McLaren boss gets apology over Mosley scandal link

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Czech motor sport chief Radovan Novak has apologized for suggesting McLaren boss Ron Dennis was linked to the newspaper exposé of FIA president Max Mosley's sex life.

Dennis was forced to categorically deny earlier this month that he, his team or anyone connected to them, were involved in the newspaper revelations about Mosley's sex life.

He commented after reports that Novak, the general secretary of the Czech Automobile Association, appeared to suggest in a Prague radio interview that the revelations may be linked to last year's Formula One spying controversy, which saw McLaren fined a record $100 million for having Ferrari technical data.

Dennis said on May 1 that he had nothing to do with the story about Mosley, before going on to say that McLaren would be seeking clarification from Novak.

McLaren said in a statement Thursday that they had been contacted by Novak, who explained the background to the situation.

"Mr Novak has asked us to make it clear that he does not believe that either McLaren or Mr Dennis were involved in the events referred to and that certain remarks are not representative of his views," the team said.

"Mr Novak apologized for the misunderstanding and McLaren and Mr Dennis have thanked him for his gracious and swift reaction."

Mosley is fighting to keep his position after the UK's News of the World published stories alleging he took part in an orgy with Nazi overtones.

The 67-year-old Mosley has rejected numerous calls to step down and says there was no "Nazi connotation to the matter." He is suing for violation of privacy and faces a FIA vote of confidence in Paris on June 3.

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