Ferrari to appear in London's High Court

The Maranello outfit's team principal Jean Todt said the court hearing on Tuesday was the next step for the team following the apparent discovery of information belonging to his team at the house of McLaren's chief designer Mike Coughlan.

Ferrari revealed last week that they had begun a legal investigation into the actions of former engineer Nigel Stepney and Coughlan, who has been suspended by McLaren.

Todt said: "The first procedure was that our lawyers, together with some independent experts, went to visit the house of one of the top management people from a competitors' team.

"They decided after that, that they have some facts, which allowed them to move forward. And to move forward is to go to the High Court on Tuesday."

Todt would not elaborate any more information on the court hearing, and who specifically the case was against. He made it clear that he was not allowed to discuss the matter because it was a legal situation.

"Unfortunately at the moment I am not allowed to make any kind of comment," he explained. "But as I have said before, it is just a question of time to have more details.

"I wish I could answer and be more detailed, already now, but as it is a court case I am simply not allowed. If you analyse all the different official statements that have been done, there are some people involved in it and you can clearly make your own judgement from what has been officially stated and what was in some interviews."

When asked whether he believed McLaren were innocent in the case, Todt said: "It is not a question to believe or not to believe. At the moment I am sure I am not able to comment about those facts."