Bernie suggests McLaren affair worse than new spy scandal

(GMM) In an interview published on Wednesday, Bernie Ecclestone has suggested that the 'Stepneygate' affair was more serious than the new allegations involving Renault.

Details leaked by McLaren last week of the affair involving engineer Phil Mackereth indicated that the scandal could be on the same scale as the one that led to the Woking based team's $100m fine and championship exclusion.

But Ecclestone, who is F1's 77-year-old chief executive, told the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport: "I think the difference is that, in the McLaren case, information flowed to someone on nearly an hourly basis.

"The Renault case is only about a mountain of drawings, and that's it," he added.

It should be noted that Ecclestone recently bought the London football club Queens Park Rangers with Flavio Briatore, Renault's formula one boss.