Renault Handed 2 Year Suspended Ban Sentence

The Renault Formula One Team were handed a 2 year suspended Formula One ban today after the World Motorsport Council met to discuss the alleged “Deliberate crash” by Nelson Piquet at the 2008 Singaporean Grand Prix.

Due to the severity of the situation, Renault are very lucky to recieve a suspended sentence, most likely because two of Renault’s top eecutives Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds, 2 people Piquet alleges told him to crash, stepped down from their positions.

An FIA Statement read: “Renault had accepted, at the earliest practicable opportunity, that it committed the offences with which it was charged and cooperated fully with the FIA’s investigation. It had confirmed that Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds were involved in the conspiracy and ensured that they left the team; It apologised unreservedly to the FIA and to the sport for the harm caused by its actions;

“It committed to paying the costs incurred by the FIA in its investigation; and Renault (the parent company, as opposed to Renault F1) committed to making a significant contribution to FIA safety-related projects.”

The FIA explained their decision after the court left this afternoon.

“Renault F1’s breaches not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself. The World Motor Sport Council considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship.

“However, having regard to the points in mitigation mentioned above and in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1’s disqualification until the end of the 2011 season. The World Motor Sport Council will only activate this disqualification if Renault F1 is found guilty of a comparable breach during that time.”

Fernando Alonso was present but not accused of any crime.  It is unknown whether Flavio Briatore will persue blackmail charges against Nelson Piquet Snr.

Briatore and Symonds Leave Renault

Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds have both resigned from their positions at the head of the Renault Formula One Team following accusations they asked Nelson Piquet to deliberately crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Crash-Gate as it has been coined, has been thrusted through the media heavily and with Briatore and Symonds looking more and more like the culprits, they have decided together with the team that this was the right time to go.

“The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix,” said a statement from the team.

“It also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team.

“Before attending the hearing before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009, the team will not make any further comment.”

Renault’s CEO reckoned that Briatore only stepped down because he felt someone had to take responsibility.

“Piquet had already left and Pat Symonds is gone. Briatore considered he was morally responsible and has resigned.” He told Autosport

Symonds Offered Immunity From Punishment Over Crash-Gate

The FIA have revealed they have offered Pat Symonds of Renault F1 Team immunity from punishment over the crash-gate scandal if he reveals all details to the World Motorsport Panel ahead of the extraordinary general meeting.

Symonds has already admitted to the FIA that he and Briatore spoke to Piquet about deliberately crashing his Renault F1 car at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.  He has already co-operated well, and if he has taken the immunity then Flavio Briatore would have to face the court, and charges (likely to be exceedingly high) on his own.

Nelson Piquet has already been exempted from any charges for bringing the case to the FIA, Max Mosley confirmed in Italy.

Pat Symonds would be immune if he reveals this “extra-information” he suggested to the panel he had on August 27th.

The stewards report stated: “Mr. Symonds suggested at his interview on 27 August that he might wish to revert to the Stewards with further information, including information responsive to the various questions he had declined to answer.

“However, no such further information was provided on 27 August. On 28 August, Mr Symonds was summoned back before the Stewards to be asked if he wanted to give further information on the questions he had declined to answer. Mr Symonds again declined to answer the questions.”

Italian GP 2009: Barrichello Takes Strategic Win Of Quality Race

Rubens Barrichello took the chequered flag, and another win for himself and the Brawn GP team in today’s Italian Grand Prix after  a fantastic strategic effort from Ross Brawn.

The single stop strategy employed by the white cars of Brawn led to Jenson Button joining Rubens on the podium in 2nd, with Kimi Raikkonen being gifted 3rd place on the last lap.

Race Review

Lewis Hamilton didn’t get a great start, unlike Kimi Raikkonen and the Finn was forced onto the grass going down to the first chicane.  He managed to make a pass on Adrian Sutil, while the rest of the field fed around without bother – Timo Glock the only driver having to use the escape road.

Then into the second chicane, the first major incident – Robert Kubica tipped Mark Webber’s Red Bull round into the gravel and the Australian was forced to retire after just a handful of corners.  The incident led to front wing damage to Kubica’s BMW, and the Pole was forced into the pits some laps later as the FIA were concerned about its’ safety at 220mph.

Heikki Kovalainen had a terrible start, losing out to Barrichello and then Liuzzi and Alonso, despite claiming pre-race that he could win the GP and indeed his KERS system.

Hamilton then started to pull well away from Kimi Raikkonen, who to all intents and purposes held up Adrian Sutil as the Ferrari looked to struggle.

These 3 drivers at the top on 2 stop strategies made a big gap over the two Brawn’s behind them, and then Tonio Liuzzi held 7th well with Fernando Alonso hustling the Renault behind him, trying to squeeze every last bit of performance from the R29.

Hamilton pushed incredibly hard, the McLaren right on the ragged edge many times.  He pitted early, and Raikkonen & Sutil pulled ahead.  Hamilton was released into favourable traffic ahead of Liuzzi and Alonso.

With Raikkonen and Sutil then pitting, the now lighter Brawn’s pulled well away with Rubens Barrichello holding a good dap lead over championship rival and team mate Button.

Robert Kubica ended up retiring, with some kind of oil leak – although Martin Brundle claimed on BBC television that they were saving the engine as they were nearing their allocation limit.

Tonio Liuzzi too had a scare when he was driving through towards the Roggia chicane when at around 200mph the clutch appeared to break completely and the Force India driver ended his day in the sliproad of that chicane.  Disappointing after a fairly good weekend.

Giancarlo Fisichella looked largely average making his Ferrari debut, losing out on positions to various drivers, which in the end meant he finished the race in 9th place just behind Sebastian Vettel.  A shame for Fisichella not to score points on his debut.

After the final stops, Hamilton came out in 3rd behind the two Brawns and immediately started chasing.  Hamilton said after the race every lap was like “a qualifying one”.  Raikkonen and Sutil had a pitstop race, but both made mistakes! Raikkonen nearly stalled leaving his box, and Sutil tried to run down half his pitcrew.  Raikkonen came out in front and despite massive pressure would hold Adrian off until the end of the race.

The final piece of action really came from Lewis Hamilton, who, chasing down those Brawn’s managed to lose the car on the exit of the first Lesmo, spinning and smashing into an unforgiving tyre/concrete mixed barrier.  He ripped lots of bodywork off the car and left it strewn across the track. The ensuing double waved yellows and safety car board [in vein!] Raikkonen cruised passed and into 3rd place.

Classified Results

Pos	Driver	Team	Time
1	R. Barrichello	Brawn Mercedes	1.16.21.706
2	J. Button	Brawn Mercedes	+2.866
3	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari	+30.664
4	A. Sutil	Force India Mercedes	+31.131
5	F. Alonso	Renault	+59.182
6	H. Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	+1.00.693
7	N. Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.22.412
8	S. Vettel	Red Bull Renault	+1.25.472
9	G. Fisichella	Ferrari	+1.26.856
10	K. Nakajima	Williams Toyota	+2.00.000
11	T. Glock	Toyota	+2.43.925
12	L. Hamilton*	McLaren Mercedes	+1 lap
13	S. Buemi	Toro Rosso Ferrari	+1 lap
14	J. Trulli	Toyota	+1 lap
15	R. Grosjean	Renault	+1 lap
16	N. Rosberg	Williams Toyota	+2 laps

*: Lewis Hamilton crashed on the final lap but was still classified by order of being 1 lap ahead of other runners classified lower.

Fastest Lap: A. Sutil (Force India) – 1.24.739

Retirements

Driver	Team	Lap	Reason
L. Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	55	Crash
V. Liuzzi	Force India Mercedes	23	Clutch
J. Alguersuari	Toro Rosso Ferrari	20	Unknown
R. Kubica	BMW Sauber	16	Oil Leak
M. Webber	Red Bull Renault	1	Crash

Briatore And Renault Launch Police Proceedings Against Piquets In Crash-Gate Saga Twist

Flavio Briatore and the Renault Formula One Team have launched a full scale legal and police backed operation against the Piquet family in a new and very public twist to the Crash-Gate scandal which is just starting to rock F1.

Nelson Piquet Jr has alleged that Briatore, and team compatriot Pat Symonds asked him to crash his Renault R28 car in the Singaporean Grand Prix, to give a safety car based advantage to Fernando Alonso.  Alonso went on to win the race, but has said he had no idea of any discussion over a deliberate accident.

Briatore and Symonds admit that a conversation did take place before the Grand Prix where Piquet suggested crashing, and they both laughed it off as silly.  Piquet also claims that he did it to keep his job, something feverently denied more by Briatore who now claims Nelson Piquet Snr tried to blackmail him into keeping Piquet Jnr in a race seat for the 2009 season.

The whole crash gate and sacking of Nelson Piquet Jnr has now completely exploded…  A statement from Flavio and Renault read;

“Today the ING Renault F1 Team and its Managing Director Flavio Briatore personally, wish to state that they have commenced criminal proceedings against Nelson Piquet Junior and Nelson Piquet Senior in France concerning the making of false allegations and a related attempt to blackmail the team into allowing Mr Piquet Jnr to drive for the remainder of the 2009 season.

“The matter will also be referred to the Police in the UK.”

Briatore and Piquet, not a happy Papa

Nokia And Raikkonen To Make It Two Finns At Renault?

Kimi Raikkonen and the Nokia Phone Company are being touted by the Renault F1 Team as they look for a new driver and title sponsor.

Word from Crash.net suggests that Kimi Raikkonen has already been offered a 45million Euro multi-year contract by the French auto manufacturer based in Enstone, UK.  He has a contract with Ferrari for 2010, but it is highly likely Fernando Alonso is to be unveiled as the Scuderia’s new driver for 2010 at the Italian Grand Prix in a week or so time.  Raikkonen will be left seatless, if Ferrari stick with Felipe Massa as expected.

Renault are also looking for a title sponsor to replace ING who are pulling out of Formula One altogether at the end of the season.  One candidate being lined up is the Nokia telecommunications company, which with Raikkonen could be very interested in a title sponsorship deal.  It may lead to the cars returning to a Blue/White/Yellow scheme of colour, after this seasons frankly garish red/yellow/orange scheme.

Nokia previously sponsored the Tyrrell team in the early 1990’s with Finnish driver Mika Salo.

Ukyo Katayama in the 1995 Tyrrell with Nokia sponsorship clearly visible

Renault Could Be In Serious Trouble Over Race Fixing Allegations

The Renault Formula One Team could face massive charges, and even permanent suspension from Formula One if they are found guilty of fixing the result of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

This news has emerged after the Belgian Grand Prix, where an un-named source alleged to be Nelson Piquet, told officials that he was forced to crash his Renault in the race to allow Fernando Alonso to take the lead behind the safety car after his final pitstop thus taking him to easy race victory.

While Renault feverently deny any such allegations, when you look again at the race you have to say the evidence is pointing the finger at the French manufacturer.

Bernie Ecclestone tells more in an exclusive interview with a British newspaper;

“The FIA has launched a thorough investigation into the allegations about Nelson.  I do not know if they are true or not.

“But if they are true then I would have thought Nelson was in just as much trouble. If I tell you to go and rob a bank and you get caught you can’t say, ‘Well Bernie told me to.’

“It all seems very strange to me and I do not know the truth.”

“If the investigation finds out that that is what happened then I think there is going to be a lot of trouble,” he said. “You hear of these things happening with jockeys and in football and it has led to all sorts of trouble, hasn’t it?

“If it is true then it is a very serious situation. But it could just be a rumour and Nelson is just annoyed that he has been fired.

“But it is not good for the sport. People seem to be spending money betting on F1, which is good, but they will not want to do that if they think something is wrong with the result.”

There have been many incidents of fixing recently with the blood-gate scandal rocking British Rugby, and Kieran Fallon the top horse racing jockey who returns to the sport very soon after being suspended from riding after throwing multiple races.

Grosjean Confirmed At Renault

Romain Gorsjean has today been confirmed as Nelson Piquet Jr’s replacement at the Renault F1 Team.

Reanult’s tester had been widely tipped to take the second race seat after Piquet split company with the team and launched a scathing attack on its principal Flavio Briatore.

It was Briatore who today made the announcement.

“We are happy to give Romain the chance to start racing with the team,” he commented. “He is an impressive young talent and we expect him to show his skills driving alongside Fernando as we take an aggressive approach to the second half of the season.

“We would also like to thank Nelson for his contribution during the time he has been with us and wish him all the best for the future.”

Meanwhle Grosjean, the 2007 F3 Euro champion and 2008 GP2 Asia Series champion was delighted.

“I am very proud that the Renault F1 Team has given me the chance to become a race driver,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to driving the R29 and helping the team get the best results possible. It’s also an honour to be Fernando’s team-mate and to make my Formula 1 debut alongside a double world champion is especially motivating.”

Lucas di Grassi has been promoted to team test driver.

Renault WILL Race In Valencia After Appeal Is Won

The Renault F1 Team will be present at the forthcoming European Grand Prix in Valencia after successfully winning an appeal to overturn their suspension from the race weekend.

Renault had been banned for one race weekend after a wheel was attached incorrectly on Fernando Alonso’s car in the Hungarian Grand Prix.  Mechanics released the car from the pits with a wobbling wheel which later flew off at some speed, just a matter of days after Formula 2 saw tragedy when Henry Surtees was hit by a loose wheel.

The FIA imposed the ban just hours after the race.

The full reasons for the appeal success will be released in the coming days, but some suggest it is damage limitation from the FIA allowing the Spanish son Fernando Alonso to compete in the faltering European GP, hit recently by the lack of Michael Schumacher.

An FIA statement said:

“Renault admitted to the court that it breached the sporting regulations, in that it failed to ensure that car #7 complied with the conditions for safety throughout practice and the race, and that it released the car after a pitstop when it was unsafe to do so. However, it requested the court to reconsider the severity of the sanction imposed by the stewards.

Having heard the arguments of the parties, the court has decided as follows:
1. to allow the appeal and overturn the sanction imposed by the stewards in the contested decision;
2. to issue a reprimand and impose a fine of $50,000 upon Renault”

Piquet Officially Sacked By Renault

Nelson Piquet has officially been relieved of his duties as the number 2 driver at the Renault F1 Team.  After a torrid two seasons with the Enstone based outfit, the Brazilian berated Flavio Briatore in his exit statement.   Where Piquet will go from here is uncertain, leaving the pinnacle of open wheel racing at such a young age.

Piquet joined Formula One as a test driver initially at Williams in 2003 after good showings in Formula 3.  He was not signed with the team and continued to race working through the open wheel ranks, and taking 2nd place in the GP2 championship in 2006, a title won by Lewis Hamilton.

His F1 career proper started in 2007 when he was signed to the Renault team as their official test and reserve driver.  The team were under new sponsorship of ING, and were reeling after losing Fernando Alonso to McLaren.  Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella underperformed and were both released at the end of the season.  Alonso rejoined for 2008, and Piquet was selected to drive alongside him.  Laclustre showings from Piquet, and Alonso’s late season victories lead to speculation that he would be sacked during the 2008 off-season.  He was under a cloud from the start of 2009 about his future with the team, and generally bad driving and retirements have seen Renault let go of the Brazilian.

His best ever result was 2nd place at the 2008 German Grand Prix, his only ever podium.  Indeed in 2009 he has scored 0 points and resides in 20th place, even below Sebastien Bourdais who was sacked some weeks ago.

Piquet released a statement this morning;

“I have received notice from the Renault F1 team of its intention to stop me from driving for them in the current F1 season,”

“I want to say thanks to the small group who supported me and that I worked together at Renault F1, although it is obviously with great disappointment that I receive such news.”

“I feel a sense of relief for the end of the worst period of my career, and the possibility that I can now move on and put my career back on the right track and try to recover my reputation of a fast, winning driver,” he said.

“I am a team player and there are dozens of people I have worked with in my career who would vouch for my character and talent, except unfortunately the person that has had the most influence on my career in Formula 1.”

“For the 2009 season Briatore … promised me everything would be different, that I would get the attention I deserved but had never received, and that I would get ‘at least equal treatment’ inside the team,” he added.

“He made me sign a performance-based contract, requiring me to score 40% of Fernando Alonso’s points by mid-way through the season. Despite driving with Fernando, two-time world champion and a really excellent driver, I was confident that, if I had the same conditions, I would easily attain the 40% of points required by the contract.

“Unfortunately, the promises didn’t turn into reality again. With the new car I completed 2002km of testing compared to Fernando’s 3839km. Only three days of my testing was in dry weather – only one of Fernando’s was wet.

“I was only testing with a heavy car, hard tyres, mostly on the first day (when the track is slow and reliability is poor), or when the weather was bad. Fernando was driving a light car with soft tyres in the dry, fine conditions. I never had a chance to be prepared for the qualifying system we use. In Formula 1 today, the difference between 1st and 15th position is sometimes less than a second. It means that 0.2 or 0.3s can make you gain eight positions.”

“I believe without doubt in my talent and my performance. I didn’t get this far by getting bad results. Anyone who knows my history knows that the results I am having in F1 do not match my CV and my ability.

“The conditions I have had to deal with during the last two years have been very strange to say the least – there are incidents that I can hardly believe occurred myself. If I now need to give explanations, I am certain it is because of the unfair situation I have been in the past two years.

“I always believed that having a manager was being a part of a team and having a partner. A manager is supposed to encourage you, support you, and provide you with opportunities. In my case it was the opposite. Flavio Briatore was my executioner.”