THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MELBOURNE, Australia — McLaren has fired the designer at the centre of the Formula One spy scandal last season.
Mike Coughlan had been under suspension as chief designer since last July when Ferrari data and documents were found at his home, resulting in a US$100 million fine for McLaren.
McLaren spokeswoman Ellen Kolby confirmed Friday that Coughlan’s contract had been terminated.
"For legal reasons I can’t tell you when, but I can confirm it has been terminated," Kolby said.
The confirmation followed the opening day of the 2008 season, when McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest time in the second practice session ahead of Saturday’s qualifying for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.
It also came days after the FIA, F1’s governing body, issued a directive to teams not to hire Nigel Stepney, a former Ferrari mechanic who was fired by the Maranello team after being implicated in the scandal, and two months after McLaren’s formal apology.
In a letter to FIA’s World Motorsport Council, McLaren chief operating officer Martin Whitmarsh expressed his embarrassment that secret Ferrari documents were widely spread through his team.
McLaren acknowledged that some Ferrari information had been disclosed directly, or indirectly, to people within the company — with the scandal leading to the record fine and disqualification from the 2007 constructors’ championship.
The case broke open in July when a 780-page technical dossier on Ferrari cars was found at Coughlan’s home.