As the red cars of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen take to the Silverstone circuit today for free practice, Ferrari has confirmed it is taking legal action as the dramatic extend to which the sensational 'espionage' case extends starts to emerge. It is now being reported widely that the stolen classified documents run to more than 500 pages and give a comprehensive insight into the team's activities this year, providing intricate details of the development programme of the F2007. The case promises to be much deeper and more damaging that any 'espionage' case previously seen in the history of F1.

Ferrari issued a further statement to the press yesterday as it emerged that the recipient of the information thought to have be leaked by former Scuderia employee Nigel Stepney emerged as being McLaren-Mercedes' chief designer Mike Coughlan. "Ferrari wishes to clarify that the English police have so far not been involved in investigating the theft of technical information," read the statement. "It was brought to Ferrari's attention by a third party outside Formula 1 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. Ferrari reviewed the evidence and consulted London lawyers towards the end of last week. Ferrari then made an urgent application to the High Court in London on 2 July for the court's assistance. As is usual with this kind of court order, Ferrari is currently prevented by the court from making any public statement about the information that it gained as a result of serving the court order. At the same time, an investigation is being carried out into the same subject by the Modena Court, therefore no further comment will be forthcoming, in order to respect the legal process in both countries," concluded the statement.

Internet reports circulating today suggest that Coughlan recently visited a photocopying shop located near McLaren-Mercedes' base and a staff member there noticed the 'classified' tagging of the documents.
 

The employee subsequently alerted Ferrari according to these reports. Ferrari's statement reveals that they began the legal action after receiving a tip-off from someone 'outside' the world of F1.

The FIA are also now investigating the matter and of the many scenarios to result from the affair could be a dramatic deduction of points for the English F1 team. McLaren showed a distinct improvement in fortunes after the document transaction, which reportedly took place during April, having trailed the Ferrari team during the opening races of the year. The fact that someone as highly placed as McLaren's chief designer was in possession of a huge swage of stolen Ferrari documents makes it almost inconceivable that practical conclusions weren't drawn from them and applied.

After issuing a statement on Tuesday, McLaren issued a second brief statement on Wednesday, strongly denying that they had benefited from the stolen documents. "Following our statement of 3rd July 2007, McLaren has completed a thorough investigation and can confirm that no Ferrari intellectual property has been passed to any other members of the team or incorporated into its cars. McLaren has in the meanwhile openly disclosed these matters to the FIA and Ferrari and sought to satisfy any concerns that have arisen from this matter. In order to address some of the speculation McLaren has invited the FIA to conduct a full review of its cars to satisfy itself that the team has not benefited from any intellectual property of another competitor. No further comment will be made," the McLaren statement concluded.