Why do people only think about Hamilton. Alonso, the current world champion would be involved too. If the FIA would do anything agains McLaren both drivers would suffer of it. It is not only Hamilton. Just because he is English, everybody thinks about him, but he has a teammate and Hamilton has to learn a lot about teamspirit. He must take care not to fly away and get unsympathic.

kad, smü, germany

It's clear to me, from the language used and the stances taken that you have this article in the wrong section: Move F1 stuff to "Business" and let's start talking about real motorsport.

These people (and I include the undoubted talent of Lewis) all make too much money for this to be sport.

Paul, Milton Keynes,

In my view it all looks sort of fixed - one way or another - Hamilton looks the right sort of person to get the extra interest (advertising money / viewers) - that the sport (?) is always looking for.....................me - I'm loosing interest fast - m/bikes look far more exciting these days

Martin, London,

Geoff
Italy is not the same as ancient Rome. Italy was only unified in the 19th C.
Rome was made up of many peoples of the Med. ("Italians" being only some of them.)
Jack

Jack Curtis, London,

Incredible...

guido, Treviso, Italy

I'm not sure whether the Italians are up to dirty tricks or not, 'rosshenry67', but I'm pretty confident that if you look up 'Roman Empire' in a history book you'll find they were once what could comfortably be described as a "world power like the UK"...

Spuggy Hilton, London, England

Somebody doesn't know much about Italians do they ? For the record it was Mussolini who teamed up with Hitler in WW2, Hitler expected the Italian troops to fight the British and they didn't want to because they had no argument with the British, or our army, and they refused to fight us. The result was that Hitler got a bit angry, and the Italian army was accused of cowardice and Britain used this as propaganda. Most of the time Italians and the British get on extremely well with each other, and always have.

Phil de Buquet, Newport, England

It is hard for me to believe that documents supposedly received in April miraculously converted the MacLaren into a Ferrari beating machine, while Ferrari languished. These cars had been fairly evenly matched until then Australia Ferrari wins, Malasia, McLaren wins, Bahrain and Spain Ferrari again. How close was the championship at Monaco? Ferrari believed their car was not as fast there as it had a long wheel base. Additionally, they have had issues with engine penalties and Kimi's driving. As has McLaren. To think that somehow there was enough magical data to make a difference is preposterous. That being said however, industrial espionage is a crime and should be treated as such. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the investigation.

GeSchmidtt, San Rafael, CA

Take all the points off the "always cheating" McLaren team, cause if it was the other way around the Ferrari team would be disqualified from the whole season.

Andrea Pizzimento, Rosebery, Australia

A few points. (1) Not a case of Ferrari being careless with docs. High level people have unrestricted access and can copy them. (2) McL should have immediatley alerted the authorities and returned the package. Any delay is totally inexplicable. (3) Having said that, it's difficult to see how tech data from one car could have any immediate value for another of totally different design. It's not just a matter of twiddling the knobs on the McL to the settings those sneaky Ferrari engineers have been using on theirs. Anyone care to cast light on that?

Edward , Hong Kong,

For Rosshenry67. Why to speak about the second world war? Not there is more nobody than that age. If just you want to remember those facts for correctness you must also watch what have made English in India as an example. This regards the F1? The Italians do not hate English and the English-speaking ones and are not believed advanced or inferior to nobody. This regards the F1? In F1 there are many moneies and many interests and these things can happen, Ron Dennis have put on hand of the FIA the McLaren, wait for the judgment then speak. Ciao.

Beppe, Bolzano, Italy

The Italians didnt pinch sombody else's technical data.
So yes they are playing fair unlike the Brits.

Tone, sydney, australia nsw

Dear Editor ,
really I should believe that a motor-racing fan could
drink to the dark side of the human history , the wars
and the Empires , entering with a punch into a
delicate race-story of nowadays ?
It could be nice if , using a good toothpaste , Mr.
Rosshenry67 put new horizons and more added
values in his ideas regarding italians and Ferrari .
Anyway .... if there are tricks , we will see . FIA ,
british and italian justice is over there , but sport
is only loyal competition and his young hero ,
Hamilton , is a superb driver .
The best wins ! Up with European Union !
Best regards ,

Mario Fatone, Roma, Italy

RossHenry - dear me. Nothing like a bit of nonsensical racism to really make people respect you. Unfortunately, like many sports, it is rarely the athletes'/drivers' performance that we look at as being the biggest determining factor in the result of a race or match. Yet it is these people who have the most direct result on the outcome. Are we all so blind to think that Formula 1, the Tour de France or the Olympics are played on a level, clean and fair playing field? We should not be. So please can we all try to be less ignorant of these facts as well as the facts of history RossHenry and just enjoy each race and season as it comes?

WillRees, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England

Surely, I’m not the only one to find this all rather amusing and desperate sounding from Ferrari am I?? Can anyone really believe that a team like McLaren would want or need to steal secrets in order to win races? As anyone who has ever had the pleasure of having worked and lived in Italy will know everything in sport & business is completely above board and straight down the line. They even have a word for it, tangenti I think?

David McKenna, Perth, WA Australia

First re. comments from 'domenico' and 'Alfredo Nieto, Madrid, Spain'. Really? Remember, if Hamilton has benefitted then so has Alonso, one out all out.

Second, shouldn't Ferrari just grow up? Can't win on the track? So let's bring the whole of F1 into disrepute by showing that actually it's all about the engineers, not the drivers. Real smart guys .... Who cares?

Of course, unless Ferrari can make good on their allegations, maybe they should lose all their points for bringing the sport into disrepute ... What about it, Mr. E.?

E Burgess, Slough,

Ross, please, don t be so stupid. What has the war got to do with motor racing. I honestly cant believe that there are still people like you around. Geta a life.

Simon, Las Palmas de GC, Spain

This just shows that Ferrari are very bad losers, this is obviously Ferraris attempt to distract Mclaren, because they are doing so well! I support Mclaren and my Uncle 100%! Just got to wait and see what happens, but theres probably more to the story than what people know so you can't judge. No Brits are playing dirty tricks so that comment is nonsense!

Katie Coughlan, Fleet, Hants, England

Another RED team complaining if they are not allowed to win!

Flatroofer., Crossgates, Radnor County

Alonso and Hamilton are a both great drivers, I wouldn't dare begrudge them that title. But lets look closely at Lewis's recent flurry of success from P1 to podium and I have to ask where is Alonso? In the past few races Fernando has claimed certain displeasuere with the performance of his vehicle compared to Hamilton's, so perhaps Mercedes Mclaren is "helping" Lewis gain the exposure that will give McLaren the limelight...at least for the time being.

Juan, Los Angeles, California, USA

Many people in Italy look at Hamilton as a new and a very good driver who deserves the success he's obtaining. Non one could suspect a story like the one we could read in the newspapers these days. As far as the foolish things said about Italians hating British, I know many Italians who love England and its literature, culture, language and so on (we are just a bit pernickety about food, but you can forgive us about that...). Let the judges make their job and hope that the best team and driver win, with their own strenght. Once finished, we'll say "Bravo" to the one who does. Just one thing left: what do you think Ferrari team should do, once discovered the probable unlawful link between Stepney and the McLaren employee? And, moreover, what do you think Mclaren would do if they were in Ferrari shoes? See you all.

Pasquale, Naples, Italy

One of mclaren's fans is Niki, thats even worse for them than spying.

Vamo Lomillo, Dublin,

At best the information would have enabled McLaren's mechanics to improve thier cars thus matching the performance of Ferrari. That means that the playing field would be more level and the races one by the skill of the driver as opposed to the skill of the mechanic.

What are Ferrari complaining about, the rules were supposed to make each car a much closer match and the race more interesting.

Joseph Kellie, Edinburgh, Scotland

To rosshenry67, why are you hung up on what the Italians did to the UK? Do you need reminding of all the bad the english have done in the world? a) to the American indians. b) making the blacks in Africa slaves. c) killing maoris in NZ d) killing Aborigines in Australia. e) What about the poor Irish? f) what about the war in Iraq? The simple fact that Scottish and Irish people dislike the English is evidence in itself!! So, back to the real issue.....if McLaren has cheated they should be punished!!! oh and ps. rosshenry67, i think you jealous about Italy being world cup champions (4 Times) and AC Milan being champions of Europe (7 Times). Oh and ps. Italy has sunshine!!!!

Fabjuan, Melbourne , Australia

May I suggest that speculation without proven evidence is irrelevant.
If either of the two suspects proves to have been cheating the sport, then they are guilty of the worst of all crimes - corrupting the British sense of "Fair Play".
Please do not prejudge.
Our young man Hamilton has succeeded thus far simply by out-driving his opponents, including Alonso in the "same" car.
He needs to keep his attention on winning races irrespective of possible legal complications later, for which he cannot be held responsible.

Mike Medina, St. Albans, England

Karl Greene, Toronto, Canada - Mclaren have confessed that someone in their team had the documents but they never used them - yeah right. I don't think you can say Ferrari made it up.

I've always found McLaren's attitude annoying and always made me suspicious of them. Esp when they complained of Fer's dominance when they had their period of dominance earlier - Ferrari didn't complain well at least publicly then.

I for one started watching MotoGP after Prost, Senna & Mansell it got boring. In MotoGp they actually overtake - for you young FI fans thats when a vehicle gets past another on the track, not when the other car is in the pits.

terry, london,

To rosshenry67...

Italy never having been a world power like the UK? Ever heard of the ROMAN EMPIRE?

Duh....

Geoff Munt, South Croydon,

So what? If Ferrari can't win with their own technology and McLaren can it doesn't say much for Ferrari, ...... sort of shot themselves in the foot I would have thought. Who'd buy a Ferrari car now I wonder? Stealing race tactics is one thing, that would quite rightly put Hamilton out in my opinion, but technology belongs to no-one except those who can best use it, obviously enough.

John, Dundee, UK

Cheating in F1... I can't believe it.

Mark, Birmingham, UK

Surely if members of Ferarri "offered" this information, then MClaren are in the clear. Whilst it's not ethical to take it, it's not like the information was stolen from Ferarri..

I seriously doubt this will have any affect on the points scored so far this season for Lewis...

Mark, Weymouth, Dorset

From the first I felt that something stank about the whole season and anticipated a scandal- or two.
My guess is that there's a lot more of this story to come out.
Seems unlikely that such an enormous improvement in performance could have happened without involvemet of the top level of the McLaren team.
Had given up on F1 this season. Perhaps I may start watching it again?

John Bayldon, Harrogate, Yorks

I think we all should wait for the outcome of the investigations before accusing anybody of anything! Anyway we (Italians) do not hate England and we have been in the past, and still are, a great world power!

Andrea Scala, Naples, Italy

If McLaren are found to be cheating than they should be disqualified from the construtors championship but let the drivers fight for the drivers title.

Damien McMahon, Grays, UK

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!,
Ferrari, the cheatiest team ever getting shirty about another F! team stealing their secrets, what a brass neck they have.
F1 is all about cheating(dont say bending the rules, say cheating),
The teams are constantly spying on each other, thats how its allways been done, so grow up and stop pointing fingers and squealing, running to tell is childish, better to achieve revenge by leaking false information(been done a few times in the past!

R Cattrell
Montreal

R Cattrell, Montreal, canada

errrr as a reponse to "rosshenry67, LONDON, " and his idea that italy has never been a world power... have you never heard of the roman empire? as in.... the italians invaded us. and they swapped sides to be on the allies side during the first AND second world war... and also it wasnt "what Italians did against the U.K. during the Second World War", we probly killed as much of them as they killed us. so, erm, yeah... get your facts straight before you start slating italians yeah? (im english by the way, not italian) thanks :) x

ed , canterbury, england

Any thing can happen in this increasingly cynical world but,perhaps one should point out, Ferrari are not without historical precedence for claiming illegal practices in rival camps when things have gone against them.

alan burden, MijasPueblo Malaga, España

We will see in the next races who is the best performance car and who is scoring more points. Alonso is gonna wake up from his bad dream and he will come back with a great victory on sunday. He is not happy in McLaren as he suppossed to be. He should make a move to Renault with Flavio Briatore. I enjoyed with Hamilton drinving last year in GP2, however, he is favored by his team this year.

Jose Casás, Vigo/Pontevedra, Spain

The fact remains that in the sport of F1 there has probably always been a history of corruption, the same as in any top flight sport. The West Ham debacle, for example besmirched the premier league's 'great' reputation. I am not trying to say cheating is right nor am i implicaitng McClaren or Ferrari in dirty tricks. What i am trying to state is that there is always some form of cheating at the top of any industry, leaked deals in Mergers in business and such. The main victim if this individual is guilty is Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton is clearly a talent that the sport has never seen before and even if his car has been 'touched up' due to some theft i believe Lewis would be miles ahead in his rookie run anyhow. Hamilton has that killer instinct you should have seen his face as he watched Raikonnen ascend to the first place position podium. I am tired of this country's media damaging the great talent we have in sport. Beckham for example was hugely victimised.

Chris Green, Windsor,

The knowledge of what is really happened it will surely ask for a lot of time but unfortunately it will throw a shade on a charming tournament.

Luigi Curatola, San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy

I am deeply sorry for Lewis Hamilton but if confirmed the Mclaren should be kicked out from this championship. Mike Coughlan is their chief designer not a simple low profile worker. I am very disappointed cause i love the F1 but what happened is a real shame.

fernando, budapest, hungary

To rosshenry67...

Italy never having been a world power like the UK?

Ever heard of the ROMAN EMPIRE?

Duh...

Geoff Munt, South Croydon,

Alfredo - these allegations could affect the entire McLaren team. That would affect your golden boy too !

dan, Madrid, Spain

Nice to see the Italians playing fair as ever.

Chris Atkins, Kettering,

and now , english moralists , who are the fakers ?

claude, paris, france

At last excitement in Formula 1 - Just a shame its not happening on the track.....

JW, oxford, UK

Mr. Ross, are you seriously bringing up the II WORLD WAR on this matter? As an Italian, I should be offended or amused; I'll choose the second. We might suck at military stuff, but we're not so obsessed with our past glories as to think WW while talking about sports. If Mc Laren did it, no matter the fact that other teams might considered doing the same (or having done it already), they will have to pay the price. If not, nothing will happen and, to keep on using your warlike terms, the "fight" will continue. There's the police and the judges to decide this. Let's let the ghosts of the past rest in peace. Peace :)

Giuliano Cremaschi, Helsinki, AL

'they have never ever have been a great world power like the U.K.'?. Just take a time between races to visit to the British Musseum to see a few things you took from Rome and you'll realize that being born in England or winning a few races or even winning the f1 world title as a rookie (if it ever happens) is not the only way to become part of world's history.

R, Madrid, spain

As an American who has been a fan of F-1 since the 1960's, I find the near domination of the sport the last few years by Ferrari booring. I also find the management of the FIA to be childish at times. There needs to be a leveling of the playing field so that all of the teams have a fair chance of being on the podium. On the dirt tracks here points are awarded for qualifying, but starting positions are sometimes determined by a lottery. You could have the fastest car and still start at the back of the field. Makes for an interesting race. You could limit the amount of fuel each team could use on race day. When the FIA limited tires, it was a near failure. NASCAR has made the tires at many tracks much harder to reduce blowouts and reduce speeds but the cars tend to slide around on the hard rubber. I always liked the days when the F-1 cars had 1 liter engines with turbos that cranked out 1,000 hp...those cars were quick and a real challange to drive fast. Best of luck to Lewis!

Dave Blackmon, Seabrook, Texas---USA

rosshenry67 - have you ever heard of the Roman Empire?

Paul, UK,

The formula one lives of period from great drivers at 1994 finished one of the most beautiful happened era inside of motor sports with death of Senna. At this period there was not very preoccupation with technologic espionage because the level of the pilots were very high. The technology today is so upper that instead of speaking on great drivers, they debate about theft of technology. In the past any team before of thinking top technology, they thought at a big pilot. I am saying big in talent and not in physical stature. All driver marks his time into formula one Senna, Prost, mansel among others, now we will live Hamilton era. The best occured surprise this years in this sport. For a representative of the black race to reach predominantment dominated sport by white race it has which to be more than excellent because it has racism in all part of the world and inside from formula one it would not be different. Today Hamilton is world pride of the black race. He will be the champion.

edmilson nunes, Salvador, Brazil / bahia

Unbelievable, I do hope that McLaren was not directly involved in this scandal. However it is difficult to believe that only one person could afford to buy million euros worth projects without a consistent backing.
I have always admired Ron Dennis and I do hope this scandal will not dent his and Mclaren's reputation.

Paolo, Modena, Italy

Yes, I think so too.
It´s sad, very sad for Lewis, but they should throw McLaren out of the championship.

Steve, Birmingham, England

I don't agree with Mr. Karl green. Team McLaren confirmed that Ferrari-born documents were in the hands of a senior technical member of the team. This should prove that something happened.... and the timing is a little bit suspect.

Mauro, Bologna, Italy

I'm italian and i party for Ferrari.
However, Formula1 has become such a huge business, with ingent money "trains" that spying, in my opinion, is part of the game. Shame on McLaren for doing it (if it's true), shame on Ferrari for being so silly not to properly protected their documents.

Alessandro, Florence, Italy

I am Italian and I love the UK. I was not yet born during WW2 and none of my friends probably know much about it.
I support Ferrari and love MacLaren too (although Lotus would be my true love).
I can assure all your readers that this scandal has not made the headlines in Italy as much as in the UK. Ferrari is playing this very very carefully. After all, all their top managers are French or British...
Let's leave it to the judges to decide who's done what and let's enjoy this wonderful F1 season.

Francesco Alberti, Venice, Italy

The Ferrari Team has been robbed of certain victories in the past few races and Mr M Schumacher, sorry,Mr Massa should be leading the F1 World Championship and Ferrari the Constructor's Chasmionship.. Please note I have no connection whatsoever with Ferrari of Mr Michael Schumacher.

Michael Schumacher, Modena, Italy

Which brain of Britain reckons Italy has 'never ever been a great World Power'? Have you never heard of the Roman Empire!

Mark, Birmingham, UK

rosshenry67, ever heard of the Roman Empire? You are right though. Pot, meet kettle.

Ben, York,

It would be sad if Lewis' performance was the result of an English sabotage of the F1 championship. Maybe Alonso justified in his concerns?

One thing I've learned in over 35 years of following f1 is that Ron Dennis is no saint. If there is an English conspiracy, then Ron is probably behind it.

The FIA have to act quickly, fairly and decisively but they have a poor record in this regard!

George, Cambridge, England

Everyone always wondered how Ferrari a few years ago suddenly came out of nowhere, performance wise. It was supposedly Schumacher who won them the titles, but one always wondered. Now Mclaren have found out what they were up to. And Mclaren rule. As has been the case for 20 years or more, the drivers in F1 are trivially unimportant except for massaging the fan base.

Michael, London, UK

I suppose legal intervention is a novel appearance in a sport that has been so obviously ‘self-regulated’. It has been one of those persistent anomalies that, while Britain has arguably lead the motor racing world for a long time, British car manufacturing has dissolved. The secret lies in the funding. Where has the money been coming from? Ostensibly from tobacco advertising, but that identifies the point - the very substantial necessary funding has necessarily been obscure. In an age when footballers are earning Monopoly money, the motor racing world is similarly awash with cash, and this is bound to be reflected in the form of a studied publicity, of which Hamilton’s meteoric rise is merely a part.

Henry Percy, London, UK

Who besides me feels these allegations are nothing more than Ferrari attempting to distract McLaren at a key part of the season. If they can cause McLaren to lose focus perhaps they can catch up in both the drivers and constructors championships. This is a new low, even for Ferrari. and I for one would not put it past them.

Karl Greene, Toronto, Canada

Brits playing dirty tricks so their 'golden' boy could win? Who would have ever believed such a thing?

Alfredo Nieto, Madrid, Spain

they (MC laren) are cheating, is not the first time and should be suspended

domenico, birmingham, UK