McLaren audience with Italian prosecutor put back

A meeting between McLaren bosses and an Italian prosecutor investigating Formula One's spying scandal will not take place on Monday as reported and no new date has been set, his office said on Friday.

Gazzetta Dello Sport said last week that Modena prosecutor Giuseppe Tibis was likely to question leading McLaren figures, including team boss Ron Dennis, on Monday as part of a legal probe into last year's controversy over leaked Ferrari data.

However, Tibis's secretary told Reuters: "They are not coming," adding that no date has been arranged for the meeting.

McLaren said last week their lawyers "had received some papers from the Modena authorities which are currently being reviewed".

McLaren suspended chief designer Mike Coughlan in July after Ferrari technical information was found at his home in England. Champions Ferrari accuse former engineer Nigel Stepney, who has been sacked by the team, of sending him the material.

McLaren were stripped of their constructors' points and fined $100 million in September by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) but legal probes continue.

Tibis has already interviewed McLaren's former driver Fernando Alonso, the double world champion who left for Renault in December, and Spanish test driver Pedro de la Rosa.