Ferrari confirm action against McLaren man

Ferrari have confirmed they instigated legal action against a seniorMcLaren engineer in both Italy and England, saying this concerns "thetheft of technical information. "The Maranello-based outfit dismissed Nigel Stepney after initiatinglegal actions against him, claiming he was involved in sabotage andespionage against Ferrari.And today McLaren revealed they have suspended a senior member oftheir staff after discovering he unlawfully obtained technicalmaterial belonging to Ferrari.In a statement issued this evening, the Italian team said: "Ferrari announces it has recently presented a case against Nigel Stepney andan engineer from the Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes team with the ModenaTribunal, concerning the theft of technical information."Furthermore, legal action has been instigated in England and a searchwarrant has been issued concerning the engineer. This produced apositive outcome."Ferrari reserves the right to consider all implications, be theycriminal, civil or of any other nature, according to the applicablelaws."Autosport.com understands the search already took place today in theMcLaren engineer's house, with police finding the incriminatingmaterial, which then led McLaren to suspend him.As the affair looks set to dominate paddock talk in the forthcomingrace, an FIA spokesman said they are monitoring the situation."We have received information on this matter which we are examining atthe moment," he said today.