FIA hope to resolve 'spy' row within three weeks

Formula One's governing body hopes to clarify within three weeks whether any leaked Ferrari data has been used by rivals McLaren, Max Mosley said yesterday.

Ferrari have taken legal action against their former technical manager Nigel Stepney, accused of passing a large amount of confidential information about their car to a senior technical employee at McLaren.

McLaren have suspended the employee, identified in newspapers as chief designer Mike Coughlan, pending an investigation.

Although championship leaders McLaren are adamant that none of the information allegedly found in the possession of their employee was incorporated in their race-winning cars, they have asked the FIA to verify that.

"We're looking into the whole thing at the moment and when we've got all the facts then we will decide what to do," Mosley, the FIA president, told reporters at the British GP.

"Both McLaren and Ferrari are giving us all the information that we want and we are asking questions," he added. "We will be writing to both teams next week with more questions and taking it from there.

"I hope that, as far as the sport is concerned, it should all be clarified within the next three weeks."

Honda said on Friday that their team boss Nick Fry had met Stepney and Coughlan last month at the request of the two Britons who had enquired about job opportunities with the Japanese team.

Honda said they had not been offered or received any leaked information during that meeting.