`Alonso key witness against McLaren`

 

Fernando Alonso could be the key witness in the FIA's spy case against McLaren after reportedly revealing the team used Ferrari's set-up back in March.

The FIA shocked the F1 fraternity earlier this week by announcing that, instead of an appeal hearing into McLaren's part in Stepneygate taking place next Thursday, a fresh hearing will be held.

Motorsport's governing body claimed they had received new information, and it now appears that it may have been handed to them by Alonso and McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa.

According to The Times, Alonso together with Pedro de la Rosa and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton were approached by the FIA asking them to disclose anything untoward in the spy scandal that they may have knowledge of.

'In addition to appealing to them to co-operate with the FIA's investigation, it is thought to have promised them amnesty from punishment should any disclosures they make lead to sanctions against McLaren,' the newspaper reports.

'The Times understands that the FIA's inquiries and the subsequent responses concerned an e-mail exchange between de la Rosa and Alonso that allegedly included sensitive technical information garnered from Ferrari via Mike Coughlan, the McLaren chief designer who has been suspended.'

The information allegedly dates back to the start of the season in March, once again extending the timetable for the saga beyond the April date when Coughlan is known to have received an 780-page dossier of Ferrari's technical secrets.

And, according to the Daily Mail, the information relates to McLaren making use of Ferrari's set-up for their own cars.

'The precise details of the emails are unclear, but it appears that they relate to Ferrari's car set-up. That would mean McLaren could have gained a performance advantage in their own car - flying in the face of their previous denials,' it reports.

The latest twist in this saga could spell disaster for Alonso's McLaren career, who is already on the rocks following comments about being unhappy from the Spaniard and an on-going fued with his team-mate Hamilton.

However, the Mail claims the Spaniard is 'expected to claim that he had no choice but to comply with the FIA's invitation to respond, though why they thought to question him in the first place remains a moot point.'

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