Case mounts against McLaren

Statements and information gathered by Italian investigators during an unannounced swoop on McLaren's headquarters in Britain and the homes of its top executives have been turned over to magistrates preparing an industrial espionage case against the British Formula 1 team.

McLaren has already been condemned by the international racing federation FIA for the illegal possession of technical data belonging to Ferrari.

The British team was fined 50 million pounds and stripped of all its points in the 2007 constructors championship, which it was leading. The British team now faces criminal charges in Modena, the city which has jurisdiction over Ferrari's home town Maranello.

Working with British police, Italian investigators on Wednesday gathered information and documents at McLaren's headquarters in Surrey and from the private homes and offices of team boss Ron Dennis and executives Martin Whitmarsh, Jonathan Neale, Rob Taylor and Paddy Lowe.

Although McLaren has admitted having the technical data for Ferrari's 2007 race car, it has always denied using the data for its own benefit.

However, Modena magistrates said on Thursday that they had ample evidence which ''clearly showed the responsibility of top company management and technical staff'' not only in regard to obtaining the Ferrari data but also using the information for its own car and in deciding race strategy.

The material gathered Wednesday by Italian investigators, working with British police, mostly involved computer data and email records. ANSA