Sacked Stepney to hit back at Ferrari

(GMM) Sacked Nigel Stepney plans to hit back at Ferrari by launching his own legal attack, according to his lawyer.

Sporting a tan, the formula one veteran has now arrived back in Italy from a holiday in the Philippines.

On Thursday his house was searched for a second time before he was interviewed by police for three hours.

He is at the centre of an espionage scandal also involving McLaren's Mike Coughlan and Honda. It is now clear that Stepney and Coughlan, who could not be contacted on Friday, were allegedly pooling data and a group of Ferrari and possibly McLaren engineers in a bid to attract the interest of a high-paying alternate employer.

Stepney's Italian lawyer Sonia Bartolini is quoted as saying by The Guardian: "It is probable we will legally challenge Ferraris' firing of Nigel."