and according to her informations “this individual had personally received a package of technical information from a Ferrari employee at the end of April”. The team will fully co-operate with any investigation and the individual has in the meanwhile been suspended by the company pending a full and proper investigation of the matter.

Nigel Stepney, again – A F.I.A. (Federation Internationale de L’Automobile) spokesman has confirmed that the organization in charge of Formula 1, knows already about the fact. In fact, Ferrari Team has presented a couple of days ago an official complaint in relation to a theft of technical informations over a court in Modena, against Nigel Stepney and a Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes technician. This has been made public by Ferrari; Ferrari, revealed also that had taken a legal action in England with a search warrant against the technician. Such action had a positive outcome. Ferrari, as written in a note, “reserves the right to evaluate all criminal, civil implications or eventually of other nature according to the applicable norms”. Stepney is Maranello’s technician already suspected for sabotaging the vehicles in occasion of Monte Carlo’s Grand Prix. Just yesterday, Ferrari made official Stepney’s layoff.