McLaren used Ferrari data

That is the view of motorsport's governing body the FIA, who have publicly released incriminating emails sent by team members a day after announcing their verdict in Paris.

The FIA cited a number of messages sent between the team's drivers regaring the sport's spy scandal, and in particular made reference to one sent by test driver Pedro de la Rosa to Fernando Alonso.

They claim this proves both were aware of the data leaked, according to Ferrari, by their former technical manager Nigel Stepney to McLaren's now suspended chief designer Mike Coughlan.

"All the information from Ferrari is very reliable. It comes from Nigel Stepney, their former chief mechanic -- I don't know what post he holds now," De la Rosa wrote to Alonso on March 25 in an exchange about the Ferrari's weight distribution.

"He's the same person who told us in Australia that Kimi (Raikkonen) was stopping in lap 18. He's very friendly with Mike Coughlan, our chief designer, and he told him that."

The emails conflict with McLaren boss Ron Dennis' insistence that the information never made it out of the hands of Coughlan.

Crucially though, there was no evidence to suggest that McLaren had used any of the information to further the development of their car, which undoubtedly saved them from any further punishment.