French team's future hanging on FIA verdict is spying case

Renault could be forced to pull out of F1 if found guilty of using McLaren technical data to its advantage.

The firm’s boss Carlos Ghosn has often said he doesn’t want to spend mega bucks on the sport. And if the squad gets a £50million fine from gov-
erning body the FIA – as McLaren did earlier this year for a similar offence with Ferrari information – it’s thought Ghosn could axe the grand prix outfit.

What’s more, even if it does clear itself of the charges, attempts to lure Fernando Alonso back to the fold could hit the buffers. The Spaniard has suspended talks and gone on holiday.

A source said: “He wasn’t happy when McLaren was accused of cheating. He’s unlikely to want to join a team under investigation.” Red Bull Racing also faces an uncertain future. It uses Renault engines, and could suf-
fer if the French outfit withdraws.

The data was brought to Renault in September 2006, and loaded on to its computer system. Renault claims: “The drawings covered four basic systems as used by McLaren: the internal layout of the fuel tank, the basic layout of the gear clusters, a tuned mass damper and a suspension damper.

“The engineers involved have stated that having been briefly shown these drawings, none of this information was used to influence design decisions on the Renault car.” The FIA hearing is on 6 December in Paris.

Meanwhile, Ross Brawn, the brains behind Michael Schumacher’s seven world titles, is to join Honda as team principal.