Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton’s prospects of becoming the first driver to finish as Formula One world champion in his rookie season appears under threat after a leading member of his team was on Tuesday night accused of involvement in espionage against Ferrari.

In a day of sensational revelations that rocked the sport, the Surrey home of Mike Coughlan, 48, the McLaren Mercedes chief designer, was raided by police after a tip-off from Ferrari about the alleged theft of a large amount of technical information from their factory in Maranello, Italy.

Ferrari are linking the information allegedly found in Coughlan’s possession with their investigation into Nigel Stepney, a British-born senior mechanic, who Ferrari claim has been involved in the unauthorised leaking of information and an alleged attempt to sabotage their racing cars.

Stepney, who has denied the allegations and claims that he is the victim of a Ferrari ‘dirty-tricks’ campaign, was sacked early on Tuesday. His lawyer has said that when he returns from holiday this week, he will hold a press conference in Italy at which he will protest his innocence.

McLaren didn’t confirm Coughlan’s identity, but issued a statement on their website on Tuesday admitting that a senior member of their technical organisation had received a package of technical information from Ferrari at the end of April. They said the high-ranking technical employee has been fired.

“McLaren became aware on Tuesday that a senior member was the subject of a Ferrari investigation.

“The team has learnt that this individual had personally received a package of technical information from a Ferrari employee at the end of April. Whilst McLaren have no involvement in the matter and condemns such actions, it will fully cooperate with any investigation. The individual has, meanwhile, been suspended pending a full and proper investigation,” the British team said.

Fernando Alonso

In another statement on Wednesday, McLaren reassured Ferrari that they had not used any of the Italian team’s data leaked to that employee.

“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,” the British-based team said.

The team also invited the sport’s governing body, the international automobile federation (FIA), to conduct a full review of the cars “to satisfy itself that the team has not benefited from any intellectual property of another competitor.”

The affair has the potential to cast a long shadow over Hamilton’s glorious debut season. Depending on the outcome of the investigations in Italy and Britain, legal challenges could determine the winners of the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships.

A spokesman for the FIA said on Tuesday night: “We have received information on this matter, which we are examining.”

The scandal comes as Hamilton, who has finished each of his first eight races on the podium and won two Grands Prix in a record-breaking start to his Formula One career — and his teammate and defending champion Fernando Alonso — resume their bitter rivalry in front of thousands of British fans at Silverstone next weekend.

At the heart of the case is highly secret technical information about car performance that results from millions of pounds’ worth of research. Ferrari believe that the improvement in McLaren’s performance after the Spanish Grand Prix on May 13 is consistent with the apparent leaks at the end of April.

In the first four races of the season, Ferrari held a decisive advantage over McLaren, but this was overturned in the subsequent races in Monaco, Montreal and Indianapolis. Last weekend, in the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, Ferrari were back on top, scoring a one-two via Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.