"McLaren did receive some contact from the Italian authorities yesterday but was not charged with anything," McLaren said in a statement. "We strongly suspect that the nature and timing of this wholly unnecessary contact, just before the start of qualifying, was to disrupt our preparation for this important session and Thursday's World Motor Sports Council hearing."

McLaren was visited Saturday at the Monza circuit by officers representing prosecutors in Modena, northern Italy.

Italian news daily La Repubblica on Sunday named Ron Dennis and five other senior McLaren personnel, including suspended chief designer Mike Coughlan, in the inquiry and said that writs against them "should be served Monday."

Gazzetta dello Sport said the six McLaren officials and a former Ferrari mechanic were being investigated for alleged sporting fraud, industrial espionage, and unlawful possession and duplication of financial information.

The allegations stem from Ferrari's criminal case against former team mechanic Nigel Stepney for allegedly placing a mysterious white powder on the gas tanks of the team's cars before the Monaco GP, in a supposed sabotage attempt.

Stepney, fired by the Italian team in April, allegedly also supplied confidential information on Ferrari's car designs to Coughlan.

Felipe Massa and Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen finished third and eighth respectively at the Monte Carlo street circuit in May, behind Fernando Alonso (first) and Lewis Hamilton (second).

The dispute ignited in July when a 780-page technical dossier on Ferrari cars was found at Coughlan's home. He later was suspended.

That sparked a separate inquiry by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and World Motor Sport Council, which ruled in July that McLaren was guilty of fraudulent conduct — although no sanctions were imposed due to a lack of evidence.

However, the FIA called a new hearing of the WMSC on Thursday, after it said "new evidence" had emerged.