Ferrari will get the chance to tell their side of the story after FIA president Max Mosley has decided the espionage case should be sent to the Court of Appeal. The decision will come as welcome news to the Ferrari team, with many team members publicly fuming over the decision not to punish McLaren at the meeting last week.
Mosley s decision came after Luigi Macaluso, president of Italy s automobile federation, wrote a letter criticizing the World Motor Sport Council s decision not to punish McLaren despite finding them guilty of possessing confidential Ferrari documents.
Mosley replied to Macaluso s letter saying the matter would be taken to the Court of Appeal and Ferrari would be given the chance to tell their version of events. Ferrari themselves were unable to appeal the decision as they were only invited to the hearing.
Your letter suggests that the outcome may have been different if the Council had given Ferrari further opportunities to be heard beyond those that were in fact offered,” Mosley wrote in his letter. “Because of this and the importance of public confidence in the outcome, I will send this matter to the FIA Court of Appeal under article 23.1 of the FIA Statutes with a request that the Court hear both Ferrari and McLaren and any other championship competitor who so requests and determine whether the decision of the WMSC was appropriate and, if not, substitute such other decision as may be just.”
It is understood that the appeal hearing will probably be heard towards the end of August in Paris.
