SEPTEMBER 8, 2007

Forget the track action, let's go legal

The Modena prosecutor Giuseppe Tibis has issued of a string of notifications to McLaren personnel that they are under investigation. The notifications have not yet been delivered to McLaren yet.

The Modena prosecutor Giuseppe Tibis has issued of a string of notifications to McLaren personnel that they are under investigation. The notifications have not yet been delivered to McLaren.

The Italian legal process is a complicated one. The prosecutor issues such notices after receiving a complaint alleging something criminal. The notification, known as an avviso di garanzia, is simply to alert the accused that there will be an investigation. The word is that there are seven individuals involved: Ron Dennis, Martin Whitmarsh, Paddy Lowe, Rob Taylor and Jonathan Neale from McLaren, plus suspended employee Mike Coughlan and former Ferrari man Nigel Stepney. The notification says that they are being investigated on claims of being in possession of secrets, sporting fraud and sabotage.

This means very little as the police must now investigate the claims being made and decide whether there is a case with which to proceed.