The Formula One spying row has taken a new turn after McLaren accused Ferrari of winning this year's Australian Grand Prix with an illegal car.

McLaren team boss Ron Dennis made the claim in an open letter to the FIA, the sport's governing body.

"McLaren's reputation has been unfairly sullied by incorrect press reports from Italy and grossly misleading statements from Ferrari," adds Dennis's letter.

Kimi Raikkonen won the Australian GP, which was the first race of the season.

The spying row blew up when McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan, who has since been suspended by the team, was found to have nearly 800 pages of Ferrari documents in his house.

Ferrari believe Coughlan received the documents from their now-sacked performance director Nigel Stepney, who says he is innocent.

The FIA world motorsport council (WMSC) found McLaren guilty of possessing confidential Ferrari information, but said there was "insufficient evidence" that the team had used it to their benefit.

However, a strongly-worded letter from Italian motorsport president Luigi Macaluso to FIA president Max Mosley on Monday led to the latter deciding to send the verdict not to punish McLaren to its court of appeal.

Dennis's 3,000-word letter is addressed to both Macaluso and Mosley.

In it, he initially applauds Stepney for blowing the whistle on his team ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

Stepney contacted Coughlan, currently suspended as McLaren's chief designer, with regard to two design elements of the Ferrari car he believed to be in breach in FIA regulations.