Formula 1 News

Spy Story: Fernando Alonso denies attempt to harm McLaren 

World champion Fernando Alonso has angrily hit back at suggestions the information he has supplied to the FIA about McLaren’s spy story was a deliberate attempt by him to damage the team. The Spaniard has endured a fractious relationship with his McLaren team in recent weeks, and the fact that he was involved in providing new evidence to the FIA over the spying matter prompted wild rumours in some sections of the media that he could have done it as a way of helping ease his way out of the team.

But Alonso has hit back at those suggestions, thinking it would be ‘stupid’ of him to try and damage the team in such a way. “I’ve been unfairly treated by the papers,” he was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport (Italian sports newspaper). “I did not accuse the team, I just replied to the FIA with honesty and professionalism. It’s stupid to think that I might have replied to the FIA in order to damage the team, as I would do nothing but damaging myself. You must not forget I’m fighting for the championship. The FIA sent that letter to all the drivers, asking if we had anything on this matter. It was our duty to reply, by sending what we had. There was no other choice. I hope everyone understands that. Effects on the championship? We’ve lived with this story for two months and we’ve seen that there have never been repercussions on the race track.”

The focus of the new evidence surrounds an email exchange between Alonso and test driver Pedro de la Rosa about Ferrari set-up data obtained by chief designer Mike Coughlan. All de la Rosa has said was: “I’d love to speak, but I can’t, at least until September 13th.”

McLaren are maintaining their silence about the matter until the hearing next Thursday, although parts of Coughlan’s legal documentation that have been lodged at the High Court have been obtained by The Guardian today. In them, Coughlan is adamant that none of the information he had obtained from Stepney was used in improving the McLaren car. Coughlan denied he had: “reviewed the Ferrari documents in their entirety or in any way which enabled any proper appreciation or assessment in engineering terms of their contents”. He said he only looked at the documents: “on only two or so intermittent occasions”.

There are suggestions, however, that the FIA has been provided with information from Italian authorities, courtesy of the Polizia Postale e delle Comunicazioni, suggesting that there were ‘hundreds’ of telephone and SMS contacts between Coughlan and Stepney that go beyond what has so far been acknowledged – and may even include conversations on grand prix weekends and tests.

source: autosport