Mercedes is suing a Ferrari-bound former employee for data theft.

According to a court filing released yesterday (Monday), Benjamin Hoyle is being sued by Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, which supplies the engines for the works team, Force India, Williams and Lotus, for allegedly searching for and then saving data from this year's Hungarian Grand Prix, ironically, a race that Ferrari won.

According to the filing, Hoyle’s "actions were calculated to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust" he has with Mercedes. "Mr. Hoyle and potentially Ferrari have gained an unlawful advantage."

The data is said to include files containing the code required to decrypt raw race data files.

On learning that Hoyle was to join Ferrari at the end of the year, having given notice in May, he was assigned to non-F1 duties, given a new email address and proprietary data was removed from his laptop.

However, according to Bloomberg: "Despite his reassignment, Hoyle was found looking at race reports and took confidential data."

He is alleged to have then deleted files in an attempt to conceal his wrongdoing."

"Legal action is underway involving Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains Ltd. and an employee," Mercedes said in a brief statement this morning. "The company has taken the appropriate legal steps to protect its intellectual property."

It is claimed Mercedes is seeking the return of all documents and information, payment of its legal fees, and wants to block Hoyle from joining Ferrari or any other F1 competitor until after the 2016 season.

In 2007, the sport was rocked by the Spygate scandal which saw McLaren eventually fined $100m after confidential technical information from Ferrari was passed to the Woking team.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Rodney, 21/12/2015 11:16 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 21/12/2015 12:55)

"This comment was removed by an administrator as it was judged to have broken the site's posting rules and etiquette."

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2. Posted by Steve W, 09/12/2015 12:03

"'Mr. Hoyle and potentially Ferrari have gained an unlawful advantage.'

Unlawful... Is this not theft? Is anyone going to jail for this? I know if I steal something from my company, I'll get fired, but I could spend some time behind bars too. "

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3. Posted by Ro, 08/12/2015 18:34 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 21/12/2015 12:55)

"Is there any proof that the data was given over to Ferrari ? I very much doubt that Ferrari would be interested in hiring anyone with such a reputation, He may, one day, steal data from Ferrari to go to Honda....I think that Mercedes are doing their up-most to discredit the poor bugger and make sure he is "Un-hireable". My only negative thought is that if all the cars were the same it would make F1 even more boring than it was this year."

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4. Posted by Celtictiger, 08/12/2015 17:32 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 21/12/2015 12:55)

"This isn't the same situation as "Spygate". The sheer depth of theft and sabotage towards Ferrari doesn't even come close to this lawsuit. Also, there is zero proof of any sort at this time but the assumption by Mercedes that Ferrari - potentially - could have this information in hand.

I'm just wondering why Toto didn't send him on immediate "gardening leave" as soon as he handed in his resignation. How lax of Merc to let someone they know is off to work for their closest rivals wander around the factory after the fact is beyond me. This whole thing could have been avoided if they paid him out the rest of his contract and sent him on his way the same day he gave notice he was leaving to work for Ferrari. "

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5. Posted by alejandro.torres.1991, 08/12/2015 14:11

"But no, Ferrari won't be given a $100M fine and be stripped of points, despite being the same situation."

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Mercedes sues former engineer

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