McLaren could face expulsion

With the Woking's fate hanging in the balance following Thursday's announcement that the FIA had charged them in the ongoing 'spy' scandal, reports of possible punishments facing the team do not make for comfortable reading if you are a McLaren supporter – or driver.

'McLaren may face expulsion from this year's Formula One World Championship, destroying Lewis Hamilton's title challenge, if they are found guilty of industrial espionage,' claims The Guardian.

However, the newspaper seriously doubts that such a 'draconian penalty' will be enforced. 'The likelihood of McLaren being found guilty of a major offence seems distant at this moment. Although the FIA has the capacity to inflict the most draconian penalty of all, such a step would be unusual in the extreme.'

It has, though, happened in the past.

In 1984, the long-defunct Tyrrell team was excluded from the World Championship over a technical infringement. Tyrrell, though, is the only outfit since F1 Championship started in 1950 to suffer that fate. More at The Guardian