Mosley confirms Ecclestone tip-off

Although Mosley was made aware of the existence of the emails by McLaren boss Ron Dennis on the morning of the Hungarian Grand Prix, his initial impressions were that they did not contain anything of great significance.

But speaking to the media in London on Monday, Mosley has now ended speculation about what prompted him to act by confirming that Ecclestone subsequently tipped him off.

"Yes, he spoke to me about them and told me they were compromising," Mosley was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport. "I don't know who gave them to him, but I have a suspicion."

Although the email exchange provided key evidence that knowledge of Ferrari information did spread beyond just Mike Coughlan at McLaren, Mosley thinks the team would still have been punished even without their existence coming to light.

When asked if it would have been possible to punish McLaren without the emails, Mosley said: "Yes, in a different way, in the appeal hearing that did not take place. And McLaren would probably have been excluded for two years, the drivers would have had the points zeroed, but the fine to the team would have been not as high."

McLaren decided last week not to appeal against the sanctions handed down to them at the FIA World Motor Sport Council hearing, expressing their hope that closure could be brought to the matter.

But Mosley thinks that the saga is not yet finished, with more revelations likely to come out in the ongoing civil and criminal court proceedings.

"There are still some great mysteries: was Stepney passing on information for free?" said Mosley. "That's very unlikely. Therefore who paid him and why?"

And when asked what sanctions Stepney and Coughlan faced, Mosley said: "There will be heavy consequences for them in the proceedings in Italy and Great Britain.

"No one will hire them anymore in F1, that's for sure. Ours was a sporting trial. In the ordinary ones astonishing things will come out. Many of them."