Motor Racing: Mclaren's Reputation on the Line

The affidavit signed last week by McLaren's Mike Coughlan is arguably the most valuable and sought-after document in motor sport. In it lie the clues for many questions, not the least being whether McLaren-Mercedes will be thrown out of the world championship, thus turning Lewis Hamilton's dream debut into a nightmare.

Coughlan was found in possession of confidential technical documents belonging to Ferrari. McLaren's chief designer, currently under suspension, agreed to the affidavit in return for Ferrari ceasing High Court proceedings against him. Apart from discovering how much - if any - of the information has been used by McLaren, Ferrari are just as keen to uncover the source of the leak within their headquarters at Maranello in Italy.

Nigel Stepney remains the most likely suspect. Ferrari's former high-ranking employee, currently under investigation in Italy, strenuously denied in The Observer last week that he had provided Coughlan with any sensitive information - although he did admit that they had made a joint approach to the Honda F1 team regarding possible employment.

For the moment, however, greater interest surrounds McLaren's connection with an act of gross stupidity by their senior designer. That seemingly unwitting involvement by McLaren took a more serious turn on Thursday when the sport's governing body, the FIA, called McLaren to an extraordinary meeting of their world council on 26 July. If, as suspected, the FIA have seen Coughlan's affidavit, then it was enough to raise questions and prompt the charge that McLaren were in unauthorised possession of confidential information that could have been used to further their cause in the 2007 championship.

Ron Dennis, McLaren's CEO, has categorically stated that their present car, the McLaren MP4-22, has not been influenced by Ferrari in either its manufacture or its running. Dennis may have many faults, but deceit is not among them. Unfortunately for Dennis, personal probity is not enough if one of his employees has acted unlawfully. It is even worse if, as suspected, Jonathan Neale, McLaren's managing director, and others had knowledge of Coughlan's possession of the Ferrari documents. The question will be how long they knew regardless of whether they advised Coughlan to destroy the documents. Dennis spoke last week of Coughlan having the information at the end of April; the FIA statement mentions March, thus opening the time span of possible knowledge and making it more difficult for McLaren to prove that none of it had been used for either the team's benefit or, just as significant, as a weapon against Ferrari.

The governing body might wish to point out, for instance, that it now seems an interesting coincidence that McLaren should draw the FIA's attention to the fact the some teams were running a flexible floor on their cars, a design loophole that enhanced performance. Ferrari were one of the teams targeted by McLaren's request for a clarification of the rules, a common and legitimate practice but one that, in this case, is made highly sensitive because it took place in mid-March, thus begging the question: how did McLaren know about the exploitation of the loophole? F1 teams are so clever that McLaren probably found out by their own means. None the less, the timing is unfortunate in the light of what has happened since. The FIA immediately revised the floor regulations and, coincidentally, Ferrari's performance fell away during the next few races.

A solution to McLaren's dilemma could lie in Coughlan's hands. If he acquired the Ferrari information for his own ends in the pursuit of employment elsewhere - and says as much in court - then much of the heat will be removed from the team who have employed him since 2002.

On the other hand, if there is a lingering suspicion that McLaren could have made use of the detailed workings of their main rival, then the FIA can choose from a number of penalties, ranging from a fine to the ultimate punishment of removal from the 2007 world championship. Hamilton and Fernando Alonso would automatically be excluded from the drivers' championship even though they are entirely innocent.

Precedents include the banning of the Tyrrell team for a technical infringement in 1984, with Martin Brundle being stripped of his brilliant second-place finish in the Detroit Grand Prix. More recently, Jenson Button and Honda were excluded from the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix and banned from the next two races - including the Monaco showpiece - when the car was found to have a hidden fuel tank.