Mosley: "McLaren lied"

Eurosport - Sun, 09 Dec 15:14:00 2007

FIA president Max Mosley has accused McLaren of lying throughout the course of this year's long-running spy saga.

It is a damning indictment from Mosley as the team faces the real threat of expulsion from next year's Formula One world championship.

The World Motor Sport Council met in Monaco on Friday to discuss the FIA Technical Department's report on the validity of McLaren's 2008 car.

It would appear there is sufficient doubt on that front, with McLaren, Ferrari and the other F1 teams facing an EGM of the WMSC in Paris on February 14 at which the report will be discussed.

When asked whether team principal Ron Dennis should resign, Mosley replied: "It's not up to me to say. The thing is I really don't have a problem with Ron, contrary to popular belief.

"All I want, in each team, is somebody who tells us exactly what is going on, is open and truthful.
"Life is too short to go through the procedures we have had to go through with this."

It was then suggested to Mosley the problem this year is that McLaren have not told the truth and he potentially does not trust them.

"I couldn't pretend they told us the truth on the 26th of July [at the first hearing]," he remarked in reply.

"There is reason to suppose they may not have told us the whole truth on the 13th September either - and that does make it difficult.

"In the end, we are trying to run a sport, and we don't have the resources of the police, the Secret Service and these elements.

"We have very limited time, and it is extremely annoying to go through hundreds and hundreds of pages produced by lawyers who are being paid by the amount of time they can spend on the case.

"It completely detracts from what we are supposed to be doing in the sport, but on the other hand we cannot allow people to - to put it crudely - cheat."

With the EGM not for another two months, it means McLaren and Lewis Hamilton will not know whether they are competing in next year's championship until just four weeks prior to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

There is every prospect the team and Hamilton will be kicked out if the other F1 teams and the WMSC decide there are sufficient grounds to do so.

McLaren were warned on September 13 - after the hearing in which they were found guilty of unauthorised possession of confidential Ferrari information and fined a sporting record £50million - that their 2008 season was in jeopardy.

Following that hearing in Paris, the FIA Technical Department carried out a thorough search of McLaren's Woking-based headquarters, and it appears they have grounds for suspicion.

Unlike this year when Hamilton and then team-mate Fernando Alonso were allowed to carry on racing - courtesy of immunity offered by Mosley in return for information received - no such lenience will be forthcoming in February.

"If there is any negative finding about 2008, and it is only an if, then it [the punishment] will apply to everybody," Mosley confirmed.