A.Wayne

By Jonathan Noble Friday, July 6th 2007, 16:31 GMT

Honda Racing have become embroiled in the espionage scandal surrounding Nigel Stepney after admitting on Friday that they were approached by the former Ferrari engineer and McLaren's Mike Coughlan for jobs earlier this year.

Just minutes after McLaren boss Ron Dennis said that he had been informed of fresh developments in the affair by an unidentified 'third party', Honda issued a statement confirmed speculation that they too were involved in the spy scandal.

"Given the speculation surrounding the legal investigations at Ferrari and McLaren, the Honda Racing F1 Team would like to clarify that earlier this year Nigel Stepney, formerly of Scuderia Ferrari, requested a meeting with Nick Fry, Chief Executive Officer of the Honda Racing F1 Team," said the team in a statement.

"Nigel Stepney subsequently met in June of this year with Nick Fry and brought with him Mike Coughlan of McLaren, with a view to investigating job opportunities within the Honda Racing F1 Team.

"Honda would like to stress that at no point during this meeting was any confidential information offered or received. Nick Fry informed Jean Todt and Ron Dennis of the meeting and has offered to provide any information required by Ferrari and McLaren."

multi21

A.Wayne

By Jonathan Noble Friday, July 6th 2007, 16:31 GMT

Honda Racing were approached by the former Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney and McLaren's Mike Coughlan for jobs earlier this year, the team have confirmed.

"Given the speculation surrounding the legal investigations at Ferrari and McLaren, the Honda Racing F1 Team would like to clarify that earlier this year Nigel Stepney, formerly of Scuderia Ferrari, requested a meeting with Nick Fry, Chief Executive Officer of the Honda Racing F1 Team," said the team in a statement.

"Nigel Stepney subsequently met in June of this year with Nick Fry and brought with him Mike Coughlan of McLaren, with a view to investigating job opportunities within the Honda Racing F1 Team.

"Honda would like to stress that at no point during this meeting was any confidential information offered or received.

"Nick Fry informed Jean Todt and Ron Dennis of the meeting and has offered to provide any information required by Ferrari and McLaren."

The confirmation of Honda's situation, and the nature of Fry's meeting with the Stepney and Coughlan, makes it increasingly likely that the controversial affair is more about the two possibly looking at future job prospects than out-and-out espionage.

Dennis reiterated his belief that McLaren would be cleared of any wrongdoing in the matter in light of the new information, after holding a conversation with Todt and Fry earlier in the day.

"Three team principals discussed this situation this morning," he said. "Again it creates in some ways more clarity.

"I want to be very correct in this process. The first thing that I did when I first learnt of this problem was to phone Jean Todt. The second was to phone [FIA president] Max Mosley, and from the beginning we have been cooperative.

"We immediately brought independent people into the company to analyse and go through a process.

"I feel that as much as the reputation of McLaren has been challenged - and in some instances, all instances, unfairly challenged - the important thing is to set an example and to behave in a very correct way.

"I can give a full and detailed understanding to everybody about what has happened over the last few months, but it is just inappropriate. The way of the world is that all the truth comes out.

"Probably the thing that I have learned more than anything over the last few days is how fast people are prepared to jump into severe criticism of McLaren when it has had, certainly in the last 20 odd years, an impeccable reputation in every aspect of how it conducts its racing team and how it conducts its business affairs."

And, prior to Honda's confirmation of Coughlan and Stepney's approach, Dennis said: "Over the next 48 hours there will definitely be more information available to people and some of that will give a better insight into motives and what lies behind some people's actions.

"But it is not for me to criticise. We will let things unfold.

"This is all being conducted under civil law and therefore there is no police involved. But this does not mean that it does not follow a proper procedure.

"Too many people are quick to jump and criticise, and effectively condemn, but as in most things in life the truth will come out. I doubt there will be many apologies, afterwards but the truth will come out."

A.Wayne

By Biranit Goren Saturday, July 7th 2007, 22:59 GMT

• Nigel Stepney's full account of the affair

Nigel Stepney has publicly denied any wrongdoing in the espionage affair that has revolved around him, rejecting accusations that he had transferred secret Ferrari documents to McLaren's chief designer Mike Coughlan.

Stepney has been under criminal investigation in Italy following action taken by Ferrari, who accused the Briton of stealing information from the team's Maranello factory and transferring it to other Formula One teams.

McLaren have suspended Coughlan earlier this week after a house search allegedly unravelled hundreds of documents belonging to Ferrari, while the Italian dismissed Stepney when he was on vacation in the Philippines.

Stepney returned to Italy on Wednesday to face the criminal charges against him, but he has since left the country to an unknown location, claiming he was in danger while there.

"There have been high-speed car chases," Stepney told the British Sunday newspapers. "We've been followed by more than one car, with Italian plates, and when we cornered one of them last Thursday evening the men in it refused to speak.

"I don't believe they were journalists. [Girlfriend] Ash has been stalked at the house. There was tracking gear on my car. Someone was going to get hurt. I had no option but to get out of Italy."

Stepney was also adamant that he had done nothing wrong, specifically denying the claims that he had transferred to Coughlan hundreds of confidential pages from the Ferrari factory.

"I categorically deny that I copied them [the documents], or that I sent them to Mike Coughlan," Stepney told the newspaper. "I knew I was being watched all the time at the factory and that everything I did or said was being reported back and that people knew whenever I accessed files on the computer.

"I have no idea how anything came into Mike's possession. If he has some documents, they came from another source."

Stepney also said he was a victim of Ferrari's internal politics, saying his trouble began when he told the team management he was unhappy with his job.

'Ferrari took that badly," Stepney said. "I began to feel like I was some sort of traitor. As soon as I went against the system at Ferrari, I got squeezed.

"I'm anxious, naturally, but I haven't done anything wrong."

Nigel Stepney's full account of the affair:

"The first sign of a potential problem came in September last year when Ross Brawn said he would be taking a sabbatical and the technical management structure would be changing.

"I wanted to report to Aldo Costa, the head of chassis design. He was the right person to respond to. I didn't want to respond to Mario Almondo, the new technical director.

"By mid February, the relationship had started to break down. I couldn't work with them. I missed the one-to-one relationship with Ross. He knew exactly what I could do; I always had 100 per cent support from Ross. Now I had four or five people to report to. It was very frustrating.

"I told Jean Todt I didn't want to travel any more. I wanted to sit back and consider the future. Ferrari took that badly.

"My role became head of performance development based at the factory. I began to feel like I was some sort of traitor, just because I no longer wanted to travel.

"At that stage, I wasn't looking anywhere else. But whenever I discussed anything with people in the factory in the course of doing my job, it got fed back to senior management. People became scared to talk to me.

"I was put in a position where it was difficult to do my job. By the end of March the situation was unbearable. I started to look at other teams, and approached [Honda team chief] Nick Fry.

"I met up with Mike [Coughlan] at the end of April. I'd had one meeting with Nick and didn't want to go into a second one alone.

"At first, Mike wasn't looking at a move, although he was unhappy with the McLaren management. Then, three or four people at Ferrari indicated to me, after reading stories of my approach to Honda, that they would be interested in joining a technical group to go to another team. They wanted to follow us to go into a structure in which they felt comfortable.

"I categorically deny that any technical information passed between Mike and I during that meeting, or at any time.

"We mainly discussed the sort of infrastructure and tools we would need to get the job done in another team. I saw the future as helping to put such a structure into place at Honda.

"You don't just take one team's structure and bang it into another team. These things have to evolve, but Mike and I agreed to pool our expertise and talked about what we could bring to a team.

"Then we met Nick Fry together on 1 June at Heathrow.

"On 17 May, when there were legal moves against me by Ferrari, people were taken from the factory to the Carabinieri (Italian police) headquarters to be interviewed, but no charges were made against anyone.

"My house in Serramazzoni has been raided twice.

"After the thing with the Carabinieri, I called Jean Todt to say I was going on holiday to the Philippines - I'd filled in the relevant form but it was on my desk and I hadn't handed it in - and wouldn't be coming back until this was all sorted out. We haven't spoken since.

"I admit it looks blatantly obvious, but something is happening inside Ferrari.

"I was accused by Mario Almondo of taking some drawings. I had them in my possession legitimately because I needed them for work on the simulator, but it was reported to him by the drawing office that I had them. I got the papers and threw them on Almondo's desk. The next day they were back on mine!

"I categorically deny that I copied them, or that I sent them to Mike Coughlan. I knew I was being watched all the time at the factory and that everything I did or said was being reported back and that people knew whenever I accessed files on the computer.

"I have no idea how anything came into Mike's possession. I don't even know for sure that he has had documents. Do you know for sure? Categorically, he didn't get them from me. If he has some, then they came from another source.

"I would be a bit stupid to go anywhere if I had such material, wouldn't I? I put a lot of the systems and working practices in place at Ferrari, relating to the operations of the test and race teams and the preparation of the cars, information I am told was supposed to be in the documents.

"I had worked on them with Ross and Aldo Costa. So if I already had all that material in my head, why would I need it all again? I am seriously doubtful that Mike has these documents.

"I have nothing to hide; I might as well have left the keys to my house with the caretaker so anyone from Ferrari could go in.

"Ferrari is terrified that what I have in my mind is valuable. I guess I know where the bodies are buried from the last ten years; and there were a lot of controversies in that time.

"But do you think (chief designer) Nicolas Tombazis came to Ferrari from McLaren without something in his mind? The new Ferrari front end aero came from McLaren, because it was in his head.

"I'm just a bit confused. I was never a yes man and as soon as I went against the system at Ferrari, I got squeezed.

"I started to get the blame for things, and began to feel framed. I have been accused, but have not been charged with anything; right now, there is just an investigation. But I feel like I am in the wilderness.

"Ferrari is unique in Italy; it's a religion. If you go against it, it's like going against the Vatican.

"I'm anxious, naturally, but I haven't done anything wrong and I believe in the legal system in Italy."

A.Wayne

By Adam Cooper Monday, July 9th 2007, 15:16 GMT

The complexion of the Ferrari spying affair changed on Friday at Silverstone when Honda announced that team CEO Nick Fry had been in contact with Nigel Stepney and Mike Coughlan.

This revelation suggested the whole affair might not be about attempts to transfer confidential Ferrari information to McLaren but rather, perhaps, an attempt by Stepney and Coughlan to take a 'dream team' package to Honda.

Of course, one big question was left hanging in the air. If this was indeed the case, why had Honda waited so long before making these facts known?

Three whole days had passed since the initial announcement on Tuesday afternoon that a McLaren employee had been suspended, and for three whole days the world at large had little choice but to assume that any information that Coughlan had allegedly received was for the purpose of benefiting McLaren and therefore, presumably, his own standing within the company.

An earlier announcement from Honda could have possibly limited the initial damage caused to McLaren. However, Fry was travelling to and from Japan on Honda business as the story broke, so his first contact with McLaren on the matter was not until Thursday, when he called McLaren F1 CEO and his personal friend Martin Whitmarsh.

However, Fry's first contact with Ferrari did not come until 1:00 pm on Friday, when he spoke to Jean Todt and Ron Dennis at the end of a Formula One team principals meeting on other matters.

It was several hours later, after Dennis had made it clear in a regularly scheduled FIA press conference that a third team was involved, that Honda put out a public statement.

Honda's press release was very carefully worded. "Earlier this year Nigel Stepney, formerly of Scuderia Ferrari, requested a meeting with Nick Fry and brought with him Mike Coughlan of McLaren, with a view to investigating job opportunities within the Honda Racing F1 team.

"Honda would like to stress that at no point during the meeting was any confidential information offered or received. Nick Fry informed Jean Todt and Ron Dennis of the meeting and has offered to provide any information required by Ferrari and McLaren."

The timing of informing Todt and Dennis was not specified, while intriguingly, none of the official documentation from Ferrari or McLaren to this point had actually named Coughlan.

Sources close to Ferrari have made it clear that the management was not impressed by Honda's slow response. The feeling at Maranello is apparently that Fry should even have contacted Todt and Dennis as soon as Stepney and Coughlan appeared together, as this twin approach was a 'strange' situation.

To be fair to Fry, that idea seems a little far fetched, because teams have contacts with other people's employees all the time - confidentiality is a two-way street, and if someone sounds you out about job opportunities, you don't go telling their current boss.

However, the story did change as of Tuesday, especially as it became a legal matter. At that stage Fry and Honda clearly did have an opportunity to clarify matters with McLaren and Ferrari.

Of course, the priority of team bosses is to look after the interests of their companies, and it could be argued that everyone would have done the same in Fry's position - explore all avenues that might benefit the team and not get involved when other people's dirty washing is done in public.

But at team principal level, there can be a surprising degree of respect and trust when the big picture is being discussed, and the feeling at both Ferrari and McLaren is that Honda could have handled the situation differently.

There is no evidence to suggest that Honda or Fry did anything improper, or that they knew about the existence of any Ferrari documents. Indeed, had they ultimately signed up Coughlan and Stepney's 'dream team,' possibly involving the extra four Ferrari stuff Stepney says were willing to come along too, the team could have been congratulated for a great coup.

It's only natural to look to Ferrari and McLaren to find people with the ability to improve your fortunes. Folk at other struggling teams might even have asked themselves - why didn't those guys call us?

Fry says that he was talking to lots of people, and some appointments have already been made and announced.

It's not really clear how far any discussions with Stepney/Coughlan proceeded or who else at Honda was in the loop and aware that the pair were in contact with the team.

The story continued to develop through the weekend, and on Sunday Stepney revealed to the Sunday Times that he had an earlier meeting with Fry, and had only taken Coughlan to a second one.

Later on Sunday morning, autosport.com caught up with Nick Fry. He confirmed that there was an earlier meeting with Stepney at the beginning of May, prior to the one that involved Coughlan on June 1, both having taken place at Heathrow airport.

Q: Can you clarify the situation with regard to Nigel Stepney and Mike Coughlan?

Nick Fry at SilverstoneNick Fry: "I think people love the conspiracy theories and whatever, but to me they were just two guys who wanted a job. The discussions we had was in line with similar discussions we had with lots of other people."

Q: In June, the 'white powder' stories came out. What was your reaction to that - did it make you suspicious or confused?

Fry: "Not so much suspicious or confused, but when that type of thing happens, then clearly you wonder what's been going on. It wasn't of any great concern to us, because as I say they were just two guys who'd come along for an interview.

"I did wonder whether there were other things going on. Certainly in America (during the US GP), when rumours started of the police getting involved, then it was looked on from our side more or less just of interest rather than anything else, because we didn't have any involvement beyond interviewing them."

Q: The big question is about what happened this week. When McLaren issued the statement on Tuesday afternoon that they suspended a senior staff member, what was your reaction to that? There are suggestions that you could have reacted quicker

Fry: "There's no reason. I think that's a ludicrous suggestion, probably put forward by McLaren. McLaren did something on Tuesday when I was on my way to Japan, as it happens. There was no reason at that point for me to ring up a competitor and say 'oh by the way, we just interviewed one of your chaps'.

"I mean, you interview people on the basis that it is confidential, and if people thought that you were instantly going to ring up their boss and say, 'oh by the way...', you'd be giving away a lot of trust there.

"Logistically, firstly McLaren hadn't mentioned Mike Coughlan's name, so it would have been bizarre for me to ring up and make that telephone call at that stage. Secondly, I was en route to Japan and was in Japan on Wednesday. When I got back on Thursday afternoon, which was 4:00 pm into Heathrow, my PR lady briefed me that from other sources - probably Nigel - mentioned had been made that I'd seen both of them. And at that point I phoned Martin Whitmarsh.

"That was around 5:00 pm on Thursday afternoon. I landed at 4:00 pm and within an hour, having been briefed, I rang Martin and said, 'It's now got this far, and Mike's name is clearly out in the open, just be aware that he did come and see me. Nothing was offered and nothing was accepted.'

"Then Friday morning I saw Ron and Jean, and we discussed it a bit further. To us it is an issue between McLaren and Ferrari, and if the FIA would like to see copies of emails from us, we're more than happy to provide them, on the basis that they are 'let's meet at 6:00 pm on blah, blah, blah'."

Q: I understand your position that you are an innocent party, haven't seen any information, and were just talking to them. But from the point of view of the situation that McLaren were put in, couldn't you have said something that limited the damage?

Fry: "Again, why would I want to do that? It was nothing to do with us."

Q: But in terms of your personal relationship with other team bosses, has that been damaged by all this?

Fry: "No, not at all. I'm not concerned in the least, and they would have behaved in exactly the same way. There's no reason to get involved until the point where it was clear that the person's name was out in the open. They wouldn't ring me up and say 'by the way, we've just interviewed one of your people'."

Q: But the fact that it had become a legal situation as of Tuesday made things different...

Fry: "A legal situation where McLaren hadn't named the person, and still hasn't, as I understand it."

Q: Well, you named him

Fry: "That's by the by. But all I've named is someone we've interviewed."

moorepower

Out of all that has happened, they're trying to make Fry the bad guy? That's ridiculous.

A.Wayne

It goes deeper than that : AS TO WHAT HAS REALLY HAPPENED


1. It appears that Disgruntled employees have decided to move on and set up station at Honda , 1. this is not unusual 2. ferrari themselves had just hired an ex mclaren employee..

But stepney statement , regarding he knows where all the skeletons are hidden AT FERRARI ,i believe is the key to the tale.... HE KNOWS TOO MUCH

I would want to believe that ferrari ( Todt) wants a mouth locking device for stepney in exchange for this to go away , I pray he get's pissed enough and talk , I` can't wait to hear what and about who it 's all about

Juan Lopez

So where does putting together a dream team and having confidential information at home becomes related

moorepower

+1 on that. If I were in a position of power at Ferrari, I'd be making a deal with Stepney to keep his mouth shut. You can try to discredit him all you want, but if he spills his guts, it's going to do some serious damage to Ferrari, in my opinion.

Damn, I hope he spills his guts.... Then things will REALLY get interesting.

ltc

Tipped off by a photocopy clerk?
If you're stealing documents worth millions of dollars, how about buying a Xerox machine and doing the copying at home?
http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/formulaone/38647/

moorepower

Jeez, I've got an old HP scanner they could have borrowed.

Can this story get any better?

A.Wayne

Well, Yes if you believe the docs, where worthy of anything.....

ltc

Of course they were worth something.......
I probably shouldn't tell you this, but the documents had nothing to do with the car; they actually detailed Michael Schumacher's pre race food menu......Alonso desperately wanted it so he to could have the "Breakfast of Champions"

A.Wayne

What's so funny guys, this is my WC shirt from the FIA......

moorepower

Damn, somebody needs to open an investigation into that shirt.