Suspended jail term for F1 spy Stepney

An Italian court has sentenced F1 ’spygate’ conspirator Nigel Stepney to a 20-month suspended jail term.

Earlier in 2010 - three years after the sport’s espionage and sabotage scandal involving Ferrari and McLaren - sacked British engineer Stepney’s criminal trial began.

The former Ferrari chief mechanic was accused of passing reams of the Italian team’s secrets to McLaren, and also of adding white powder to the fuel tank of Kimi Raikkonen’s then Monaco-bound car.

According to the local Gazzetta di Modena publication, Stepney agreed a deal with the prosecutors and did not plead guilty.

"We have to thank the prosecutor for agreeing to a plea bargain. Initially the sentence was much higher," said his lawyer Sonia Bartolini after the hearing in Sassuolo.

Stepney, who was present, also received a small fine.