Renault guilty in spying row, but this time there's no $100m fine

It means they will be fined precisely $100million (£50m) less than McLaren, who committed the same offence earlier this year when they pinched sensitive data from Ferrari.

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Old pals: QPR co-owners Briatore, the Renault team boss (second left), and F1 ringmaster Ecclestone (right) enjoy a night out

The World Motor Sport Council decision in Monaco will take some explaining away, which could be why the governing body, the FIA, gave themselves overnight to supply the full reasoning behind the judgment.

In the absence of a compelling explanation, they will be held culpable of double standards on a gigantic scale.

McLaren refused to be overly critical of the process, though they are reluctant to antagonise the sport's rulers ahead of the Council's verdict today over the legality of their 2008 car.

But, asked what the difference between being merely found guilty, and being found guilty and being fined $100m, McLaren's chief operating officer Martin Whitmarsh responded sarcastically: '$100m.'

He added: 'We haven't had all of the thinking behind their ruling, so it is inappropriate to say anything else at the moment.'

The FIA insisted the upshot of Thursday's hearing merely mirrored the original McLaren spy decision in July. Then, McLaren were found liable but, bafflingly, avoided any sanction.

However, the evidence against Renault appears more damning, given that McLaren originally contested their transgression was limited to one rogue employee, chief designer Mike Coughlan. It was later proved that the corruption spread deeper, hence the record fine in September.

In this case, it seems clear that nine Renault employees were privy to the information brought across by engineer Steve Mackereth when he left McLaren for the French manufacturers last year.

He took with him reams of material, even if McLaren foolishly overstated Renault's activities in an inaccurate leak to the Press a fortnight ago. The illicit documents were still seen by nine employees, if not the 18 indicated by McLaren.

In July, the FIA built in the opportunity to revisit the subject if any further evidence of wrongdoing came to light. Here, they have neglected to do so.

Whatever the FIA's explanation, there are awkward questions to be answered. For example, is it right that F1's commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone should sit as one of the 26 Council members when he is a personal friend and business partner of Renault boss Flavio Briatore? The pair are not only friends but co-owners of QPR football club.

Does it not add weight to the suspicion that McLaren were victimised because FIA president Max Mosley detests their team boss Ron Dennis?

Mosley, who left the Casino Square meeting 15 minutes after a triumphant Briatore marched out, said: 'We will put out a full explanation of the decision tomorrow and that will explain everything.

'I wouldn't say it was a fairly easy decision to take because the hearing took several hours. No decision is easy. It's always complicated. But I am absolutely at ease with it.'

Briatore said: 'I wish to pay tribute to the team, who have handled the matter with integrity and dignity. We are pleased that we can now focus fully on our preparations for the 2008 championship.'

His comments are ironic seeing as how outraged he was when McLaren got off scot-free in July. Then he said: 'I don't understand what happened. If the FIA admits to have established possession of Ferrari material by McLaren, then why is there no retribution? This verdict reminds me of Pontius Pilate.'

Leaving aside the furore, Renault are now free to sign former double world champion Fernando Alonso. He has been delaying finalising his plans after leaving McLaren in acrimonious circumstances in November, pending yesterday's ruling.

He is now widely tipped to rejoin the team who powered him to world titles in 2005 and 2006, potentially doubling his salary by penning a £25m-a-year deal. The only stumbling block could be the terms of the contract. He is keen to have No 1 status written down in black and white, having endured a miserable season at McLaren, where he was outperformed by Lewis Hamilton.

If Briatore is unwilling to accommodate Alonso's demands in such an explicit way, sources in Italy suggest that Toyota are a possible fall-back, despite the Spaniard turning down their lucrative overtures before the close of the season. Before then, there is the matter of justice being seen to be done by the authorities.

'Is it fair?' Ecclestone was asked on Thursday night. 'We are always fair,' he replied.

We will judge that for ourselves later on Friday.

The spying game

Formula One's second 'Spygate' scandal of the year centres on Steve Mackereth, a little-known engineer who took classified McLaren technical information with him when he left the team for Renault in 2006.

The material was put on to 11 computer disks and viewed by his new colleagues.