McLaren hit back at Italian police claims

(GMM) McLaren has lashed out at Italian police for issuing a "grossly inaccurate and misleading" statement earlier this week.

After the raids on the homes and offices of senior team bosses including Ron Dennis, the Italian authorities declared that evidence from which "clearly emerges the responsibilities of the management and some technicians at a high level" had been collected.

But in an angrily-worded retaliatory statement issued by the Mercedes powered team, McLaren hit back at the claims.

"In fact, the Italian police have not yet even been given access to any of the material taken, nor have they even started to review that material," the team said late on Friday.

Separately, a McLaren spokeswoman is also reported to have revealed that the team intends to bring the matter the attention of the British government's internal affairs-oriented Home Office.