In the wake of the ruling of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) everyone has had something to say on the matter, be it fans, the media, former F1 drivers and even members of the WMSC itself.

Former F1 driver, Mike Salo (right), who deputised for Michael Schumacher in six races in 1999 when the German broke his leg at Silverstone, was reported in the Finnish newspaper Ilta Sanomat as claiming that during his time with the Italian team it "routinely" spied on rivals McLaren. The Finn was apparently referring to the fact that Ferrari monitored its rival's radio conversations between driver and team.

"After every practice session I had in front of me, on paper, all the discussions Mika Hakkinen had had with his engineer," Ilta Sanomat quoted Salo as saying.

Within hours, at a time when the Italian team was already busy with Jean Todt's reflections on the WMSC verdict, the Maranello outfit provided a statement in which the Finn - who still regularly races its cars - clarified his comments.

"What has been published in Ilta Sanomat does not match the thoughts I wanted to express," said Salo. "I would therefore like to make it clear that I was only referring to Formula One in the late nineties, when radio technology was still at an almost amateurish level, which meant it could happen that some radio conversations could be listened to randomly because of interference."

Meanwhile, following on from comments WMSC member Joaquin Verdegay is alleged to have made to the Spanish media a week before the hearing, when the Spaniard claimed - quite correctly as it happened - that the World Championship leaders would escape sanction, there has been a media furore over comments another WMSC member is alleged to have made after the hearing.

According to reports, Luigi Macaluso, who is a member of the WMSC by dint of his role as President of the CIK-FIA International Karting Commission, told the Italian media that he believed McLaren to be guilty, and was the only member of the WMSC to argue that the Woking team should be punished.

Naturally, the FIA, much like Mika Salo, and indeed Ferrari, has been quick to clarify the situation, with a spokesman claiming, according to the Grandprix.com website, that the WMSC's decision was "unanimous".

"We can only imagine that Mr Macaluso's comments were either taken out of context or were not clearly expressed in the media scrum which ensued outside the hearing," said the spokesman.

Macaluso, an Italian, makes no secret of his close ties to Ferrari, being a friend of (team founder) Enzo Ferrari's son Piero and Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo.

If nothing else, this saga is keeping the PR people on their toes.