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McLaren will appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motorsport Council in Paris on April 29, the FIA have confirmed.
The team will be asked to answer charges that they lied to stewards at the Australian Grand Prix.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement on Tuesday that the team of world champion Lewis Hamilton were charged with breaching the international sporting code on five counts.
McLaren are accused of being in specific breach of Article 151c of the sporting code, relating to 'any fraudulent conduct, or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally.'
In a FIA statement, McLaren are to answer charges that: On 29 March, 2009, they told the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton in car No. 1 to allow (Jarno) Trulli in car no. 9 to pass when both cars were behind the safety car, knowing this statement to be untrue.
. Procured its driver, Hamilton, the current world champion, to support and confirm this untrue statement to the stewards.
. Although knowing that as a direct result of its untrue statement to the stewards, another driver and a rival team had been unfairly penalised, made no attempt to rectify the situation either by contacting the FIA or otherwise.
. On 2 April, 2009, at a second hearing before the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix, (meeting in Malaysia) made no attempt to correct the untrue statement of 29 March but, on the contrary, continued to maintain the statement was true, despite being allowed to listen to a recording of the team instructing Hamilton to let Trulli past, and despite being given more than one opportunity to correct its false statement.
. On 2 April, 2009, at the second stewards' hearing, procured its driver Hamilton to continue to assert the truth of the false statement given to the stewards on 29 March, while knowing what he was saying to the stewards was not true.
Ryan
In a statement issued by McLaren, the team have confirmed they have sacked Dave Ryan, their former sporting director.
Ryan was suspended on Friday after the storm surrounding the case blew up ahead of the weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.
The McLaren statement read: "McLaren acknowledge receipt of an invitation to appear at an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on April 29, received this afternoon.
"We undertake to co-operate fully with all WMSC processes, and welcome the opportunity to work with the FIA in the best interests of Formula One.
"This afternoon McLaren and former sporting director, Dave Ryan, have formally parted company. As a result, he is no longer an employee of any of the constituent companies of the McLaren Group."
The incident in question occurred towards the end of the season- opening race in Melbourne following an accident involving BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.
It led to the safety car being deployed, behind which Trulli ran wide onto the grass at one stage whilst running in third, allowing Hamilton to legitimately pass and take up that position.
Hamilton soon informed the team he had passed Trulli, only to shortly after be explicitly told twice by his race engineer Phil Prew to allow the veteran Italian to pass.
At the time Prew was acting under instruction from Ryan, who was looking to conduct the situation by the book bearing in mind what unfolded in last season's Belgian Grand Prix, when Hamilton was penalised for cutting a chicane.
Platter
However, Ryan soon appreciated he had made a mistake, handing third place on a platter to Trulli, leaving Hamilton to finish fourth.
Within an hour of the grand prix's conclusion, Ryan and Hamilton were called to see the three stewards presiding over the race.
It is understood that prior to meeting with them, Ryan instructed Hamilton to lie, that no order to allow Trulli to pass was given.
With no audio, the stewards based their decision on video footage and testimony from Ryan and Hamilton.
The verdict saw Trulli handed a 25-second penalty, demoting him from third to 12th, with Hamilton elevated into a podium position.
However, in the build-up to the race in Malaysia, the FIA came to hear of an interview Hamilton gave immediately after the race at Albert Park.
Stewards
Hamilton confirmed the team instructed him to allow Trulli by, and it is at that stage the stewards look into the radio transmissions between Hamilton and the pit wall.
It is became abundantly clear Ryan and Hamilton lied, although the latter under orders from the former, who was soon suspended by team boss Martin Whitmarsh.
On Friday, a contrite, visibly upset Hamilton then issued a sincere apology for his actions, laying the blame firmly at Ryan's door.
Hamilton, who was excluded from the classification of the race in Australia, is now in the clear as far as the FIA is concerned.
The WMSC will now focus on taking the team to task, with another hefty fine the logical outcome. However, they have the power to either suspend McLaren from races, or even exclude them from the championship.
The team will be asked to answer charges that they lied to stewards at the Australian Grand Prix.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement on Tuesday that the team of world champion Lewis Hamilton were charged with breaching the international sporting code on five counts.
McLaren are accused of being in specific breach of Article 151c of the sporting code, relating to 'any fraudulent conduct, or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally.'
In a FIA statement, McLaren are to answer charges that: On 29 March, 2009, they told the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton in car No. 1 to allow (Jarno) Trulli in car no. 9 to pass when both cars were behind the safety car, knowing this statement to be untrue.
. Procured its driver, Hamilton, the current world champion, to support and confirm this untrue statement to the stewards.
. Although knowing that as a direct result of its untrue statement to the stewards, another driver and a rival team had been unfairly penalised, made no attempt to rectify the situation either by contacting the FIA or otherwise.
. On 2 April, 2009, at a second hearing before the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix, (meeting in Malaysia) made no attempt to correct the untrue statement of 29 March but, on the contrary, continued to maintain the statement was true, despite being allowed to listen to a recording of the team instructing Hamilton to let Trulli past, and despite being given more than one opportunity to correct its false statement.
. On 2 April, 2009, at the second stewards' hearing, procured its driver Hamilton to continue to assert the truth of the false statement given to the stewards on 29 March, while knowing what he was saying to the stewards was not true.
Ryan
In a statement issued by McLaren, the team have confirmed they have sacked Dave Ryan, their former sporting director.
Ryan was suspended on Friday after the storm surrounding the case blew up ahead of the weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.
The McLaren statement read: "McLaren acknowledge receipt of an invitation to appear at an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on April 29, received this afternoon.
"We undertake to co-operate fully with all WMSC processes, and welcome the opportunity to work with the FIA in the best interests of Formula One.
"This afternoon McLaren and former sporting director, Dave Ryan, have formally parted company. As a result, he is no longer an employee of any of the constituent companies of the McLaren Group."
The incident in question occurred towards the end of the season- opening race in Melbourne following an accident involving BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.
It led to the safety car being deployed, behind which Trulli ran wide onto the grass at one stage whilst running in third, allowing Hamilton to legitimately pass and take up that position.
Hamilton soon informed the team he had passed Trulli, only to shortly after be explicitly told twice by his race engineer Phil Prew to allow the veteran Italian to pass.
At the time Prew was acting under instruction from Ryan, who was looking to conduct the situation by the book bearing in mind what unfolded in last season's Belgian Grand Prix, when Hamilton was penalised for cutting a chicane.
Platter
However, Ryan soon appreciated he had made a mistake, handing third place on a platter to Trulli, leaving Hamilton to finish fourth.
Within an hour of the grand prix's conclusion, Ryan and Hamilton were called to see the three stewards presiding over the race.
It is understood that prior to meeting with them, Ryan instructed Hamilton to lie, that no order to allow Trulli to pass was given.
With no audio, the stewards based their decision on video footage and testimony from Ryan and Hamilton.
The verdict saw Trulli handed a 25-second penalty, demoting him from third to 12th, with Hamilton elevated into a podium position.
However, in the build-up to the race in Malaysia, the FIA came to hear of an interview Hamilton gave immediately after the race at Albert Park.
Stewards
Hamilton confirmed the team instructed him to allow Trulli by, and it is at that stage the stewards look into the radio transmissions between Hamilton and the pit wall.
It is became abundantly clear Ryan and Hamilton lied, although the latter under orders from the former, who was soon suspended by team boss Martin Whitmarsh.
On Friday, a contrite, visibly upset Hamilton then issued a sincere apology for his actions, laying the blame firmly at Ryan's door.
Hamilton, who was excluded from the classification of the race in Australia, is now in the clear as far as the FIA is concerned.
The WMSC will now focus on taking the team to task, with another hefty fine the logical outcome. However, they have the power to either suspend McLaren from races, or even exclude them from the championship.
