Dennis ready to meet Ferrari over spy row

Dennis met with groups of journalists at Budapest, saying his team "tried desperately to give the media clarity and took the trouble to explain carefully what the team has been doing and how it has tried to handle a situation."

And, when talking to the Italian press, Dennis offered to meet with Ferrari "face to face" and resolve the controversy amicably.

Speaking of the affair on Sunday night, Dennis explained: "I understand that if Ferrari truly believes that this so-called file of documents was in McLaren, then their position is understandable, irrespective of their approach to addressing it.

"But nothing of that file was known to be in the company by any McLaren employee. And we hope and would like to find a solution between the teams as opposed to one that is the subject of a more aggressive and damaging process for Formula One."

Todt, however, was wary of his rival's offer and said it had come too late.

"I would have preferred if he had made this proposal four months ago," Todt told Sky Italia. "At that point, it would have been beneficial, and we could have avoided many damages for the image of Formula One and the grave consequences suffered by Ferrari."

Dennis, however, remained confident that his team will not be penalised by the International Court of Appeal, when it convenes to hear the case against McLaren at the end of this month.

"If we finally find ourselves in the International Court of Appeal, we are firmly of the belief that the findings will be no different from the World Motor Sport Council, which found that we were in breach of one specific regulation, effectively seeing us responsible for the acts of one employee - essentially the situation that Ferrari faces.

"That breach of the regulation was really the reason that the WMSC didn't impose any penalty on the team, because this breach was of one individual and his actions outside the company."