The BBC Radio 5 Live podcast explores one of the biggest ever scandals to rock Formula One.
McLaren were eventually fined 100 million dollars and stripped of their points in the constructors’ championship as a result of the scandal in 2007.
The Spygate case involved accusations that confidential technical information had been passed between the McLaren, Ferrari and Renault F1 teams.
It was at the time of Lewis Hamilton’s record-breaking debut and his ferocious rivalry with Fernando Alonso.
In this latest podcast in BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sport’s Strangest Crimes series, F1 fanatic Pete Tong is joined by F1 expert Sarah Holt.
Over eight episodes, the story of how the scandal unfolded is told. It left reputations wrecked, and nearly brought the world of F1 to its knees – all driven by a toxic rivalry and power struggle.
The story begins in a photocopy shop in Surrey, where a customer goes in to copy a package of documents that will change F1 forever.
Amidst the drama, unknown rookie Lewis Hamilton outperformed all expectations and upset the apple cart in ways that no-one would have imagined.
Pete says: “This is an epic tale, a real-life thriller. When I first received the script, I jumped at the chance to be able to delve deeper into the depths of the story and share it with the listeners.”
Richard Maddock, Commissioning Editor at BBC Radio 5 Live, says: “This is an incredible story that rocked the glamourous world of F1. When you start absorbing what actually happened and find out that this is a true story then you realise it really is one of Sport’s Strangest Crimes.”
Spygate from BBC Radio 5 Live is available on BBC Sounds from today, Thursday 17 November.
