Verdict still out McLaren '08 car

London - Lewis Hamilton must wait until a month before the start of the F1 season to hear whether McLaren will be penalised further next year for having confidential Ferrari information.

The governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) said on Friday it had deferred to Feb. 14 a ruling on whether McLaren's 2008 car was untainted by this year's spying controversy.

If something incriminating is found, despite McLaren's assurances that they have nothing that can be traced to their Italian rivals, the team could start the season with a points penalty.

That will be a blow to Hamilton, the 22-year-old British rookie who finished runner-up this year to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen by a single point.

The FIA said McLaren, champions Ferrari and other teams would be invited to discuss the matter at a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council in Paris. The season starts a month later in Australia.

McLaren were fined $100m and stripped of all their 2007 constructors' points in September after chief designer Mike Coughlan was found to have a dossier of Ferrari information at his home.

Incriminating e-mails also emerged, including some from now-departed double world champion Fernando Alonso, suggesting the Ferrari data went deeper into the team than had been thought.

McLaren were told in September that there would be an inspection of their 2008 car to ensure it was free of any Ferrari intellectual property. That decision was due to have been made on Friday.

Report Submitted

"This investigation has been concluded and a detailed report submitted to the WMSC," the FIA said.

"The WMSC considers that McLaren, Ferrari and the other competitors in the FIA Formula One world championship should be afforded the opportunity to make considered representations on the report..."

FIA president Max Mosley told reporters in Monaco that doubt remained.

"We had very much hoped that the investigation of McLaren would be an end of the matter," he said. "As you will have gathered, it wasn't.

"We have received a report which makes it necessary to have another hearing."

Asked whether he feared something might have been overlooked in earlier searches at McLaren, he added

"It is a matter on which you could speculate. But we wouldn't have another hearing, and go through all this again and bring people from all over the world unless there was good reason to do so."

There was no immediate reaction from McLaren.