McLaren bear brunt of Italian media hostility as Ferrari consider appeal

The Italian media have gone into overdrive in their vilification of McLaren, and the conclusion at the extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Thursday that, although they were guilty of possession of Ferrari's intellectual property, no proof existed that they had used it to make their own cars go faster.

La Repubblica said that the British team had escaped penalties only because the governing body, the FIA, was loath to upset a gripping season in which the rookie Lewis Hamilton has created a resurgence of interest in the sport by leading the World Championship.

"Political sentence, suspect formula," La Repubblica trumpeted. "McLaren absolved. How can it be? That team had 780 pages of Ferrari documents showing completed projects and they are cleared. At first sight the decision is incomprehensible, but the FIA's magnanimity can be easily explained. After a long and animated discussion, the 26 council members chose not to alter a great international sporting event like the Formula One championship."

The council accepted that the documents had only been in the possession of McLaren's chief designer, Mike Coughlan, who allegedly received them from a Ferrari source, and that the team themselves did not use them in any way. Coughlan is currently suspended by McLaren.

Gazzetta dello Sport said "Ferrari mocked" in its headline, and continued: "Incredible decision by the FIA. McLaren found guilty but go unpunished.

"It's a scandal, the latest in the world of a sport which every now and again gives us reason to doubt it, and that continues to use different measures to address similar situations, enough to create an ethical emergency."

Ferrari were heavily critical of the FIA, which in the past has been accused by other teams of favouring the Scuderia, particularly during the Michael Schumacher era.

McLaren are believed to have sought to initiate a gentleman's agreement between the two warring teams, under which they would openly discuss technical areas on their cars that might be of mutual concern.

It is safe to say that such an agreement is now impossible for either party to recognise. McLaren's view is that Ferrari have used the scandal to do everything they can to destabilise McLaren's World Championship campaign.

It is understood that Ferrari are considering an appeal against the council verdict.

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