Briatore gets banned, Renault given suspended sentence and the fallout begins!

[prisonermonkeys]

Storm's coming.

FIA to launch probe on '08 Singapore GP

By Jonathan Noble - Sunday, August 30th 2009, 16:08 GMT

The FIA is to launch an investigation into the events at last year's Singapore Grand Prix, where Renault's Fernando Alonso claimed victory on the back of a crash by his team-mate Nelson Piquet.

Alonso's success was sealed by the timing of a safety car in the early stages of the inaugural event - which had been called out when Piquet crashed into the wall shortly after his team-mate stopped for fuel.

The timing of Piquet's crash prompted wild conspiracy theories that the Brazilian had been ordered to deliberately spin to help Renault take its first victory of the year. Piquet himself insisted at the time that the accident had been caused by him simply trying too hard.

"It was my mistake," said Piquet. "We tried two extreme strategies with Fernando quite short and me quite long in the hope of getting a safety car. If I hadn't crashed I would have been lucky with the safety car later in the race because I was very happy.

"We're always scraping the walls, and once you've touched the wall a little too much and lose control that's it."

It is understood, however, that fresh evidence about the events that took place in the race have now come to light - which has prompted the FIA to step in.

Piquet was dropped by Renault after this year's Hungarian Grand Prix, and has been outspoken in his criticisms of the outfit - and in particular team principal Flavio Briatore. It is not clear if the Brazilian himself has been a catalyst for the investigation, or if the evidence has come from elsewhere.

The FIA has not elaborated on the details of its inquiry, but a spokesperson confirmed to AUTOSPORT that an investigation was under way.

"The FIA can confirm that an investigation is underway regarding alleged events at a previous world championship race," said the spokesperson.

Should the FIA investigation suggest there is any evidence of foul play involved, then the governing body could call a hearing of the World Motor Sport Council to discuss the matter.

While I wouldn't put it past Flavio to tell one of his drivers to crash in order to give Alonso a better position, I find it very difficult to believe that a driver could knowingly and willingly park his car in the barriers.

 

[NISM0_SKYLINE]

What made them look into it now?

 

[Terronium-12]

The FIA is aware it's 2009, right?

 

[Tornado]

I wasn't aware that Alonso's win in Singapore in 2008 actually mattered in the grand scheme of things. Good thing the FIA is on the job.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

What made them look into it now?

No-one is entirely sure, though if matters come to a head and action is taken, I daresay we'll find out. There's been the suggestion that Nelson Piquet is simply being spiteful, and for all we know, it's true. But whatever the case, there's going to be an investigation, so the FIA evidently feel that the evidence is serious enough to warrant looking in to.

Of course, it's easy to speculate. For all we know, Kimi Raikkonen is concerned about his race seat at Ferrari and so started the rumours to make the team doubtful of Alonso and therefore make it easier for Raikkonen to retain his seat.

I wasn't aware that Alonso's win in Singapore in 2008 actually mattered in the grand scheme of things.

It doesn't. But if it's true, it shouldn't go unpunished. Renault would have essentially cheated to win the race as well as brazenly ignoring safety simply so that they could get a race victory.

 

[NISM0_SKYLINE]

No-one is entirely sure, though if matters come to a head and action is taken, I daresay we'll find out. There's been the suggestion that Nelson Piquet is simply being spiteful, and for all we know, it's true. But whatever the case, there's going to be an investigation, so the FIA evidently feel that the evidence is serious enough to warrant looking in to.

That does seem like a good possibility, he gets let go so why not give them even more controversy and problems.

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

Hmm...seems like Piquet Jr did after all learn from Alonso....

If you have a break with your team...rat them out to the FIA!

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Wouldn't the conversation be heard over the radio?

 

[Only_in_f1]

Sour Grapes or more serious?

So it'd give Rosberg the win and Hamilton 2 extra points?

 

[Ferrari_Tifoso]

If Felipe had won the championship last year by one point, this would've been huge. They should let this go. You don't want to set a precedent where the FIA changes championships' results months or even years later.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Wouldn't the conversation be heard over the radio?

Not everything is recorded. While we get more radio communications for 2008, the teams have their own secure channels because they obviously don't want everything heard over the radio during the telecast. We heard messages sent to drivers in both Belgium and Valencia that was passing on something the team had heard on the radio.

If Felipe had won the championship last year by one point, this would've been huge. They should let this go. You don't want to set a precedent where the FIA changes championships' results months or even years later.

I doubt they'll be changing the results overall. Not this late in the game. But if Renault are guilty of instructing one of their drivers to crash to give the other a better result, they need to be called into account. Changes in championship standings a year later isn't acceptable, but it's the lesser evil in this case. Renault should not be allowed to get away with knowingly and intentionally endangering both drivers and the crowds.

 

[Stang245]

Hmm...seems like Piquet Jr did after all learn from Alonso....

If you have a break with your team...rat them out to the FIA!

👎
A reckless statement. Piquet was released becuase he learned nothing from Alonso. Also, Alonso "ratted" out McLaren after they screwed him and stole from Ferarri, to the tune of an incredible 100 million fine. This is small potatoes and if true, Piquet followed orders and crashed. Alonso needs no one to help him look good. Not Trulli, not Fisichella, and certainly not Piquet. Nelson (jr.) is only pissed at himself for not measuring up to his father and blaming every one else.

 

[Peter]

Don't relinquish the points, just give them some sort of fine, or ban them for a couple races.

 

[niky]

Hmm...seems like Piquet Jr did after all learn from Alonso....

If you have a break with your team...rat them out to the FIA!

 

[Ardius]

What made them look into it now?

Hmm, well thats the easy part - who was formerly at Renault who would provide new evidence right now?

This particular person is never going to be hired in F1 again after all this fuss. The guy should learn to shut his trap, this isn't how you stay in F1.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Hmm, well thats the easy part - who was formerly at Renault who would provide new evidence right now?

Piquet denies it. I think a lot of people are jumping to conclusions because it's to do with Renault and the claims came from a Brazilian journalist. I've already heard other rubbish conspiracy theories that suggest it's Max Mosley latching onto the first thing he could find to discredit Flavio Briatore, one of the leaders of the rogue FOTA faction and their unofficial convenor (FOTA always met on Renault territory - Briatore's yacht in Monaco, and Renault's Enstone facility in Britain).

 

[Ardius]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was somehow related to Piquet though, I mean what other reasonable explanation is there?
It would be a little pointless for the FIA to do this for any of those conspiracy reasons - it didn't affect the championship last year at all and its history now.

 

[darkfinal]

Hmm...seems like Piquet Jr did after all learn from Alonso....

If you have a break with your team...rat them out to the FIA!

Great. And I thought severe cases of facts amnesia only happened to my fellowmen spaniard fanboys, but I was wrong.

Now think it twice and try to remember: Who went right to the FIA to complain about their teammate in Hungary, instead of discussing things within the team and avoid a 10-places-penalty that went so well for someone's race to the world championship?

And who had the moral obligation to inform the FIA about their team's illegal spying activities, with the risk of, having not done it, losing their superlicense, since they knew it all since the beginning?

Yeah. Not to mention Martin Withmarsh said recently he was regretting treating Alonso like they did and practically booting him from the team. I believe there's a reason why he said such a thing.

 

[Pupik]

In other news, John Surtees admitted that Lorenzo Bandini intentionally took out Graham Hill in the 1964 Mexican Grand Prix. Nothing will be done about it, since it was Ferrari.

 

[Ian Poole]

Alonso needs no one to help him look good.

No, he just makes himself look like a bit of an idiot while all of his team mates take the shine off his Spanish sunshine

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Although if Renault had asked Piquet Jr to do what's being alleged, it would go some way to providing justification for their inexplicable decision to retain him for (the start of) 2009. Previously, I'd thought that to be financially-motivated, but if there were some shenanigans, it would make sense.

 

[Cultlife]

This is something that actually struck me last night as one of those things that really wouldn't come up unless there was some truth to the jokes last season - if proven, it's comparable to the 'fake blood' controversy with Harlequins in rugby.

The word is that Piquet has nothing to do with the claims getting out - from what I understand a Brazilian Journalist found out Felipe Massa had gone to Flav and said something along the lines of 'you engineered this' immediately after the race... and it's come from a source close to him.

They've since found 'more evidence' - which has sparked the enquiry.

There's a video of Piquet spinning in a similar manner (for no real reason other than blasting the throttle as if he were actually trying to pull a donut) on the warm up lap at Singapore here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feXvqfttAuw

There's also apparently a radio transmission the lap before the accident which simply says 'Push Nelson!' - speculation is that was a confirmation code.


Make what you will of it, but there's no smoke without fire - and it's not like F1's ever short of drama.

 

[Roo]

There's also apparently a radio transmission the lap before the accident which simply says 'Push Nelson!' - speculation is that was a confirmation code.

I wondered why he crashed so much.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I first picked up on this story over at F1 Fanatic. While I think the blog is good, it's much more of an opinion column than Autosport. But someone over there raised a good point. They related the sentiments of a strategist for another team on the subject of Alonso and his strategy. They were words to the effect of a stop on lap twelve being folly because of the nature of the circuit, and everyone up and down pit lane knew it. The only way you could make a strategy like that work would be to gamble on a safety car being dispatched within the next two laps. The reason why is because the first set of stops was quickly approaching; Alonso pitted on twelve, Piquet crashed on fourteen, and the first pitters came in on fifteen. The safety car picked up Alonso and the rest of the field went in on sixteen or seventeen. If Piquet had crashed a lap later, Rosberg, Kubica, Barrichello and the Red Bulls - all of whom stopped on fifteen - would have been out in time to pick Alonso up. The timing had to be absolute; it's all circumstantial, but what are the odds that a car would have crashed out at the exact moment that benefitted Alonso the most? There's always the possibility that it could happen, and one could make the case that because Alonso started so far down the grid that he could risk any strategy that he liked, but it still stands: Alonso needed a perfectly-timed safety car - and he got it from his team-mate.

 

[Stang245]

That explains it, he crashed while 'pushing', the story of his brief career, and the very reason for its briefness. Regarding Piquet that is. As for Alonso and the last two iterations of R-type Renaults since his return he always fuels light from pre season at Jerez to race qualifying. That strategy of course necessitates an earlier first pit than his rivals. And, may I say, he's a clever pit strategist. Races are decide by them, sometimes. This issue will resolve when refueling is banned in 2010...

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

👎
A reckless statement. Piquet was released becuase he learned nothing from Alonso. Also, Alonso "ratted" out McLaren after they screwed him and stole from Ferarri, to the tune of an incredible 100 million fine. This is small potatoes and if true, Piquet followed orders and crashed. Alonso needs no one to help him look good. Not Trulli, not Fisichella, and certainly not Piquet. Nelson (jr.) is only pissed at himself for not measuring up to his father and blaming every one else.

Great. And I thought severe cases of facts amnesia only happened to my fellowmen spaniard fanboys, but I was wrong.

Whoa...cool your 'Nandoroos!

Without going back to the validity of the infamous Spygate, I think no one can deny (if Piquet did in fact do this) that they were both motivated by spite in turning on the people who cut their checks. They wouldn't have done it if they were in good standing with the team, and I only commented on the coincidence that it happened to both of them.

 

[Stang245]

I'm cool Super Number. What Nando did was payback for McLaren wasting his time, and he asked for his contract to be anullled. He was not fired, unlike Nelson Piquet Jr. As far as I'm concerned, this issue and corresponding thread are about Piquet and Renault and the crash. Not Fernando.
If I happen to disagree with you, it isn't personal.

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

There's also apparently a radio transmission the lap before the accident which simply says 'Push Nelson!'

That sounds like something you'd tell a birthing woman

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Mr. E responds:

Bernie Ecclestone fears inquiry may force Renault out

Edward Gorman, Motor Racing Correspondent - September 1, 2009

Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One commercial rights-holder, spoke last night of his fears that Renault could leave the sport over allegations that the team asked one of their drivers to crash his car to help his team-mate win a race.

In an interview with The Times, Ecclestone said that Flavio Briatore, the Renault team principal, had told him that he knows nothing about the claims that have been made. Ecclestone also described the Italian as “well and truly upset”, and added that Nelson Piquet Jr, the driver whom Ecclestone clearly believes sparked the sport’s latest cheating scandal by informing the FIA of the explosive allegations, could be finished as a Formula One driver.

“This is not the sort of thing we need at the moment,” said Ecclestone, who has seen Honda sell up last year and BMW announce that it is leaving Formula One at the end of this season. “I think it will p*** off Renault for a start. Them leaving the sport is a danger, obviously. I mean, I hope that it isn’t like that, but it’s the sort of thing that might happen.”

“What I know, I can’t say, to be honest with you. All I know is that Flavio is insisting that he knows nothing about it. I think the FIA are looking into everything. They are trying to find out the reality. I suppose they would be upset if they found out that what people are assuming is true, is in fact true, I suppose.”

Ecclestone’s comments come after the disclosure on Sunday that the FIA, world motor sport’s governing body, has launched an investigation into claims that Piquet was asked to crash his car during the Singapore Grand Prix last September.

Piquet’s accident early in the race proved decisive in enabling Fernando Alonso, his team-mate, who pitted before anyone else and just before the accident, to take advantage of a subsequent intervention by the safety car to score an unexpected race win from fifteenth on the grid.

The investigation is expected to involve detailed analysis of all the technical data on Renault’s participation in the race, including telemetry from the cars and voice recordings of pitwall communications with the drivers. The governing body is also likely to send inspectors to Renault’s Formula One headquarters at Enstone, near Oxford, and to the team’s factory in France to examine computers and any other data that could be relevant.

The allegations are being taken extremely seriously by the FIA, and comparisons are already being made with the recent “Bloodgate” scandal in rugby union that involved a premeditated attempt to cheat and a deliberate injury to a player.

In the case of the allegations over Renault’s conduct, there is the suggestion not only of an alleged attempt to cheat, but also an alleged instruction to a driver to take a dangerous course of action that could have led to injury or death to himself, to circuit marshals or even spectators. If the case were to be proven, then Renault would be likely to be banned from Formula One, whether or not the carmaker had left the sport already.

Ecclestone believes that it will be hard to prove a case of this sort unless there is strong independent evidence to back up the claims or technical data that bears out the alleged version of events. “The only way you could say there is a case to answer is if there is any real evidence,” he said.

“If it’s just young Piquet saying this because he wants to say it, that’s one thing. If, on the other hand, there’s some reality to it, then it’s all different. It will be difficult to prove. If there is something on the radio that said, ‘Err, Nelson, you’d better crash now,’ then what the hell can they [Renault] do? It depends exactly what comes out of the investigation.”

Piquet, who endured a torrid time at Renault before being unceremoniously dropped after the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of July, to be replaced by Romain Grosjean, was described as “an angry young man” by Ecclestone, who added that he did not think the Brazilian would be able to continue in the sport. “You can safely say that he’s sort of in trouble now . . . you’d have to wonder what next, wouldn’t you?” Ecclestone said.

The Renault affair comes after an earlier cheating storm at the start of this season, when Lewis Hamilton and a senior manager at McLaren Mercedes tried to deceive the stewards at the Australian Grand Prix.

So far, Renault’s only response to the claims has been “no comment”.

And people say Ecclestone has lost his marbles. He may be convinced that Piquet is the source of the investigation, which Piquet denies (but then which of them is the lesser evil?), but it's a far more well-reasoned and intelligent response than many I've seen online, most of which seem to be along the lines of "This is Max trying to take Briatore down with him".

 

[Stang245]

Nice update, please keep us informed. I'm 95% sure there is no truth to this, but it is a serious charge. One thing is pretty certain, Piquet is finished in F1...