Briatore adamant Renault did nothing wrong

Formula One's governing body the FIA said Renault will appear in front of the World Motor Sport Council to answer charges that they held confidential McLaren data for over a year, including schematics of the McLaren 2007 car.

Renault confirmed that a former McLaren engineer Phil Mackereth, who joined Renault in September 2006, brought with him this data on floppy computer disks, and the team further confirmed several engineers saw some of that data. It is believed at least 15 engineers, in fact, are involved in the affair.

However, Briatore insists that none of that data was used by Renault and emphasized the team have nothing to hide.

"When we found out in September, we talked with this guy [Mackereth], we started an investigation and immediately suspended the guy and then immediately we informed McLaren and the FIA," Briatore told the Times newspaper.

"We gave to [FIA President Max] Mosley all the correspondence and the evidence and a statement from our engineers making clear we never used any McLaren system in our car.

"The information was in the computer, it was in the disks that this guy brought. It was very simple. It was a drawing of a few systems, it was part of a drawing of the gearbox and was part of a drawing of a mass-damper.

"I am confident the information was not used, and not only me. We have witness statements from every engineer that was involved and, categorically, everybody says that there was no influence of any of these things on the design of our car."

Briatore fended off any comparison between his team's position and that of McLaren, after the latter were excluded from the 2007 constructors' championship and fined $100 million (USD) for holding confidential Ferrari data.

The Italian told the newspaper that in McLaren's case, the passing of information was ongoing and in bigger scale, whereas in Renault's case there was no ongoing flow of leaked information.

He also revealed that despite inviting McLaren to hold a thorough investigation of Renault's factory in Enstone, the security firm appointed by McLaren only made a brief visit to reclaim the relevant disks.

"We were happy to let them inspect our computer," Briatore said. "We wanted to give McLaren the opportunity to check that there was no influence on the design of our car, but they never took up the offer."