Formula One's spying scandal took a new twist on Thursday when Renault was accused by the sport's governing body of possessing confidential information belonging to rival team McLaren.
The FIA, the governing body for motor racing events, summoned Renault officials to a hearing of the World Motor Sport Council in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on Dec. 6 to answer a charge of having "unauthorized possession of documents and confidential information" of McLaren cars between September last year and last month.
The information includes "but [is] not limited to the layout and critical dimensions of the McLaren F1 car, together with details of the McLaren fueling system, gear assembly, oil cooling system, hydraulic control system and a novel suspension component used by the 2006 and 2007 McLaren F1 cars," the FIA statement said.
PHOTO: AP
Renault finished third in the manufacturers' championship with 51 points, 153 points behind winner Ferrari.
Heikki Kovalainen finished seventh in the drivers' standings with 30 points, followed by teammate Giancarlo Fisichella with 21.
Ferrari champion Kimi Raikkonen finished with 110 points.
A Renault F1 spokeswoman said the company could not "for legal reasons" give detailed comment. The spokeswoman asked that she not be identified by name, citing company policy.
"Ever since this affair was brought to our attention, Renault has always acted in a transparent manner toward McLaren," the spokeswoman said.
The McLaren team declined to comment.
The move follows McLaren's involvement in a spy scandal that overshadowed much of the season. McLaren was fined a record US$100 million by the World Motor Sport Council on Sept. 13 after the FIA found the team guilty of using leaked secret data from Ferrari.
The FIA investigation centered on phone records and a trail of e-mail exchanges, which included correspondence between McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa and McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan, and De la Rosa and driver Fernando Alonso.
Renault was dragged into the case when McLaren's own investigations revealed that a former staff member had allegedly taken several CDs worth of data to the Renault team, Autosport Magazine reported on its Web site.
McLaren's lawyers brought that to the attention of the FIA in September. The FIA then began an investigation which culminated in Thursday's charge, the British-based magazine said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but