McLaren F1 team received the largest fine in sports history in 2007, totaling $100M, amid 'Spygate' scandal
Published on Sep 21, 2025 at 9:00 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Sep 18, 2025 at 5:35 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Claire Reid
The McLaren F1 team was hit with the largest fine in sports history amid the infamous ‘Spygate’ scandal.
Back in 2007, the world of Formula One racing was rocked by the espionage controversy involving the McLaren and Ferrari teams.
An investigation resulted in the McLaren F1 team being hit with the largest fine in sports history: a staggering $100 million.
The team was also docked points in the 2007 Constructors’ Championship, but that probably felt like a drop in the ocean after the fine.
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Why did the McLaren F1 team get hit with the largest fine in sports history?
The story of the 2007 Spygate – or Stepneygate – has more twists and turns than a TV drama.
But it all began with Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney, who was reportedly unhappy with the direction the team was taking, and allegedly secretly passed on 780 pages containing confidential information from the Maranello factory.
Among the documents were the blueprints for the 2007 Ferrari F1 car.
Stepney was alleged to have passed these top-secret documents to a pal, Mike Coughlan, who was on the McLaren F1 team.
However, the espionage came to light after Coughlan’s wife visited a photocopying shop to make copies of the pages.
A member of staff at the shop saw that the documents were marked confidential and grew suspicious, so he decided to reach out to Ferrari HQ in Italy.
The case was investigated and ended up in front of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), but a first hearing didn’t result in any penalties for those involved.
However, fast-forward a few months and a second hearing saw the FIA rule in favor of Ferrari and hit McLaren with the largest fine in sports history.
“The WMSC (World Motor Sports Council) has stripped Vodafone McLaren Mercedes of all constructors’ points in the 2007 FIA Formula One world championship and the team can score no points for the remainder of the season,” the FIA said at the time.
“Furthermore, the team will pay a fine equal to $100 million, less the FOM income lost as a result of the points deduction.”
The fine ending up costing a lot less than $100 million
Although McLaren’s F1 team was hit with the largest fine in sporting history, the ruling had an important caveat.
The FIA specified that all prize money that the team would have earned that season could be taken off the final payable amount.
At the time, it was suggested that McLaren lost around $70 million in prize money and TV revenue combined, meaning that the fine would have been knocked down to a – still not insignificant – $31 million
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Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Claire covers a wide variety of topics, with a special focus on cars, technology, planes, cryptocurrency, and luxury.
