A trial of two former Ferrari employees suspected of stealing industrial secrets from the Italian Formula 1 race team opened here on Friday but was immediately postponed to June 20.
On trial for industrial espionage are Angelo Santini and Mauro Iacconi, ex-Ferrari technicians who were hired by Toyota when it entered Formula 1 racing in 2002.
The case evolved out of a complaint filed by Ferrari after the specialised press and its own experts noticed the striking similarities between the 2003 Ferrari and the car Toyota fielded.
Several former Ferrari employees, including Santini, were questioned by both Italian and German police, who searched Toyota's Formula 1 headquarters and factory in Cologne looking for evidence. Searches were also made in Italy. The investigation concluded with the indictments for Santini and Iacconi.
Santini is accused of taking from Ferrari a CD with data about the 2003 car and even its design.
Iacconi, on the other hand, is receiving stolen goods.
Once the trial resumes it is expected to see testimony from Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and Formula 1 team principal Jean Todt, among others. At the time, pundits agreed that Toyota's 2003 TF103 car was a dead-ringer of the Ferrari F-2003-GA, which went on to win the 2003 constructors' championship and helped give driver Michael Schumacher his fourth straight title with the Italian team, for a record six.
This in itself was not considered unusual because Toyota's Austrian technical director Gustav Brunner once worked for Ferrari and because almost all teams copied Ferrari after it totally dominated the 2002 season, winning 15 out of 17 races with car and drivers picking up half of all available points.
Aside from Brunner and Santini, an aerodynamics expert, Toyota successfully wooed a number of other Ferrari technicians and former employees including one who became responsible for Toyota's V10 engine, a metallurgist specialised in engines and a logistics expert.
Even if Toyota may have copied the Ferrari design in 2003, it certainly did not mirror its performance. The Japanese team ended 8th in the constructors' standings and its best finish was a fifth place, at the German Grand Prix.
