Renault deny McLaren data charge

Renault are facing a fine or ban if found guilty of spying

Renault have denied confidential data brought to the team by a former McLaren engineer was used in their 2007 F1 car.

Renault are to appear before the FIA's world motorsport council on 6 December to answer a charge over the matter.

The French team revealed engineer Phil Macereth was suspended on 6 September, and claimed every effort was made to erase the data from their systems.

"None of this information was used to influence design decisions," said Renault in a statement on Friday.

McLaren were fined $100m (£47.5m) and thrown out of the constructors' championship after being found guilty on a similar charge in September.

An FIA statement alleged the information included "the layout and critical dimensions of the McLaren F1 car, together with details of the fuelling system, gear assembly, oil cooling system, hydraulic control system and a novel suspension component used by the 2006 and 2007 McLaren cars".

Renault admitted the information was brought to the team by Macereth, who loaded it onto their F1 file system "without the knowledge of anyone in authority in the team".

The statement added: "We have co-operated fully with McLaren and the FIA in this matter to the extent that the team has invited McLaren's independent experts to come and assess the team's computer systems and inspect the cars and the design records.

"[This is to] demonstrate that this unforunate incident has not in any way influenced the design of the cars.

"[We] have acted with complete transparency towards McLaren and the FIA, bein proactive in solving this matter and we are fully confident in the judgement of the world council."

Renault finished third in the constructors championship behind Ferrari and BMW Sauber after failing to win a race in 2007.