Former F1 champions Renault escape guilty penalty in spying scandal

LONDON, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Former world champions Renault escaped penalty despite being found guilty in spying scandal on Thursday.

Representatives of the French team acknowledged their breach of the rules to the governing body while answering charges of unauthorized possession of McLaren technical information between September 2006 and last October.

"We are pleased that we can now focus fully on our preparations for the 2008 championship," said team boss Flavio Briatore in a statement.

McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh said his team were also satisfied.

Representatives of the French team had been summoned to appear before the governing body in Monaco to answer charges of unauthorised possession of McLaren technical information between September 2006 and last October

"They were found to be in breach of article 151c but there is no penalty," a spokesman for the International Automobile Federation (FIA) said after a World Motor Sport Council hearing lasting several hours.

A detailed reasoning will be published on Friday, with a full transcript of the hearing to be released as soon as possible after that.

The Renault scandal is the second major spying controversy to hit Formula One this year.

McLaren were fined 100 million US dollars and stripped of all their constructors' points in September after facing similar charges over a raft of Ferrari data found at the home of their chief designer Mike Coughlan.

However they had also escaped punishment, despite a clear breach of the rules, at an earlier hearing in July before fresh proof emerged.