Lotus plays down Force India 'spy scandal' reports

Lotus on Tuesday distanced itself from claims it is involved in a new Formula One 'spy scandal'.

It emerged last November that Force India was concerned a wind tunnel model of new team Lotus' 2010 car strongly resembled its own 2009 racer.

Silverstone based Force India once worked at the Aerolab facility, leaving behind a scale wind tunnel model.

Mike Gascoyne, originally with Force India, now works with Lotus, the Malaysian-backed outfit that also made use of the Aerolab facility.

Aerolab initially hit back at the reports, revealing that it was in fact pursuing Force India in the courts after "serious and persistent breaches of contract".

And Gascoyne subsequently said: "It is entirely between the wind tunnel operator and the other team."

It has emerged this week that legal action has been initiated by Force India against Aerolab, with Lotus pulled in as a co-defendant.

"These proceedings do not allege any wrong doing on the part of Lotus Racing," a spokesman for Lotus Racing said on Tuesday.

"Aerolab ... vigorously denies any wrongdoing and has provided Lotus Racing with a full indemnity in relation to the claim," he added.