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Stepneygate - How McLaren got busted

2K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  Teutone 
#1 ·
I was reading this month's Car and Driver magazine, and read a very interesting article on just how Ferrari was tipped-off about McLaren's possession of their technical dossier. I don't know if I'm the last one to hear this story, but I thought I'd paraphrase it here for the benefit of everyone else:

-Stepney gets passed over for promotion at Ferrari.
-Stepney meets with Coughlan during off-season testing. They worked together in the past at Benetton.
-Stepney gives Coughlan the 780 page technical dossier
-Coughlan shares this information with a variety of people at McLaren

Everyone knows this much. Here is where it gets interesting.

-Coughlan feels that the 780 page dossier is just too being and cumbersome to work with. He gets the idea of having it all scanned onto CD for everyone's use.
-Coughlan sends his wife to local copy shop to have everything scanned.
-Local copy shop is managed by a rabid Ferrari fan.
-The manager sees the Ferrari logo all over everything and becomes intrigued. He googles Coughlan's last name, expecting to see him attached to the Ferrari team. Instead he finds out that Coughlan works for McLaren.
-Copy manager picks up the phone and calls Ferrari to inform them of what he has in his hands.

So one of the biggest scandals in F1 was uncovered because Coughlin's wife took the dossier to the wrong guy, who actually did something about it. Ferrari's president, Luca D., actually dedicated the 1-2 Ferrari victory at Spa to the copy manager.
 
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#5 ·
So - let's bring this up to date. If this is the basis on which McLaren were fined $100m and disqualified for one season, then what should happen to Renault?
 
#8 ·
Stepney rejects blame for McLaren

Stepney rejects blame for McLaren
Eurosport - Mon, 21 Jan 14:10:00 2008
Nigel Stepney, the former Ferrari engineer at the heart of last year's Formula One spying controversy, has said he takes no blame for what happened to McLaren.

The Mercedes-powered team were fined $100 million and stripped of all their 2007 constructors' points for having Ferrari information, leaked by Stepney to McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan.

Stepney, who remains the subject of a criminal investigation in Italy, was dismissed by Ferrari while McLaren suspended Coughlan.

"I don't feel responsible in any way at all for what happened at McLaren," Stepney told Sky.

"My original idea was to make contact with somebody but not to benefit; it was to talk about and see what I could do somewhere else with a group of people."

Stepney, who had approached Honda with former colleague Coughlan to enquire about job opportunities, claimed he never expected any information to be used by McLaren.

"Obviously it got a bit sensitive and somebody used information more than it should have been," he continued. "It should never have been used to that extreme."

The International Automobile Federation, F1's governing body, last month drew a line under the spy saga after McLaren recognised that the data had penetrated deeper into the team than had been thought.

However, despite the FIA raising doubts, the team have denied incorporating any of the Ferrari data into either last year's car or this year's.

The FIA also said in July that Stepney and Coughlan would both be invited "to show reason why they should not be banned from international motor sport for a lengthy period".

Stepney said that he was thinking about getting out anyway and did not expect to be back in Formula One in the medium-term.

"I've worked in Formula One for many years. I've enjoyed it, I've made a living out of it, it's been a very good experience in life; but I think I'd prefer to go into some sort of grass roots racing again."

Reuters
 
#9 ·
Italian magistrates to question McLaren personnel

Italian magistrates to question McLaren personnel
McLaren team principal Ron Dennis, CEO Martin Whitmarsh and engineering director Paddy Lowe have been invited by Italian magistrates to answer questions later this month, as part of an ongoing investigation into the squad’s possession of confidential Ferrari information last season.

While Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, drew a line under the ‘spy scandal’ late in 2007 following a public apology from McLaren, Ferrari vowed at the time that they planned to continue with legal proceedings relating to the matter.

Nigel Stepney, the man alleged to have leaked information from the Italian team, and Mike Coughlan, McLaren’s suspended chief designer, who was allegedly in receipt of said information, have also been asked to appear.

Dennis, Whitmarsh and Lowe have been summoned to meet with the magistrates on February 18.
 
#10 ·
Stepney and Coughlan facing international ban?

Stepney and Coughlan facing international ban?
Fri 15 Feb, 03:42 PM


Leading figures in story that rocked the sport facing further sanctions - when proceedings finally get underway...

Disgraced former Ferrari mechanic Nigel Stepney - the key figure in the espionage scandal that rocked Formula 1 last year - could be set to face a prolonged exile from the international racing paddocks for his wrongdoing.

The 49-year-old - who recently joined FIA GT outfit Gigawave Motorsport - is to appear before the sport's governing body to explain his role in the episode, one that saw him expulsed from the Scuderia and key rivals McLaren-Mercedes fined a sporting record $100 million USD and ejected from the constructors' world championship.

However, a meeting planned to be held in London had to be cancelled as a result of 'flight problems' in Geneva, with a rescheduled date of March now expected.

"Mr Stepney is very much looking forward to this postponed opportunity to put his side of the story in a legal environment, rather than continue to endure ill-informed allegations against him," his Buckinghamshire-based solicitors Coyle White Devine said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a separate meeting between several senior McLaren figures - including team chief Ron Dennis and CEO Martin Whitmarsh - and Modena prosecutor Giuseppe Tibis has similarly been delayed, according to Reuters. The meeting was due to be held on Monday, but has now been changed with no new date as yet.

"They are not coming," the international news agency quotes Tibis' secretary as having confirmed.

McLaren added that their lawyers "had received some papers from the Modena authorities which are currently being reviewed".

The meeting will form part of a legal investigation into the spy row, which involved the transfer of confidential information and technical secrets from Ferrari to McLaren. Both Stepney and suspended McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan - at whose home the data was discovered - have been warned by the FIA that they face being banned from international motorsport 'for a lengthy period'.

Tibis has already interviewed McLaren's former driver Fernando Alonso and Spanish test driver Pedro de la Rosa.
 
#11 ·
McLaren staff visited by Italian investigators

McLaren staff visited by Italian investigators
McLaren executives were questioned by Italian investigators in Britain on Tuesday as part an ongoing legal enquiry into last year’s ‘spy scandal’ affair. Accompanied by British police, the officials visited both the executives’ homes and McLaren’s Woking factory.

McLaren were fined $100 million and stripped of their 2007 constructors’ points after they were deemed to have benefitted from the possession of confidential Ferrari data. Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has since drawn a line under the matter, but legal proceedings started by Italian magistrates are continuing.

“McLaren Racing has today continued its co-operation with enquiries instigated by the Modena Magistrate,” said the team in a statement.

“The Surrey Police accompanied Italian investigators to the homes of a number of McLaren executives as part of their ongoing investigation. A similar process has been performed at the McLaren Technology Centre.

“The police are completely satisfied with the co-operation they have received. These actions are part of a normal judicial process in connection with the ongoing investigation, and are supported by McLaren Racing.”

The Modena magistrate, Giuseppe Tibis, has already questioned McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa and former team mate Fernando Alonso over the affair.
 
#12 ·
McLaren dismiss Coughlan

McLaren dismiss Coughlan
Eurosport - Fri, 14 Mar 14:47:00 2008
McLaren have finally dismissed chief designer Mike Coughlan, the man at the centre of the spy controversy that cost them $100 million and last year's Formula One title.

The team confirmed at the Australian Grand Prix on Friday that the Briton, who triggered the scandal when a 780 page dossier of Ferrari technical information was found at his home, was no longer an employee.

The controversy broke last July, when Coughlan was suspended by McLaren.

However he had remained on the staff of the Mercedes-powered team due to legal reasons.

Ferrari sacked Nigel Stepney, the British engineer accused of passing the information to Coughlan, in July.

Both men face continuing legal action in Italy.

Reuters
 
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