NUERBURGRING, Germany, July 19 - Championship leader Lewis Hamilton backed McLaren on Thursday to emerge unscathed from a spy controversy that threatens his Formula One title hopes.

The 22-year-old British rookie sounded more concerned with beating a bout of 'flu than the prospect of his team being punished by the sport's governing body at a meeting in Paris next Thursday.

"I've only been with the team for a year but I have known (team boss) Ron (Dennis) for nine years now and this (cheating) is something that Ron would never do," he told reporters at the European Grand Prix.

"That's why I have such great belief in the team.

"I do feel they are one of the most honest teams out there. There are always teams trying to bend the rules in some way but I honestly believe we are the most honest. I think we will be fine," added Hamilton.

McLaren have been summoned by the International Automobile Federation to answer charges of unauthorised possession of Ferrari technical information found at the home of chief designer Mike Coughlan.

Should the Mercedes-powered team be found guilty of fraudulent conduct, they could be docked points or even kicked out of the world championship. They are 25 points ahead of Ferrari.

McLaren say nobody at McLaren was aware before July 3 that the now-suspended Coughlan had Ferrari data and none of the information had been used in making the team's cars.

Hamilton, who leads double world champion team mate Fernando Alonso by 25 points at the halfway stage of the season, said the saga would not throw him off his stride.

"I have a huge amount of belief in the team, I'm very, very confident it (the hearing) is going to go well so it is not really playing on my mind at all," he said.

"I've not spoken to anyone about it and it's not something I need to focus on. I have a job to do this weekend."

Hamilton, the first black driver to win a grand prix, has been on the podium in all his nine races to date and could become only the third driver to string together 10 successive podium finishes.

He cautioned however that the second half of the season demanded a different approach from the first and recognised that he was everybody's target as leader.

"It gets harder and harder to continue with the performance that you've had and the consistency you have had," he said.

"In the first few races, you just go out and push to the limit and it's so close to the limit that you could easily come off and lose the race. I am not going to put the team points or my points at risk (now).

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