2007 Formula One espionage controversy

The 2007 Formula One espionage controversy, also known as Spygate and Stepneygate, was a set of accusations among Formula One racing teams that confidential technical information had been passed between them. It involved the McLaren, Ferrari and Renault F1 teams.

The original case involved allegations made by the Ferrari Formula One team against a former employee (Nigel Stepney), a senior McLaren engineer, Mike Coughlan, and his wife Trudy Coughlan concerning the theft of technical information. These allegations were the subject of legal action in Italy and an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) investigation. A High Court case in England was dropped after Ferrari reached an agreement with the Coughlans.

An FIA hearing into the matter took place on 26 July 2007 but did not result in any penalty for McLaren. However, a second hearing took place on 13 September 2007, and by then, compelling evidence resulted in several penalties for the team. The most important of these were the team's exclusion from the 2007 Constructors' Championship and a record-breaking fine of $100 million. However, it was estimated that McLaren would pay closer to $31 million.^[1] As of 2024, this remains the largest fine in sporting history.^[2] Following information from McLaren, allegations were subsequently made during November 2007 by the FIA against the Renault F1 team regarding information they were found to have in their possession concerning the 2006 and 2007 McLaren F1 cars. These allegations were also the subject of an FIA investigation, with a hearing taking place on 6 December 2007.