Nigel Stepney, under investigation in Italy after Ferrari filed a formal complaint against him, has insisted he has done nothing wrong and is the victim of a ‘dirty tricks campaign’.

“I have confidence I’ll be cleared by the legal process that is now taking place,” he said from the Philippines where he is holidaying with his fiancee Ash and their young child. “It is just part of a dirty tricks campaign and everything is in the hands of my lawyer, so we’ll wait and see what happens.”

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Last night he laughed off pit-lane rumours that he had “fled” to the Far East. “I’m on a planned holiday with Ash and our baby,” he said. “Why would anyone say I am not contactable? I booked the flights through the Ferrari travel office. They know where I am.”

None of this, naturally, has anything to do with Stepney’s rumoured move to Honda…

A1GP champion Nico Hülkenberg has taken his first F3 Euroseries victory in spectacular style at the Norisring, ahead of Sebastien Buemi . Hülkenberg, who crashed out of the first race of the weekend yesterday, started eighteenth on the grid. Tom Dillmann finished third, with Manor Motorsport’s Yelmer Buurman third.