Espionage in F1

Some interesting news is making a splash in the F1 world. Back on the 22nd, news came out that Italian police were investigating Ferrari's technical coordinator Nigel Stepney at the behest of Ferrari. A week or so later, It was reported that Stepney had been sacked from Ferrari and also that a top McLaren engineer was also under investigation. Rumor has it that this McLaren engineer is chief designer Mike Coughlan. Coughlan and Stepney worked together at Benneton for one year in 1991, it seems. Stepney was widley considered to be one of the core members of Ferrari's "dream team" and often the incredible reliability of the red cars is attributed to Stepney's self-proclaimed role as (now former) "chief mechanic".

Many interesting questions can be posed in light of the scant information which has been confirmed by either team. McLaren claims to be cooperating with all investigations but who knows how much of McLaren had knowledge of this Ferrari information? How long has Stepney been actively revealing Ferrari information? Let's all speculate wildly!