Nigel Stepney gets suspended prison sentence
Nigel Stepney, the man responsible for Formula One’s “spygate” scandal in 2007, has received a 20-month suspended prison sentence.
The former Ferrari engineer was convicted of sabotaging Ferrari’s cars and handing over secret technical information, which included a 780-page document belonging to the Scuderia, to rivals McLaren and their former chief designer Mike Coughlan.
McLaren were fined $100million and had their constructors’ points taken away from them by the FIA, the sport’s governing body, after being found guilty. Ferrari launched criminal proceedings against Stepney after the scandal emerged. Stepney didn’t attend the hearing and pleaded not guilty but entered a plea bargain accepting his punishment.
Ferrari went on to win both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships in 2007, with Kimi Räikkönen becoming world champion.
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