Espionage – Renault on trial! Renault indicted!

The Renault F1 Team, which was judged today in Monaco during a world council of the FIA, was found guilty in the espionage case against McLaren.

Engineer Phil Mackareth at the end of the 2006 season had brought back several CDs of technical data concerning the MP4-23 after being recruited by the French team. According to the FIA, Renault has indeed violated Article 151c of the International Sporting Code and is therefore declared guilty of its actions.

The verdict, however, remains without consequence for the French team, which will not receive any penalties, unlike McLaren a few months ago, which also violated the same article 151c stating that « Any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of competition or to the interests of motorsport in general is prohibited. »

The FIA statement also confirms the verdict: « The World Council decided that Renault F1 was in violation of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, but this does not impose any penalty.

The statement also announced the release date for the details of the judgment: « The details of this decision will be published on December 7, 2007, while a transcript will be available thereafter. »

We remember that for a similar story, albeit on a larger scale, McLaren was fined 100 million dollars and had all its points cancelled in the 2007 championship.