Ferrari lashed out at FIA after the F1 governing body decided against sanctioning McLaren for stealing technical information from their Italian championship rivals.

"We find it incomprehensible that violating the fundamental principle of sporting honesty does not have, as a logical and inevitable consequence, the application of a sanction," the team said in a statement.

The FIA ruled earlier on Thursday that McLaren had been in possession of secret Ferrari technical documents, but that the team would not be punished because there was not enough evidence that the data gave the championship leaders any advantage.

"Today's decision legitimises dishonest behaviour in Formula 1 and sets a very serious precedent," the Ferrari statement continued.

The spy scandal erupted when the 780-page technical document was discovered in the home of McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan.

It was allegedly passed to him by since-sacked Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney, and Coughlan has himself since been sacked from the British outfit, which leads the championship.

"The decision of the World Council signifies that possession, knowledge of highly confidential information acquired in an illicit manner and the acquiring of confidential information over the course of several months, represent violations that do not carry any punishment," Ferrari said.

"The fact that McLaren was in possession of such information was discovered totally by accident, and, but for this, the team would continue to have it."

"This is all the more serious as it has occurred in a sport like Formula 1 in which the smallest details make all the difference."

The Italian team, second to McLaren in the current constructor standings, said they would continue their ongoing legal action in both Italy and Britain and that the credibility of the sport had been damaged.

After the hearing McLaren team chief Ron Dennis said he was "not completely comfortable with the outcome but the punishment fits the crime," and that the team would issue a press statement later in the day.

British McLaren rider Lewis Hamilton heads the drivers' standings on 70 points, two clear of team-mate and world champion Fernando Alonso, with Ferrari duo Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in third and fourth with 59 and 52.

Jeremy Stahl / Eurosport