Mclaren unhappy with police

McLaren have expressed their "extreme displeasure" over reported Italian police claims that senior members of the Formula One team have "responsibility" for the spying saga that rocked the sport last year.

Italian magistrates questioned McLaren top brass on Wednesday as part of the Modena district attorney's criminal inquiry into the incident that saw the Woking-based team come into possession of a 780-page dossier of Ferrari technical data.

Italian police issued a statement on Thursday which suggested that evidence taken from McLaren's headquarters in Woking and the homes of top executives - including team boss Ron Dennis - implicated high-level McLaren employees in the case.

An excerpt from the police statement published by Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport claimed that from the evidence there "clearly emerges the responsibilities of the management and some technicians at a high level in McLaren".

A statement issued by McLaren on Friday slammed the wording of the police statement as "grossly inaccurate and misleading".

"McLaren Racing wishes to record its extreme displeasure with the wording of a statement that the Italian Police are reported to have made yesterday," the statement read.

"If those reports accurately reflect the police statement, the statement is grossly inaccurate and misleading.