WOKING, England (AP) -- McLaren's Formula One cars do not contain any Ferrari-related alterations, the team said Wednesday, a day after it suspended an employee for receiving a package of technical information from the Italian team.

McLaren suspended the employee -- named in British newspapers as chief designer Mike Coughlan -- after learning he had personally received a package of technical information from a Ferrari employee at the end of April.

"McLaren has completed a thorough investigation and can confirm that no Ferrari intellectual property has been passed to any other members of the team or incorporated into its cars," McLaren said in a statement.

Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo told Italian news agencies Wednesday that "it is an incident of unheard of seriousness, but for the moment I do not want to add anything else."

McLaren said it had spoken with Ferrari about the issue and invited world governing body FIA to conduct a full review of its cars "to satisfy itself that the team has not benefited from any intellectual property of another competitor."

On Tuesday, Ferrari fired British technician Nigel Stepney following an internal investigation into attempted sabotage before the Monaco Grand Prix. Ferrari also filed a criminal complaint against Stepney, who was responsible for team performance.

A mysterious powder was reportedly found on the gas tanks of the cars of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen 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.

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.

McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are 1-2 in the driver's standings, while Massa and Raikkonen are third and fourth.

The British Grand Prix is held Sunday.