MAY 14, 2008

Novak recants McLaren claim

Two weeks ago, in a radio programme in Prague, in the Czech Republic, the FIA's Radovan Novak has suggested to Radio Impuls's interviewer Vaclav Moravec that McLaren might be responsible for the sex scandal that has thrown the FIA into turmoil in the last few weeks. The comments were picked up by various other media outlets in the Czech Republic.

The interview, which is available on the Internet, is in Czech and, obviously, there are complications arising from exactly what was said, but there is no doubt that Novak referred to people who might have a motive because of the large fines imposed by the FIA.

When asked if he was referring to McLaren, Novak said "Ano treba, McLaren", which can be translated various ways, but means "yes, for example" or "yes, perhaps".

Today, McLaren has revealed that it has received an apology from Novak.

McLaren released the following statement: "McLaren is pleased to be able to confirm that it has been contacted by Mr Radovan Novak to explain the background that led to certain remarks related to McLaren and Mr Ron Dennis being made in an interview that he gave to Radio Impuls in the Czech Republic. Mr Novak has asked us to make it clear that he does not believe that either McLaren or Mr Dennis were involved in the events referred to and that the remarks are not representative of his views. Mr Novak has apologised for the misunderstanding and McLaren and Mr Dennis have thanked him for this gracious and swift reaction."