Ex-Ferrari figure recalls hacking McLaren in ‘morally forbidden’ admission

Evan Short recalled starting his Formula 1 career as a “radio spy” at Ferrari, where he would hack into the radio feed at rivals McLaren.

Two veteran teams of the Formula 1 paddock – Ferrari having been there since day one in 1950 – the Scuderia and McLaren have found themselves no strangers to battling the other for title glory over the years, a theme which has returned in F1 2024, as Ferrari bid to deny McLaren their first Constructors’ title since 1998.

Ferrari ‘radio spy’ Evan Short hacked McLaren channel

The year following McLaren’s latest Constructors’ title triumph, Even Short arrived at Ferrari, as the Scuderia looked to displace McLaren from the top of the standings, which they ultimately did, by four points in 1999.

And Short – now Mercedes’ trackside electronics leader – revealed that his first role with Ferrari was to find a way into McLaren’s radio communications feed, which he achieved, until an engineer named Tyler found out anyway.

Speaking in an interview for Matt Whyman’s book ‘Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane’, Short revealed: “My first job was as a radio spy.

“The communication channel wasn’t open like it is today. Teams like McLaren would encrypt their radio. As they were Ferrari’s main competitor, my job was to find a way to intercept it.

“Arguably it was morally forbidden. In those days, analogue encryption relied on automatically shuffling the communication through a sequence of radio frequencies.

“One of McLaren’s sponsors was an encryption company, and I knew they only used a limited combination of sequences.

“So I built something that followed each combination. McLaren would use the same one for an entire race weekend. It meant once I found it I could chase the communication.

“We did it for about two years before McLaren worked it out.

“We were reacting to things on track that we couldn’t possibly know any other way. They had an engineer called Tyler.

“He suspected we were listening and sarcastically started saying good morning over the radio to my boss.”

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Skip forward to F1 2024 and with a final triple-header to come to complete the season, McLaren sits atop the Constructors’ Championship standings on 593 points, putting them 36 ahead of Ferrari.

And said triple-header begins with the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, as McLaren embarks on the “final push” to see their title bid over the line.

Looking ahead to the Las Vegas GP, team principal Andrea Stella said: “After a busy triple-header in the Americas we now head to Las Vegas.

“This is the first race of the final triple-header of the season and one of the most challenging from a schedule perspective. As expected, the field remains incredibly competitive, but we have a strong car and a strong team who have worked hard all season to put us in a great position.

“It’s been an incredibly busy season for everyone, and this is now the final push to get the job done. We’re keeping focused as we know the hard work is not over yet. Every point counts and the team is motivated to ensure we’re executing a good race and providing the drivers with the best package possible.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen could officially end the Drivers’ title hopes of McLaren’s Lando Norris and make himself a four-time World Champion in Las Vegas. Verstappen extended his lead over Norris to 62 points with an impressive and crucial victory from P17 on the grid in Brazil.

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