Miffed Ron Dennis isn’t taking verdict sitting down
After an eight-hour hearing in Paris, the team were stripped of all their Constructors' points and handed an unprecedented fine of $100m.
Speaking at a press conference afterwards, team boss Dennis said:
"The most important thing is that we go motor racing this weekend, the rest of the season and every season. This means that the drivers can continue to compete for the drivers' world championship," he declared in a statement.
"However, having been at the hearing today, I do not accept that we deserve to be penalized or our reputations damaged in this way. Today's evidence given to the FIA by our drivers, engineers and staff clearly demonstrated that we did not use any leaked information to gain a competitive advantage."
"Much has been made in the press and in the hearing today of emails and text messages to and from our drivers.
"The WMSC received statements from Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Pedro de la Rosa stating categorically that no Ferrari information had been used by McLaren, and that they have not passed any confidential data to the team.
"The entire engineering team, in excess of 140 people, provided statements to the FIA confirming that they had never received or used Ferrari information.
"We have never denied that the information from Ferrari was in the personal possession of one of our employees, in his home. The issue is, was this information used by McLaren?
"This is not the case and has not been proven to date."
The FIA have announced that they will reveal the reasons for McLaren expulsion on Friday. McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh confirmed that the team were considering an appeal but would study the FIA's statement before making their decision.