As Lewis Hamilton’s team, McLaren Mercedes, prepare to defend themselves over their possession of Ferrari secrets at an emergency session of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in Paris today, Bernie Ecclestone has told The Times that he is fed up with the whole issue and is hoping that it will not affect the outcome of this year’s drivers’ championship.

“I don’t think anyone’s going to make a decision on the world championship without really looking into everything,” Ecclestone, the sport’s ringmaster, said. “Please God, nothing’s gone wrong and it will all be a lot of nonsense. It would be better it didn’t happen in the first place and it would be obviously beneficial if it was cleared up and everybody was sort of happy.”

Ecclestone, the commercial rights holder for Formula One, said that the scandal over the possession of a large dossier of Ferrari technical secrets by Mike Coughlan, who was suspended as the McLaren chief designer this month, had been an unwelcome distraction from the action on the track this season that he hopes will quickly fade. “There’s been so much talked about this spying nonsense, it’s even taking away from what’s going on on the track,” he said. “I don’t like it.”

Ecclestone’s comments are significant, not only because he runs Formula One, but because he is one of the 26 members of the WMSC who will hear McLaren answer a charge of “fraudulent conduct” at the headquarters of the FIA, the sport’s governing body. Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, made it clear that McLaren is in a potentially serious predicament. “The credibility of F1 and sporting fairness is at stake,” he said.

If found guilty, McLaren could be reprimanded or fined, they could have points deducted from their drivers’ and constructors’ rankings, or they could be thrown out of both championships.

Although Ecclestone is adamant that the WMSC will look at all the evidence and make up its mind on the facts presented to it, his opinion could help to set the scene for what McLaren are hoping will be a vindication of their position. Ron Dennis, the McLaren team principal, has argued passionately that the affair has nothing to do with the team as a whole or their cars on the track and is limited to the actions of Coughlan.

Ecclestone alluded to this interpretation when asked whether he thought that the WMSC may feel under pressure to be seen to be doing something to punish McLaren after such a public airing of Formula One’s dirty laundry.

“No,” Ecclestone said. “They only need to be doing something if something’s happened that shouldn’t have happened – it’s just that simple. We don’t know what’s happened. Maybe it’s nothing to do with one of the teams and maybe it’s the people.”

The big danger for McLaren and for Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, the drivers, is that the WMSC may choose to sanction McLaren under the rules on collective responsibility in the International Sporting Code. These say, in effect, that the action of any one team member can be interpreted as an action by the team as a whole.

Ecclestone was unsure on this point. “I don’t know how that could be interpreted,” he said. “Until all the evidence has been raked through, no decision is going to be made about anything.

“It’s like anything. They [McLaren] have been asked to come and say their party piece and until we have heard exactly what’s what, it’s impossible for anyone to make any decisions or even speculate.”

Dennis and his lawyers submitted a dossier of evidence on the matter to the FIA last week. He is anxious, as is Ecclestone, to put the affair behind him and get on with trying to win the championship. “While it would be wrong to say I look forward to Thursday, because I’m not particularly looking forward to it, nevertheless I am keen to get into the process of putting this behind us,” Dennis said.

Norbert Haug, his counterpart at Mercedes, who is head of motorsport for the German carmaker, was even more bullish. “I cannot see that we are guilty in any way because I cannot see what we did wrong,” he said.

Among those attending the hearing in the impressive surrounds of the FIA offices at Place de la Concorde will be Jean Todt, the Ferrari team principal. He is a council member but will be present on this occasion as an “interested party” and will not take part in any decision.

The hearing comes as Ferrari continue their own investigation into the leak of information to Coughlan and the alleged role in the scandal played by a disaffected former mechanic, Nigel Stepney. It was reported yesterday that Ferrari have hired Quest, the forensic intelligence agency chaired by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, to assist them in the investigation.

All in a day’s work at the FIA headquarters

Justice at the FIA, the governing body of motor sport, is swift. In the course of what is expected to be only one day’s work, the case for and against McLaren Mercedes will be heard, then discussed and then a decision or verdict will be handed down. Here is what will happen . . .

— The FIA’s 26-member World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) will convene at the FIA’s offices at the Place de la Concorde this morning.

— The WMSC will hear an opening address from Max Mosley, the FIA president, then hear representations by the lawyers for McLaren Mercedes and Ferrari.

Representatives from other Formula One teams may also be present as observers.

— Then the WMSC members, who represent national sporting authorities, will begin deliberating on the evidence presented to them in a closed session before reaching a decision based on the achievement of a broad consensus.

— Late in the afternoon, the FIA will announce its findings.

— If McLaren are found guilty, they have the option to take their case to the FIA Court of Appeal, which would sit within weeks to rule on the matter.