Formula One's governing body, the FIA, has revealed the full extent of the new spygate' evidence that prompted them to hit McLaren with a record fine and exclude them from the 2007 constructors' championship.

The evidence includes details of email and text message exchanges given to the FIA through written statements by McLaren test pilot Pedro de la Rosa and their double world champion driver Fernando Alonso.

De la Rosa, in particular, seems to have had regular contact with Mike Coughlan, the ex-McLaren chief designer who has confirmed that he received a dossier of secret Ferrari information from Nigel Stepney a former mechanic for the Italian team.

An FIA press release on Friday said: "The e-mails show unequivocally that both Mr. Alonso and Mr. de la Rosa received confidential Ferrari information via Coughlan; that both drivers knew that this information was confidential Ferrari information and that both knew that the information was being received by Coughlan from Stepney."

In one exchange between the two De La Rosa asks Coughlan, in a clear reference to Ferrari's all-red livery: "Hi Mike, do you know the Red Car's weight distribution? It would be important for us to know so that we could try it in the simulator. Thanks in advance, Pedro.
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De La Rosa confirmed to the FIA that Coughlan sent him the required information via test message and he then forwarded it on to Alonso by email.

Similar exchanges between the three men took place regarding aerodynamics, tyre gas, braking systems and stopping strategy.

In addition the FIA has revealed the full amount of correspondence between Coughlan and Stepney, some of it taking place before the dossier of information was found by Italian police at Coughlan's house.

The statement reads: "The Italian police have identified logs which show 23 e-mails passed between Coughlan and Stepney between 1 March and 14 April 2007."

In total, at least 288 SMS messages and 35 telephone calls appear to have passed between Stepney and Coughlan between 11 March and 3 July 2007.

"In light of the number and timing of the communications between Coughlan and Stepney and the e-mail exchanges between the McLaren drivers, the WMSC regards it as reasonable to infer that Coughlan was in receipt of a flow of confidential Ferrari information from Stepney and that at least some of that information was communicated to others within McLaren."

Fernando Alonso is intending to stay at McLaren next season despite claims his relationship with the team has broken down so badly as to become untenable.

The world champion's manager, Luis Garcia, told BBC Sport the world champion could not leave the team.

"We have an agreement. We are not negotiating with anybody and our plan is to continue here," he said.

Asked if the Spaniard was happy to honour his three-year deal, Garcia added: "He has to do."

But he did not deny that Alonso was unhappy within the team.

Claims that he cannot stay at McLaren have emerged at a politically-charged Belgian Grand Prix weekend.

It has been claimed that Alonso threatened McLaren boss Ron Dennis at the Hungarian Grand Prix last month to reveal the e-mail exchange between himself and test driver Pedro de la Rosa that formed the new evidence leading to new charges against McLaren in F1's spy scandal.

McLaren were, on Thursday, thrown out of this year's constructors' championship and fined $100m (£49.2m) for using confidential Ferrari information.

Reports have suggested Alonso told Dennis he would show the e-mails to Max Mosley, president of the sport's governing body the FIA, if he did not give Alonso number one status at McLaren over Lewis Hamilton.

Dennis is said to have called his bluff, telling Alonso to go ahead. At which point, it is claimed, Dennis then phoned Mosley himself, effectively handing his team in to the FIA.

In the meantime, Alonso had decided not to go through with it. Garcia, however, denied Alonso had threatened Dennis in that way.

"It's not true, and it's not possible," he said. "The facts say it is not true because it happened in a different way."

He did not elaborate.

In a media briefing on Saturday morning, Dennis sought to play down the ramifications of the row in Hungary.

He said Alonso had been in an "emotional" state during the conversation, but added: "Half an hour later, Fernando's manager came back and said he was sorry, that Fernando had been angry and wanted to retract everything he'd said and that it was a load of old rubbish.

"So I picked up the phone again and called the FIA to keep them up to date."

Dennis added that Alonso himself came to see him the say after the race, and that they talked about the issue, shook hands on it and agreed to put it behind them.

Lewis P1 Alonso P2.....

Great performance from Lewis! 

So now Alonso is 4 points adrift and Kimi is 7 points....next race will determine the winner

Finland's Heikki Kovalainen has joined McLaren and will race alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

The 26-year-old, who scored 30 points in his maiden F1 season with Renault, has signed a "long-term contract".

"I think Lewis and Heikki will be a formidable combination," said McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh. "I am confident they'll work well together."

Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa, who had been vying with Kovalainen for a race seat, will remain as test driver.

McLaren were left looking for a second driver after Fernando Alonso left the team to return to Renault following a turbulent season in which he fell out with boss Ron Dennis and Hamilton.

Norbert Haug, vice-president of McLaren's engine partner Mercedes, said he was confident Hamilton and Kovalainen would form a strong partnership.

"Everybody in the team is looking forward to a very fruitful co-operation," he said.

"Lewis and Heikki will form one of the youngest driver line-ups, and I am convinced that both will be very strong and at the same time co-operative competitors."

Kovalainen had already been linked with a move to McLaren when it was confirmed earlier in December that Alonso and Nelson Piquet Jr would fill the race seats at Renault next season.

By joining McLaren, Kovalainen follows in the footsteps of fellow Finns Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen.

"It's an honour for me to follow in Mika and Kimi's footsteps," he said.

"I haven't really spent a lot of time with Lewis so far but from what I know I think we will work well together and do our best for the team."

Hamilton, 22, welcomed Kovalainen's arrival.

"I am really looking forward to 2008 and working with Heikki as my team-mate," said the Briton, who finished second in last season's championship.

"Together with the team we will do everything we can to ensure that our championship challenge is as strong and focused as possible."

Heikki Kovalainen says he is confident of being treated equally with team-mate Lewis Hamilton at McLaren next season.

The former Renault driver has swapped places with former world champion Fernando Alonso, who has left McLaren after a fractious one-year stint.

"One thing I wanted to establish before signing was that I'd be treated equally," he told BBC London 94.9.

"I think we can fight on the track as much as we can but off the track we can laugh about it."

Hamilton had a remarkable debut season in Formula One, leading the championship for much of the season before finishing second to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen after a dramatic final race.

But the very publicly strained relationship between Alonso and his English team-mate gained almost as much coverage as Hamilton's achievements on the track, with the Spaniard complaining that McLaren were giving the rookie preferential treatment.

"I think in the past McLaren have treated drivers equally - including this year. I don't think it will be a problem at all," said Kovalainen, who joined Renault last season as Alonso's replacement.

"We won't have any problems - I think we can help the team go forward."

Hamilton's father Anthony also said he was looking forward to a more peaceful 2008 season, after the drama of the relationship with Alonso and the spying row with Ferrari.

"I don't expect any issues with team-mates or other teams or drivers," he said.

"We've all had a rough 2007 - I think everybody's focus next year will be: 'Let's just have a good year whoever wins' - that's what we want.

"Heikki is a decent guy, Lewis is a decent guy, so I'm sure they'll get on well. We've known him for a long time - Lewis and Heikki raced karts against each other."

Lewis Hamilton has signed a new five-year contract with McLaren.

The deal for Hamilton, 23, who enjoyed a stunning debut year in Formula One last year, runs through until 2012.

Hamilton was pipped to the F1 title in the last race of a season that was marred by his frosty relationship with former team-mate Fernando Alonso.

The British driver led the drivers' championship for much of the season before ultimately finishing second to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

His debut campaign was also soured by the £50m fine and loss of all constructors' points that McLaren incurred over the Ferrari "spy row".

Hamilton has a long association with McLaren and predicted the team would be very competitive over the next few years.

"I have been connected to McLaren and Mercedes-Benz since 1998 and feel that I could easily drive for this team for the whole of my Formula One career," said Hamilton.

"I'm with the right team to compete for race wins and both the drivers' and constructors' world championships in the future."

He added: "We will have a lot of challenges ahead, but I am 100% positive I am with the people to take them on.

"The first of those challenges is the 2008 season. We have 57 days to go until the Australian Grand Prix, and we are motivated to make the most of this time and arrive in Melbourne with a competitive car."

Hamilton will become one of Britain's highest-paid sportsmen, his new contract reportedly worth around £10m per year, or £200,000 per week, dwarfing the country's Premier League football stars.

Although McLaren have not released any financial details, team boss Ron Dennis said Hamilton's astonishing F1 debut deserved to be rewarded financially.

"It's clear improved financial terms were fully deserved and this formed part of the friendly negotiations with Lewis' manager, Anthony (his father).

"This announcement will take the length of our relationship with Lewis to a total of 15 years, which we believe is among the longest running associations between a sportsman and a team in the history of sport, particularly motorsport.

"This is a great achievement for everyone involved, including Anthony.

"Lewis is an exceptional human being, on both a personal and professional level, and will continue to be a credit to this team."

So unknown, can you become TS of the new thread?