Never mind Joe Gibbs — clearly there’s a motorsport future for the Hooded Casanova when his NFL days are done. From the Mirror’s Byron Young :
Grand Prix racing was plunged into crisis yesterday – as Renault were charged with spying when they were world champions.
The espionage drama has now engulfed a fifth team, in what appears to be the most damaging charges yet.
A summons from the FIA, motorsport’s governing body, alleges that from September 2006 to October 2007 Renault had possession of McLaren secrets.
The information included details of the layout and dimensions of the McLaren F1 car, its fuel system, gear assembly, oil cooling, hydraulic control and a suspension component used by the 2006 and 2007 cars.
Independent investigators are believed to have found at least seven discs being used by at least seven engineers at a senior level in Renault over a 12-month period. Renault had agreed to allow independent investigators to trawl team computers after allegations were made by McLaren last September. The ‘spygate’ convictions that Fernando Alonso triggered when he handed over confidential McLaren emails have come back to haunt the Renault team that twice made him champion.
And it will be a blow for team boss Flavio Briatore (above), who is an advisor to the Spaniard.
The FIA had refused to investigate any allegations until an official complaint was made.
Yesterday it became apparent McLaren had done just that. They are alleging their former engineer Phil Mackereth took the information with him when he moved to rivals Renault.
The Daily Mirror was told last night that Renault computers detail the exact minutes and hours engineers studied data on team computers.