The Formula One espionage scandal involving the alleged illegal transfer of secret information from Ferrari to McLaren Mercedes, their bitter rivals, featured far more classified material than was first thought, it emerged yesterday.

Ferrari sources made no attempt to contradict a German motorsport website report that said the dossier allegedly sent by the disaffected former Ferrari mechanic, Nigel Stepney, to the McLaren chief designer, Mike Coughlan, was of at least 500 pages. The documents, which Coughlan received at the end of April, are believed to have provided him with a comprehensive picture of Ferrari’s activities on the track and in the design studio and represent a huge breach of security at the Ferrari factory at Maranello, Italy.

The latest speculation, from sources close to Ferrari but not officially denied by the Scuderia, is that Coughlan may have aroused suspicion by taking the bundle of Ferrari documents to a photocopying shop within the past two weeks. According to one source, the shop assistant noticed the documents were classified and were stamped with Ferrari’s famous Prancing Horse badge and this person may have informed Ferrari.

As the scandal continues to overshadow preparations for this weekend’s British Grand Prix, this version of events would seem to fit with a new statement issued by Ferrari yesterday that made it clear they had begun legal action against Coughlan only after a tip-off from someone outside the sport.

“It was brought to Ferrari’s attention by a third party outside Formula One racing within the last fortnight, that a senior member of the technical staff within the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team might be in possession of highly sensitive Ferrari information,” the statement read. “Ferrari reviewed the evidence and consulted London lawyers towards the end of last week [and] then made an urgent application to the High Court in London on 2 July.”

The issue of where or when the documents were handed over was also the subject of feverish speculation. One version of events, unconfirmed by either Ferrari or McLaren, is that the transfer was effected at Port Ginesta, Spain, in late April when the two teams were testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

A German website, Auto Motor und Sport, earlier reported that the information given to Coughlan amounted to a thorough account of Ferrari’s present activities. The website said it included technical details and performance data on the Ferrari F2007, this season’s race car, information about key engineers, details of race strategies, the preparation of cars, development plans for the future, test results and standards used in quality control.

In an attempt to limit the damage, McLaren have claimed that Coughlan did not use any of this information on the McLaren MP4-22 race cars or discuss it with anyone else in the team.

Lewis Hamilton, who leads the World Championship by 14 points from his McLaren teammate, Fernando Alonso, was confident yesterday that he would not have any points deducted, as a result of the inquiry being conducted by the sport's governing body, the FIA. Hamilton claimed to know little about the scandal and was shielded from questions on the issue by the team public relations director.

Hamilton did speak in general terms when asked if the suspension of Coughlan would have a knock-on effect on the rest of the team. “No,” he replied. “Obviously it’s not great, but we’ve got a large team, so I don’t think it’s going to make a huge difference and I don’t think it’s going to affect anyone in the team. We are still extremely strong and focused and I think it’s a small mistake that someone’s made, which has made it look a lot worse than it actually is.”

An emotional team principal Ron Dennis said: “I live and breathe this team. There is no way anything incorrect would ever happen in our team.”