 The 2007 Formula One season was dominated by Ferrari 's accusations that the McLaren team had made illegal use of their intellectual property , leading to legal cases in the United Kingdom and Italy . Unlike previous cases , such as the Toyota team 's illegal use of Ferrari intellectual property in 2004 that had been handled by German police , the FIA investigated . They initially found McLaren innocent ; unable to find enough evidence to suggest that anyone other than designer Mike <unk> had seen the information or that the team had used it . Ron Dennis , team principal of McLaren , was unaware at this point that Mosley had been sent personal e @-@ <unk> from Fernando Alonso , stating that the data had been used and seen by others in the team . When Italian police uncovered a series of text messages between McLaren and their spy at Ferrari , the team was hauled in front of the World Motor Sports Council ( WMSC ) once more . This time they were found guilty and eventually fined a gross $ <unk> and excluded from the 2007 constructors ' championship . Later in the year , the Renault team was found guilty by the FIA of possessing McLaren 's intellectual property , but was not punished , as the " FIA 's WMSC decided there was not enough evidence to show the championship had been affected . " In relation to McLaren , triple world champion Jackie Stewart criticised Mosley and stated that other teams did not back McLaren for " fear of repercussions " . TV commentator and newspaper columnist Martin Brundle , a former driver , was among those who criticised the FIA and Mosley for inconsistency and questioned the " energetic manner " in which he felt McLaren was being pursued , suggesting that there was a " witch hunt " against the team . Brundle and The Sunday Times subsequently received a writ for libel before the paper printed a correction . Mosley went on to defend himself of the charges made by Brundle , highlighting that the WMSC originally acquitted McLaren of any wrongdoing , stating : " Concrete evidence of use by McLaren of the Ferrari information was simply not there . " It was only later in the year when " e @-@ <unk> emerged which showed others inside McLaren were indeed aware of the Ferrari information " , that the FIA found the team guilty . 
