A McLaren spokeswoman on Monday suggested that the Woking based team is not worried about the FIA’s investigation into the use of possibly illegal team orders in the Monaco GP.

A storm of controversy - stirred almost certainly by the British media’s strident reaction to Lewis Hamilton’s forcibly restrained pace on the streets of the Principality - erupted when Ron Dennis admitted that he personally interfered with the outcome of Sunday’s race.

But the spokeswoman said: “McLaren are completely comfortable with the FIA’s investigation into our race strategy and that all decisions taken both before and during the race were completely in compliance with the International Sporting Code.”

Team orders have long and consistently been applied throughout F1’s history, but McLaren could fall foul of the FIA’s ruling in October 2002, after Ferrari outraged the racing world by swapping places near the finish-line of the Austrian GP.

“Team orders which interfere with the race result are prohibited”, the rules now state.

Referring to Dennis’ ‘hold-position’ order in Monaco, an FIA spokesman said on Tuesday: “There was enough for us to be concerned about.”

The maximum penalty applicable for a breach of the Sporting Code is exclusion from the championship, or the docking of points, but a merely financial sanction is more likely.

[GMM]

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