Coulthard defends McLaren in spy row

Coulthard is McLaren's longest serving driver, having raced for the team between 1996 and 2004, and he thinks there is no doubt that McLaren boss Ron Dennis is speaking the truth when he says that his team would never deliberately do anything wrong.

"I don't doubt Ron Dennis and McLaren's position on it," Coulthard said in his column for ITV's F1 website. "They are too clever and their integrity is too high to be involved in that. As to who's responsible and how far it goes, it will all come out in time I'm sure.

"The truth is it does happen sometimes. It's not good, it's not sporting and it should really have no place in F1 competition. It's as dodgy as blood-doping in cycling."

Coulthard is unhappy that the spying controversy has become the main topic for discussion in the sport, and that it has overshadowed a thrilling F1 championship battle.

"In my view the whole saga is disappointing. This isn't a Hollywood movie where when you get to the end credits it's the end of the story. This could have a long-lasting damaging effect to the integrity of the sport.

"The spin doctors will say there is no such thing as bad publicity, and that if it gets columns inches in newspapers and magazines then it alerts more people to F1.

"But I think the sport is strong in its media coverage right now and the type of companies that invest in F1 consider any whiff of insider trading on technology to be a taboo subject."

McLaren have been summoned to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council on July 26 to answer charges of 'fraudulent conduct' on the spying matter.

Chief designer Mike Coughlan was found to have a 780-page dossier of information in his house relating to Ferrari's 2007 car.