THE starting grid for today’s Italian Grand Prix was thrown into turmoil yesterday when police arrived to serve writs on the McLaren Formula One team just minutes after they had won pole position for the race.

The writs accuse Ron Dennis, head of the McLaren team, and his technical crew of industrial espionage, fraud and sabotage.

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren’s British driver who heads the drivers’ table, could face being stripped of his points or even barred if charges against his team are proven. With five races left he has a five-point lead over teammate Fernando Alonso.

The intervention by the Carabinieri follows accusations that McLaren used “dirty tricks” to spy on Italy’s Ferrari, the current champions, and steal a march in this year’s constructors’ race.

Yesterday’s move by police at Monza follows the discovery by investigators of an e-mail between Alonso and Pedro de la Rosa, McLaren’s test driver. The e-mail is alleged to have alluded to sensitive technical information about Ferrari cars.

McLaren faces a World Motor Sport Council hearing in Paris on Thursday. The team could face harsh penalties, including even expulsion from this year’s championship and next season.

Hamilton said yesterday: “I have to put it out of my mind and just focus on my job here. Obviously we’re all concerned.”

Alonso, who earlier took pole position with Hamilton second, said the threat of sanctions led to “a moral obligation” to cooperate with the investigation.

“I can’t race thinking that I didn’t act correctly,” he said.

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