McLaren CEO leads attack on Ferrari

ROME, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Formula One leader McLaren has publicly accused rival Ferrari of winning the Australian Grand Prix with an illegal part on their car.

The company said it does not dispute the fact that Ferrari won, but just wants to point out to Formula One's governing body, the FIA, that the car had an illegal floor device on it, Italy's ANSA reported Thursday. McLaren Lewis Hamilton of England and Spain's Fernando Alonso, have been swapping the No.1 position this season. Both are scheduled for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.

McLaren CEO Ron Dennis also accused Ferrari of spreading "misleading" information in a letter to the head of the Italian motorsport authority, Luigi Macaluso, whose protest to the FIA prompted it look again at a recent ruling on the spy charges affecting McLaren.

"In the interests of the sport, McLaren chose not to protest the result of the Australian Grand Prix even though it seems clear that Ferrari had an illegal competitive advantage," Dennis wrote in the letter.

The letter also confirmed that former Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney, who is part of the spying controversy, leaked knowledge of the illegal floor device to Dennis's team.