"All I can say is that Nigel Stepney is no longer our employee," Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni said today.

The Italian Formula One team has also filed a criminal complaint against Stepney, who was responsible for team performance.

Later today, McLaren said it had suspended a senior member of its technical staff.

"The team has learned that this individual had personally received a package of technical information from a Ferrari employee at the end of April," McLaren said in a statement.

The English team said it had no involvement in the matter, condemned the behavior and said it would fully cooperate with any investigation.

Ferrari said it had lodged a complaint against Stepney and a technician from McLaren "about theft of technical information." The complaint was filed with a court in Modena, near the team's headquarters in Maranello, northern Italy.

A search of the technician's home turned up the information, Ferrari said.

"Ferrari reserves the right to study all implications — of criminal, civil and possibly other nature — according to applicable laws," a statement said.

A mysterious powder reportedly was found on the gas tanks of Felipe Massa's and Kimi Raikkonen's cars on May 21, six days before the Monaco race.

The parts were replaced before the race and the powder was sent to the police to be examined.

Massa finished third in the race and Raikkonen was eighth.

Stepney reportedly was disappointed that he was not promoted to technical director when Ross Brawn left the team after last season. Stepney criticized Ferrari in an interview last month with a British newspaper and the team responded by not sending him to races anymore.

Raikkonen and Massa finished first and second respectively in the French Grand Prix on Sunday to cut McLaren-Mercedes' lead to 25 points in the team standings after eight of 17 races.