No, not made up for racial reasons. How silly. If there's one thing F1 organisers would love, it would be a black champion, who could push F1's appeal to new markets.

David, Columbia, MO, USA

Alex of Leeds. That is the most ridiculous, paranoid, blind comment I have ever read. Ever.

Of course they want Hamilton to fail. I mean its not like he has created a buzz and raised the profile of F1 beyond all measure.

Think you will find it is because two mechanics have apparently been cheating.

Nick, Manchester, UK

If the allegations are true, they have to pay, regardless of having a brother being in their crew, cheating is unacceptable, however, being a champ is something that comes from the inside, its a urge, no setbacks can stop or hold hime back, they've never held us back before, if he is the true champ, of which I believe he is, like Mohamad Ali, when he was stripped of the title for refusing to go to Nam, they didn't strip him of his winner's edge, no one could.

These are systems manipulated by the men, they can open the gates if it benefits them or they will close them at whatever cost, if it embarrases them, so whatever the situation maybe, it can't stop this kidd, he's got the warrior's eyes.

You fight the system by getting back up when it knocks you out, and keep getting back up, untill it weakens, they always do, get weak, then fall, they strong and more determined prove more persistent regardless of the fall, even if it means taking it for your team.

Pappi, London, Battersea

McClaren steeling secrets from Ferrari? I dont think so!..... you should know better than anyone Ed that McClarens improvement this year is down to one factor only: Fernando "6 tenths" Alonso

JSA, Barcelona,

No, i think its a secret plot to stop McLaren winning because they have a Scottish sounding name. ...

Luke, Truro, UK

why would you even print the message from alex suggesting it's because hamilton is black? does alex have any evidence to support this wild (libellous) claim? let me answer that. of course he doesn't.

jem, london, uk

It seem strange to me that Ferrari are crying foul when they are being beaten. Why can't Ferrari realise that they don't have a god given right to win and get on with racing. If the Ferrari technology is so good why aren't they beating McLaren on a more regular basis! Maybe McLaren technology is just better anyway and they don't actually need anything from Ferrari. Remember Ferrari aren't spotless themselves and not above resorting to dirty tactics to achieve what they want.

Steve, Lincoln,

If anything, this season has been rigged so that Hamilton does win, not the other way round. If this spying is true, it was not the drivers going into ferrari grabbing the info, it was someone else. Simple punishment, make both drivers start at at the back for the rest of the season. Lets see how good they really are then. Then fine Mr Dennis a huge sum of money like say 12million pounds.Then fine the Mclaren Mercedez team again separately. It is the bosses that need punishing not the drivers.

Karl, Geneva,

Good one Alex - make it race debate... this is all happening because of his ethnic background. Im sure Lewis was winning before joining the F1 ranks, perhaps he wasnt black then?

Robert, London,

It looks naif to think that the drivers' race or nationality or generally their sympathy with the car teams have a role in this trouble.
Think about Schumaker, 100% german, being the idol of italian fans, or Alonso, 100% spanish being the idol of british ones. Once in a time, Hamilton has the same nationality, at least at 50%, of his anglo-german team. He is a champion whatever car he drives.
We are speaking about money, big money. Winning F1 races worldwide has a huge return for Ferrari as well as for Mercedes, which has worldwide markets to support with their supposed technological superiority.

Then comes the sport. But is F1 racing a sport anymore?

Gino, Milano, Italy

Depressing but if FIA and the rest of the paddock believe this is the best for formula 1 then let it be - i guess if any stupid decisions are made, fans will vote with their feet. If Ferrari want a championship where they are the only contenders why don't they start a Formula Ferrari and let's see how many people will tune in week in week out.

I still argue that stealing information is part of the game, it makes racing closer and accelerates development for the whole sport. Besides, if McLaren are thrashing Ferrari with Ferrari's own designs, the drivers, engineers and managers at Ferrari are definitely not as good as the ones at McLaren.

However to be fair to Ferrari, McLaren should pay Ferrari for the information they used - out here in the real world, that is what you do when you buy rights or patents or trademarks etc. Indeed i think this is the approach FIA should take on proof of stolen information for the future. Advice to Ferrari - lock your barns and stop being cry babies.

Leonard Ndinyo, NAIROBI, KENYA

This is just a made up story by Ferrari to continue their dominance of the sport they had under Schumacher. Finally they have true competition from McLaren and like a spoilt child are not happy. They decided to muddy the waters with the F1 executive who have always been pro-Ferrari. What we really need is for a change in the F1 executive. Any punitive charges against McLaren, I feel, will be detrimental for the whole of F1 and thus lead to more dominance by Ferrari which will be a massive turn off by specators of this sport.

Louis Blanc, Liverpool,

This is typical Ferrari and the boys with the money (FIA and others) in collusion to make sure that 'teacher's pet' win the championship.

So if you cannot outrace them, then let's set up the opposition. (Remember who always extends their contacts with the FIA first!!!)

Come on you guys - when you were winning you were happy. Now..... it's "Mummy - McLaren won't let me win!"

Roger in the tropics, Koh Samui, Thailand

Hamilton just keep your head up & focus as you usually do. Fingers crossed about the spy case , silence all the other so called '' great drivers '' .

Dunstan Gausi, Inverness, Scotland

What an absurd comment from Alex.

I really hope that there is no evidence that McLaren have benefited from the Ferrari information. This season has been the first in years when I've taken an interest, largely as a result of Hamilton/Alonso. But if they have cheated then they should be slung out. No question.

Guy, London,

Alex

Grow up.

Please.

The over-used, abused and tired reaction of people like you to bring race into situations is childish and so immature it beggars belief.

If you follow F1, and have a knowledge and understanding of the sport and this situation, whichobviously you don't, you would realise that Lewis Hamilton's colour has absolutely NOTHING to do with it.

Red, Hoddesdon, Herts

sorry Alex, this has nothing to do with Hamiltons colour, cheating is cheating

dave, aberdeen,

It seems spaniards are not the only people who show some paranoids thinking, doesn't it? What in the hell would be the relation between cheating and spying and Hamilton skin? Nothing like victimism plus racial issue to grant a special deal...

Juan, Sevilla, Spain

I wont be holding my breath until I see the result, at the moment a team that obtained confidential information on another team was found gulity and not punished and now leads the championship..now the FIA wmsc has been recalled to hear fresh evidence..I hope justice will prevail this time..If Ferrari was found in possesion of 750 pages of Mclaren information they would have been kicked out of the championship already..becouse only Ferrari cheat. What a joke

Fabio , Sydney, Australia

At the moment we are all somewhat in the dark and should await the disclosure of evidence rather than rely o nmedia speculation. Unfortunately though, mere mortals liek us are unlikely to ever know the true facts, there are too many vested interests involved. As for Alex, get a grip you fool!

tom woodward, bath, uk

He's BLACK?
Good god man I wish you'd told me before, I'd always just viewed him as the hugely talented BRITISH driver he was. Now that you've cleared that up we'll all have to stop cheering him on.

Get a grip, as conspiracy theories go... that's certainly one to far!

Dave, Gibraltar,

Hey Alex, grow up!

P, St Albans, UK

SURPRISE,SURPRISE!...Now the FIA is saying that the new evidence in the case is some conversations by e-mail betwen Fernando Alonso and Pedro DelaRosa, sharing the information from ferrari.
I knew that the british were building a KING BED for Alonso, so that he won't be a problem in their plan to give Hamilton the tittle in his rookie year!!.
FIA,FERRARI,EKLESTONE=MONEY,MAFIA.

wilfredo, miami, usa

Would somebody explain how knowing your opponent's capabilities did not help McLaren to gauge their own development program? In F1 performance is a moving target, so if McLaren knew how Ferrari were progressing then they had an advantage in their own preparation: In this way Ron's statement that there was no Ferrari intellectual property on his cars could be true, but not exclude what I would call cheating.

mitch, eastchester, NY

May I suggest that we await the evidence before jumping to any conclusions. As for Alex, I think the idea that the FIA would wish to sabotage Hamilton's hopes because he is black is a sad reflection of an ill-informed, cynical fool.

tom woodward, bath, uk

My advice to everyone here is please ignor what alex has said. Alex is only tryin to diver attention to him/her self. Lets talk about the real issue at hand. If McLaren has cheated, then they should be punished simple as that.

Adegbola, London, UK

alex, it's going to be Alonso who will stop "baby Hamilton", you will see,

josé, paris, france

You may have Ecclestone, you may have McLaren, you may have the media, you may have the money, you may have Hamilton... But Alonso´s still the best F1 driver. He may not win the champioship this year but at the end of the season he will leave and then, next season you´ll see where you loved Hamilton and Mclaren are...

Luis, Mdrid,

Alex,

Like Nuvolari, Fangio and Schumacher before him, Lewis Hamilton is a true natural racing driver genuine fans worldwide automatically incorporate in their hero list. Just as many fans of other teams admired Michael, lots of Ferraristi who want Kimi and Felipe 1st and 2nd in this year's WDC thoroughly enjoy Lew's performances, me included.

Another feature shared by genuine motor racing fans is that they don't put 'nationality' over the drivers and marques they favour.

L. A. Dietz, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Why do narrow minded inheriently racist people always think it's about colour?

Sally, bristol,

The race angle is a very superficial arguement, however industrial sabotage both in physical terms and intellectual rights is a serious consideration, which can result in most developed civilisations to jail time.

Besides Ron Dennis might like wearing stripes.

Andrew Tait, stratford upon avon, warwickshire

Lewis Hamilton isn't black, he's of mixed parentage.

Melanie Jones, Kent, uk

Thanks for the fair and balanced analysis there, Alex. Where ever would we be without you ?

Steven Rainbird, London,

The crazy thing about this situation is that both teams are equally guilty.

By giving away team secrets, a senior member of Ferrari breached the Sporting Code (Article 151c) by "fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport". McLaren are guilty for exactly the same reason.

Ferrari also have a history of industrial espionage they conveniently forget. And what a surprise that teams try to find information about their rivals. I wouldn't expect anything less of them.

The whole affair is a waste of time, is not in the interest of F1 and if they carry on like this I'll be glad to have my weekends back.

The BTCC season is every bit exciting, more interesting racing, more on-board sequences. This year Plato and Giovanardi are neck and neck and Honda are in the top three.

Mark, Worthing,

Oh grow up Alex, this is not about colour or race, it's about gaining an unfare advantage in competative sport. When athletes are caught cheating in other sports they are banned, sometimes for life, irrespective of colour or creed, why should it be any different in F1?

Mark, london,

I was the CFO/COO at Jordan Grand Prix up to 2005. McLaren were tough competitors but honest. As the cars are so different in even the smallest detail, any information from another team whilst interesting to engineers, would be of little use unless copied in every detail. The McLaren is visually/obviously different to the Ferrari.It would be fantasic PR for F1 if Hamilton won the Championship as he isn't white, he's a rookie in F1, and most importantly he's his own man and not a clone on or off the track. He may very well be the saviour of the F1 industry in the UK, for the next few years at least.

Richard O'Driscoll, Northampton, UK

I don't think Hamilton being black has anything to do with it Alex... It's just that Ferrari were so used to getting their way with the FIA (to the detriment of the sport) that they are now finding it impossible to face up to the fact that other teams have become more competitive and that they have lost their favoured status!! They need to grow up! Their behaviour is what is pathetic. If the FIA rule against McLaren - then I am pulling out of Formula 1.

Elias, Stevenage, UK

I had forgotten Hamilton is half black, half white, so had most people, this is about Formula1, Mclaren and Ferrari.

Am I the only person to suspect that a disgruntled Alonso has tried to torpedo his own team just to get out of his Mclaren contract and the humiliating beating Hamilton is dishing him out ?

Alex, London, UK/Spain

If the FIA is to be taken seriously and this is not just a F1 publicity stunt to boost flagging viewing figures they must now be completely transparent and declare what the 'new evidence' is and where it came from. Otherwise this risks degenerating into a farce which will completely devalue the championship no matter who finally wins it.

Stan Kirk, Canterbury, UK

Formula 1(just as doping in sport) is a symbol of the evolution of Business ethics: It seems we are trying to go from "Cheating is permitted provided you are not caught" to " Even if you get caught, you may muscle your way out through whatever means will do!". I believe the issue has not much to do with the results in Formula 1 but with the current trend in society to get away from the rule of law! If this crime goes unpunished, how can you condemn drug dealers, arms dealers, money laundering,...? We better dissolve laws, ethics, and decide the market will decide everything

Anthony, London, UK

It seems that the new evidence refers to e-mails between De La Rosa and Alonso.

This is not a joke. This information comes from the german magazine 'Auto Motor Und Sport'.

The drama is as follows: both De La Rosa and Alonso were interviewed by FIA representatives earlier this week. They were told to cooperate in order to avoid personal sanctions. It would appear that De La Rosa was e-mailing information on Ferrari car set-ups to Alonso (the german enemy).

Of course, Hamilton knew nothing.

So, McLaren will be deducted constructor championship points and Ferrari wins the constructor championship race.

Alonso gets points deducted and loses any chance to win the championship. Hamilton stays as it is and there is an english winner. Everybody in FIA happy!!

Now, do you believe it? Maybe. Long Live Ferrari

John, Suffolk,

Ey Ed ...and even for Alonso

luigi, bath,

Go ahead Fernando, this is a dirty game to deconcentrate your team. You are the best and the championship is yours.

BAKKALI Mohammed Nidar, tangier, Morocco

Totally fail to understand why the 'Alex,Leeds' comment should be given the credence of publication! On the issues, it will be interesting to know just what this new evidence is before we castigate McLaren and indeed, when we consider Alex Stepney's role ask why the 'mysterious white powder' hasn't been analyzed as yet and we know what it is and does! Furthermore is the 'sworn testimony' of some anonymous person (Ferrari employee?) linking Stepney to wrongdoing any more credible then Stepney's protestations of innocence? Ferrari are intent on pursuing a trial by media rather then allow the evidence speak for itself!

James Ryan, B,ham, UK

I don't agree with above comments of Alex. There is something, for sure, going on and it had to had what is happening. A lot of biggies are involved in here so it does not sound like a cooked up story, at least to me.

Zain Abbas, Karachi, Pakistan

I somewhat doubt racial discrimination has anything to do with it.

Clive, London, UK

Tsk, tsk - how can you say black is pathetic?

CLIVE, Shortlands, Kent

Stop Hamilton winning because he's black?!!
This is the silliest thing I've ever heard...

Don't you reckon how many moneys and audience can a colored champion bring to F1?

never heard about a Tiger Woods guy?

The point here is only one: if you have stolen information to an opponent to make your car faster, you have to pay.

"dura lex, sed lex" used to say the Romans: it is an hard law, but it is law

Alessandro, Genoa, Italia

"McLaren Racing are aware...." I thought it was the "Vodafone McLaren Mercedes" team. Good to see the sponsors stand shoulder to shoulder with the team, and aren't just in it for the money then.....

Michael, London, UK

its not about black or white, its just cheating.

vik, cag, italy

This is just some made up story against Hamilton and Mclaren to stop him winning, Pathetic !

Alex, Leeds, Britain

This is just some made up story in an effort to stop Hamilton winning because he's black, pathetic !

Alex, Leeds, Britain