Modena prosecutors looking into Formula 1's spying controversy have denied timing recent action to disrupt McLaren's preparations for the Italian Grand Prix.
On Saturday, as McLaren and Ferrari tussled for pole position on the starting grid, Italian police arrived to inform the British team that seven of its members - including team chief Ron Dennis - were under investigation.
On Sunday morning, McLaren issued a statement saying it suspected that the action was designed to "disrupt" its preparation for the race and for an important hearing on the controversy scheduled for Thursday in Paris.
"We did it to help those being investigated," said Modena prosecutor Giuseppe Tibis, saying that by acting while the McLaren team was in Italy prosecutors had avoided complex international judicial procedures which would have been troublesome for everyone.
The action also gave McLaren the chance to appoint a lawyer in Italy immediately, instead of having one designated by the state.
"The police only delivered the letters at the end of Saturday's practice session," after positions on the starting grid had been decided, Tibis noted.
The letters, known in Italian as 'avvisi di garanzia', notified Dennis and his technical crew that they were suspected of industrial espionage, fraud and sabotage at Ferrari's expense.
Such letters are not necessarily followed by charges and a court-room summons.
McLaren and Ferrari have been engaged in an off-the-track struggle for much of the season because of a 780-page dossier of Ferrari information found in the hands of McLaren's suspended chief designer Mike Coughlan.
The governing FIA's top disciplinary panel is to meet for a hearing in Paris on September 13 to examine confidential new evidence in the spy saga.
FIA has reportedly received copies of e-mails sent by McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and Pedro De La Rosa in which the leaked Ferrari information is mentioned. According to some reports, the emails reveal that the information was used to make changes to McLaren's racing cars.
The FIA panel shocked the Italian team in July by saying it could not punish McLaren for unauthorised possession of Ferrari information because there was no evidence the material had been used to gain an advantage in the championship.
The emergence of new evidence has led to speculation that McLaren could now receive a hefty penalty, possibly even be excluded from the 2007 and 2008 championships.
