Stepney denies giving dossier to McLaren

Feb 22, 2008 13:56:08

Alleged Ferrari spy Nigel Stepney has denied passing reams of the Italian team's secrets to McLaren co-conspirator Mike Coughlan.

The Briton, formerly a key engineer at the Maranello based team, was this week interrogated by Modena prosecutors, where he reportedly admitted contact with Coughlan but denied giving the suspended chief designer the famous 780-page Ferrari dossier.

Stepney's account differs to that of Coughlan, who has admitted to receiving the dossier.

"Maybe all that material got stolen, but that has nothing to do with Stepney," his Italian lawyer, Sonia Bartolini, is quoted as saying by the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

"This is why he's disappointed with Coughlan and his contradicting statements, while Stepney's statements to the magistrate are consistent with those given to the FIA," she added, albeit admitting that the pair "scribbled some drawings" at a meeting in Barcelona last spring.

To the Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport, meanwhile, prosecutor Giuseppe Tibis raised the prospect of interviewing other espionage figures - possibly those employed by McLaren - in March.