Dave Ryan, the man alleged to be at the heart of McLaren's 'lie scandal' might not attend the forthcoming extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, leaving Lewis Hamilton to face the music alone.

Hours after the FIA revealed that McLaren had been invited to attend the Paris hearing, the Woking team revealed that Ryan, its former Sporting Director, had left the company and was no longer involved in any of its activities. Just days earlier, when the first facts regarding what had happened in Melbourne came to light, McLaren suspended the Kiwi who first joined the company in 1974.

No longer a McLaren employee, the FIA has admitted that it has no jurisdiction to compel Ryan to attend the Paris hearing, which would essentially leave Hamilton, who has gone on record as saying he was (mis)led by Ryan to face the hearing on his own.

"The FIA has jurisdiction only over its licence holders and their employees," an FIA source told the Guardian. "We cannot compel Dave Ryan to attend or give evidence if he feels unwilling to do so. We have yet to hear precisely who will be representing the McLaren team in attending the meeting."

To add to McLaren and Hamilton's unease, further details emerging suggest that the 2008 World Champion and Ryan repeatedly refused to change their stories at the two subsequent stewards' meetings convened to consider the matter, with both said to appear "very uncomfortable" when faced with transcripts and recordings of their radio exchanges.

"First, Lewis heard the radio exchange," the FIA source told the Guardian. "It appeared that the strategy (Hamilton and Ryan's) was to be extremely vague and not be very direct with the answers.

"Then the interview where he (Hamilton) said 'I was told to let him past' was played. At this point both got very uncomfortable, but still denied that's what actually happened."

There is growing speculation that the Woking team and its driver could face a severe punishment, especially in view of its involvement in the 20087 spy scandal.