Renault to Attend WMSC Hearing

Renault has been named the latest accuse of the spying incident on Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes.

In the earlier hearings of the spying incident between Ferrari and Mclaren, in which Mclaren was punished and stripped off all their points in the Constructors' Championship, Renault was also mentioned in the investigation results done by Mclaren. While they were not investigated in the earlier stages, they are now being called forth to attend the hearing in front of the FIA World Motor Sports Council (WMSC) on the 6th of December.

According to the official statement released by the FIA, Renault is called to the hearing based on the suspicion of having "unauthorised possession of documents and confidential information belonging to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes". Supposedly, a former Mclaren team member had passed several CDs filled with technical information of Mclaren to Renault.

Over in the Mclaren camp, the MP4-23, which is the 2008 car of the Mclaren F1 team, has began to be subjected to scrutiny by the FIA officials to ensure that the design is legal (and not in anyway based on the technical information that they had from the Stepneygate incident). The results of the FIA's findings will be published on 7th December.

FIA Ready to Investigate Renault

Renault, which had recently been dragged into the spy espionage by team Vodafone Mclaren-Mercedes which was found guilty of breach of sporting rules, might be investigated by the FIA if Mclaren manage to produce substantial evidence against them.

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore however has insisted that the case brought forward by Mclaren against them was not related to the high-profiled 'Stepneygate'.

FIA president Max Mosley has already gotten into contact with Mclaren team principal Ron Dennis regarding their evidence against Renault, and has promised to take action against the French team if the evidence produced is damning enough. Ron Dennis on the other hand, has decided not to say anything to the press until the investigation has been carried out.

Mclaren Faces Expulsion from Constructors' Championship and Fined $100 Million

The verdict has been delivered - Mclaren will face expulsion from the 2007 Constructors' Championship - but drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton will not get their points deducted from the Drivers' Championship.

Mike Coughlan, the disgraced ex-Mclaren employee, had earlier on Thursday named several Mclaren key figures who knew about the Ferrari information that he had from Nigel Stepney. While he claimed to have merely glanced through the information, the FIA deemed Mclaren to be guilty of a breach in the sporting regulation, and other than disqualifying Mclaren from the Constructors' Championship, Mclaren has also been slapped with a US$100million fine, as well as having their 2008 car design subjected to approval by the FIA.

However, Ron Dennis, Nobert Haug and the Mclaren team have voiced their dissatisfaction over the FIA's ruling, maintaining their stand that the Mclaren team had not used the information in any way.

Ferrari, on the other hand, is very satisfied with the FIA's ruling, and as a result of Mclaren's disqualification from the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari will now lead the Constructors' Championship with 143 points.