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FERRARI

Stepney 'calm' after facing Italian prosecutor

Tuesday 19th February 2008

Nigel Stepney was "co-operative and thorough" through three hours of questioning into the Stepneygate spy scandal that is now being pursued in the courts.

Last year McLaren were found guilty by world governing body, the FIA, of being in unauthorised possession of technical information belonging to rivals Ferrari.

It culminated in McLaren being fined a sporting record US$100million (�49.2million at the time) and stripped of all Constructors' points for the 2007 season.

However, while the sporting side of the affair may have been concluded, there remain ongoing legal issues to resolve.

Stepney, the former head of performance development at Ferrari, is believed to have passed on a 780-page technical document later discovered at the home of McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan.

Following questioning at a Modena courtroom in Italy, prosecutor Giuseppe Tibis claimed Stepney was "co-operative and thorough."

According to Italian news agency ANSA, Stepney emerged to state he was "very calm".

Sonia Bartolini, representing Stepney, acknowledged her client had contact with Coughlan, but denied any secret technical information had been passed on.

McLaren team principal Ron Dennis, CEO Martin Whitmarsh, Coughlan and engineering director Paddy Lowe are all expected to be called in for questioning by Tibis in the coming weeks.

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