Mosley 'will act' if McLaren offer Renault evidence

Max Mosley, the head of FIA, has promised that motor sport's world governing body will act if McLaren provide enough evidence against Renault in the latest twist in the long-running spy saga, as a result of which McLaren were last week stripped of all their points in the World Championship for constructors and fined a record-breaking $100m [£49.2m] at a hearing of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris.

The Anglo-German team were penalised after a 780-page dossier of Ferrari technical information was discovered at the home of their chief designer, Mike Coughlan. Now McLaren may file a complaint against the reigning world champions, Renault, whose defiant team principal, Flavio Briatore, maintains that this latest case is not the same as the one that has dominated the sporting headlines since early July. Mosley, however, says the FIA will act if McLaren provide any evidence.

"We haven't had the complaint or the detail we have been promised from McLaren about that, but when we get it, we will investigate," Mosley confirmed yesterday. "We've had a dossier from Renault which doesn't look particularly damning, but then again, you wouldn't expect it to. It's allegedly an employee who took some floppy disks with him, but we must wait and see what comes out from McLaren."

Mosley said that he had spoken to the McLaren principal, Ron Dennis, on the matter, adding: "I said to him, 'When you have got your dossier together, Ron, let's have it.'

"He, with Renault's agreement, sent experts into Renault to look at their computer system recently. So obviously when he has got that report, if there's something significant in it, I have no doubt he will let us have it."

Briatore remains convinced nothing will come of the matter. "If somebody tells me it's the same [as McLaren], I'll sue," he said in Belgium at the weekend. "Secondly, it's not an investigation regarding myself and the team. Third, we have given all the information to the federation, at least when we found out something.

"This is it. It's as simple as that, and I have given the evidence as well to McLaren."

Dennis said: "It is still the subject of discussion between those companies involved. It's wholly inappropriate for me to make any comment on it, and as and when there is something to share, then it will be shared, but it is certainly not now."