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

Well, not because of this, per se (he didn't need a reason to be undesirable already), but if Piquet started this and turns out to be a lie, you can say good bye to him in racing, period...Not to mention the libel lawsuit...
 
SUPER NUMBBER
Well, not because of this, per se (he didn't need a reason to be undesirable already), but if Piquet started this and turns out to be a lie, you can say good bye to him in racing, period...
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Even if he's telling the truth, it's game over. Because then he was an accessory to cheating.
 
SUPER NUMBBER
Who knows? Maybe the FIA cuts him a deal for being the "Deep Throat" in "Crashgate", and claiming that he was following orders.
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And what does that do for him? Maybe it saves him from being fined or whatever - the way the McLaren drivers were during the Stepney Affair - but he's still not going to be in the sport. No-one is going to ant to hire him, because if they do and his career nosedives again, he'll latch onto te first thing that comes his way to get some petty retribution.
 
To be fair, Piquet already effectively killed his career with that arrogant rant after being fired by Renault/Flavio. He's not going to win over many supporters by making a scene in the media everytime he feels hes treated badly.

He should have just kept his head down and found another race seat for next year (he did have some credible results, enough for perhaps a drive with a new team) but instead he blew his top.

It wouldn't surprise me if he was stupid enough to first of all accept an order to crash and secondly to admit it. He is after all the person who had a little complain about "these young rookie drivers" after Buemi shunted him at Monaco :rolleyes:
 
Do you race?
And what does that do for him? Maybe it saves him from being fined or whatever - the way the McLaren drivers were during the Stepney Affair - but he's still not going to be in the sport. No-one is going to ant to hire him, because if they do and his career nosedives again, he'll latch onto te first thing that comes his way to get some petty retribution.
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No I didn't say he'd be hired again in F1, on the contrary. I said if he doesn't come back to F1, it's because of his past performance, not for "being accessory to cheating".
 
Do you race?
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.
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8.7 Driver radio :
Other than authorised connections to the FIA ECU, any voice radio communication system between car and pits must be stand-alone and must not transmit or receive other data. All such communications must be open and accessible to both the FIA and, where appropriate, broadcasters.

FIA's rule on drivers radios. so any encrpyted communications must still be able to be monitored by race control. so getting a radio transmission to crash your car past race control is kinda odd unless no one happpened to be monitoring the radio's at the time. but you would think they would go back and monitor the radios after a crash happened to see what went wrong
 
NapoleonMikey
8.7 Driver radio :
Other than authorised connections to the FIA ECU, any voice radio communication system between car and pits must be stand-alone and must not transmit or receive other data. All such communications must be open and accessible to both the FIA and, where appropriate, broadcasters.

FIA's rule on drivers radios. so any encrpyted communications must still be able to be monitored by race control. so getting a radio transmission to crash your car past race control is kinda odd unless no one happpened to be monitoring the radio's at the time. but you would think they would go back and monitor the radios after a crash happened to see what went wrong
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I meant that not everything is recorded for our ears. The commentators almost always comment that any transmission between team and driver is delayed, pobably because it needs to be filtered. I'm willing to bet there's a lot that they pick up and we don't hear because it's stuff the teamsdon't want heard on an open channel.
 
Pardon the double-post, but it seems things might be getting worse, if that's possible:

Renault crisis deepens after FIA widens investigation

[szie="1"]By David Tremayne - Wednesday, 2 September 2009[/size]

The Renault Formula One team's problems were compounded yesterday when it emerged that the FIA could investigate more than just the allegations that Nelson Piquet Jnr was instructed to crash his car in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help team-mate Fernando Alonso to win.

A source within the FIA said: "There were interviews going on all weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, and other issues above and beyond Singapore are also to be looked at." Technical chief Pat Symonds and Alonso were among senior Renault figures interviewed more than once by FIA representatives in Belgium.

The allegations have added to pressures on the car company, who are likely to see sales in the important Brazilian market fall after Piquet's dismissal. Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 rights holder, has voiced fears that the speculation might prompt Renault to follow Honda and BMW out of the sport. Ecclestone said he has spoken with his close friend Flavio Briatore, the team principal of Renault F1, who insists he knows nothing about the allegations.

"This is not the sort of thing we need at the moment," Ecclestone said. "I think it will piss off Renault, and them leaving the sport is a danger. I hope that it isn't like that, but it's the sort of thing that might happen."
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That's the meat of the articlereally; the rest just goes on to shoot down rumours of a Kubica-Ferrari move for the remainder of the season and discusses Felipe Massa. The important part is that it seems the FIA has expanded its investigations, though there's nothing to indicate what they might be expanded to include.

Elsewhere, Renault have been warned that the face serious consequences:
Renault warned of serious consequences

By Jonathan Noble - Tuesday, September 1st 2009, 07:35 GMT

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has warned that there could be 'serious' consequences for both Nelson Piquet and Renault if an investigation into race-fixing at last year's Singapore Grand Prix uncovers anything suspicious.

The FIA is currently looking into claims, which emerged during last weekend's race weekend in Belgium, that Piquet may have been asked to crash deliberately in Singapore last year to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win.

The nature of the claims, or who has provided them, has not been revealed, and the FIA has only confirmed that it is looking into 'events' at a previous world championship race.

However, Ecclestone has confirmed that the incident being looked at is Singapore - and says he and the governing body is taking the matter seriously.

"The FIA has launched a thorough investigation into the allegations about Nelson," Ecclestone said. "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."

Should the FIA find any evidence of foul play then it would most likely call a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council to discuss the matter. If the WMSC finds Renault guilty, then punishments range from a reprimand through to fines, race bans and even exclusion from the world championship.

On the back of the recent 'Bloodgate' controversy that has dogged rugby, Ecclestone said that FIA would come down hard on any guilty party.

"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."

Ecclestone also fears that Renault could pull out of F1 on the back of the investigation - joining Honda and BMW in exiting the sport in the space of less than 12 months.

He told The Times: "This is not the sort of thing we need at the moment. 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."

The departure of Renault from F1 would not only hit the Enstone-based team, but would also hurt Williams, which is close to signing a customer-engine deal with the French car manufacturer.

Renault has so far not commented on the situation.
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Ahhh.....


One thing that goes without saying, this ain't good for the sport. Remember Spa 2008? One little quibble, and it blew up in the face of the public, driving many away from F1 in the process... This has no good outcome for the sport.
 
The worry is more that Renault will be driven away, not the fans. I doubt many fans actually stopped watching because of Spa 2008.
 
The issue that I was talking about was the casual fan, who watched some racing on a Sunday night, and then found out that some British chap had one. He watched all of the post race stuff, and went on with his life, thinking that maybe he should watch F1 more often. Then, while sipping his morning coffee, he picked up the paper and read "F1 Fumble: Decision Reversed after Grand Prix Finished." Upon reading this, he thought that the politics in the sport was stupid, and while he finished his coffee, he decided that F1 wasn't the sport for him. And thus F1 lost a potential fan.

Edit: This article does not represent my views on how the outcome was handled, merely the public reaction. And I fear that if the Renault scandal blows up any more, more casual observers will be driven away from the sport.
 
senamic
The issue that I was talking about was the casual fan, who watched some racing on a Sunday night, and then found out that some British chap had one. He watched all of the post race stuff, and went on with his life, thinking that maybe he should watch F1 more often. Then, while sipping his morning coffee, he picked up the paper and read "F1 Fumble: Decision Reversed after Grand Prix Finished." Upon reading this, he thought that the politics in the sport was stupid, and while he finished his coffee, he decided that F1 wasn't the sport for him. And thus F1 lost a potential fan.
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A headline writer won't write something like that. I've worked with the journalistic community before, and I know that headlines sell newspapers. Any headline writer worth his salt will certainly include powerful words like "cheating" and "scandal"; the headline will be closer to F1 Result Reversed After Dangerous Cheating Scandal Unearthed. The idea is to compel the reader to keep reading the article. This isn't about politics the way the rogue FOTA series was. Renault cannot be allowed to get away with endangering their driver, marshalls and fans simply for the sake of keeping interest in the sport going. Besides, the FIA haven't done anything wrong. Sure, there was speculation at the time that Alonso's result was staged, but there was no investigation because the FIA had no (or insufficient) evidence or reason to launch one.

The reason why this is so different to the Spa incident or Hamilton's lying to the stewards is because if Renault are found guilty, there's a clear-cut wrongdoing. Do you think anyone is going to side with Renault if it's found that they cheated and endangered lives simply to win the race? Do you think people will move to defend them the way people supported Hamilton last year? On an issue like this, you simply cannot afford to look the other way. If you do, you're no better than Renault themselves.
 
Do you race?
A headline writer won't write something like that. I've worked with the journalistic community before, and I know that headlines sell newspapers. Any headline writer worth his salt will certainly include powerful words like "cheating" and "scandal"; the headline will be closer to F1 Result Reversed After Dangerous Cheating Scandal Unearthed. The idea is to compel the reader to keep reading the article. This isn't about politics the way the rogue FOTA series was. Renault cannot be allowed to get away with endangering their driver, marshalls and fans simply for the sake of keeping interest in the sport going. Besides, the FIA haven't done anything wrong. Sure, there was speculation at the time that Alonso's result was staged, but there was no investigation because the FIA had no (or insufficient) evidence or reason to launch one.

The reason why this is so different to the Spa incident or Hamilton's lying to the stewards is because if Renault are found guilty, there's a clear-cut wrongdoing. Do you think anyone is going to side with Renault if it's found that they cheated and endangered lives simply to win the race? Do you think people will move to defend them the way people supported Hamilton last year? On an issue like this, you simply cannot afford to look the other way. If you do, you're no better than Renault themselves.
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Fair point on the article, I was just making a title up on the spot, as I do not happen to keep The West Australian or The Sunday Times issues for a year.

On Renault cheating, I agree entirely. I do not in any way support what Renault have (allegedly) done. My statement was simply that whichever way this decision goes, it does not bode well for Formula 1's image.
 
senamic
On Renault cheating, I agree entirely. I do not in any way support what Renault have (allegedly) done. My statement was simply that whichever way this decision goes, it does not bode well for Formula 1's image.
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I think that if it's handled the right way, the sport won't suffer too much. It's been likened to the Harlequins "Bloodgate" controversy, because of similar conditions - staging an injury to afford the team an advantage - and while the Harlequins have been hurt by it, rugby as a whole hasn't. Formula One survived Indianapolis 2005, it made it through Sex Fiend's dungeon Nazi sexcapades, and it came out clean on the other side after the Stepney Affair. This is small fish by comparison.
 
Do you race?
I think that if it's handled the right way, the sport won't suffer too much. It's been likened to the Harlequins "Bloodgate" controversy, because of similar conditions - staging an injury to afford the team an advantage - and while the Harlequins have been hurt by it, rugby as a whole hasn't. Formula One survived Indianapolis 2005, it made it through Sex Fiend's dungeon Nazi sexcapades, and it came out clean on the other side after the Stepney Affair. This is small fish by comparison.
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Again, fair point.

Still isn't good for the sport, at least in the short run. All I am saying is that it isn't good for the sport. To each his own, then.
 
senamic
The issue that I was talking about was the casual fan, who watched some racing on a Sunday night, and then found out that some British chap had one. He watched all of the post race stuff, and went on with his life, thinking that maybe he should watch F1 more often. Then, while sipping his morning coffee, he picked up the paper and read "F1 Fumble: Decision Reversed after Grand Prix Finished." Upon reading this, he thought that the politics in the sport was stupid, and while he finished his coffee, he decided that F1 wasn't the sport for him. And thus F1 lost a potential fan.

Edit: This article does not represent my views on how the outcome was handled, merely the public reaction. And I fear that if the Renault scandal blows up any more, more casual observers will be driven away from the sport.
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Casual viewers come and go from the sport anyway, so its really a non-issue. Casual viewing is based on nations drivers doing well. If a country has drivers that are doing well, people will watch regardless of politics.

And these kind of politics are nothing new either, people seem to go on about "F1 has too much politics, its losing their audiences, people are bored etc etc etc" but this happens almost every year yet people still watch.

If anything, the politics and rows seem to be helping coverage of the sport as its making so many headlines all the time. Did viewing go down because the McLaren politics in 2007? Well in the UK they went up in 2008.
Did viewing go down because of the Hamilton-Spa incident? Nope, apparently the viewing figures this year in the UK have been higher again.

To be honest, F1 without the politics is not F1 at all. Despite what the "fans" say. Go back 30 years and you still had politics making the headlines. Its no different today.
 
I do reckon that the main reason viewing figures have gone up in this country is that the BBC are now doing a good job of showing the racing.

The current format of the show is 3 times better than the ITV version.

C.
 
The viewing ratings were increasing regardless though. They declined after Hill's championship year with the low point being the Schumacher dominance years.

Then when Hamilton came on the scene the ratings started increasing again. This year has been helped a lot by a combination of extremely tight fields and new teams and winners out of nowhere (BrawnGP story, Button leading, Force India scoring etc). The politics have never effected how many people watch and don't really change the public's view on the sport.

Put it this way, name one sport where politics don't dominante the headlines. I know for a fact that newspapers daily go over the politics of football and the same "politics are ruining the sport" speeches are regularly blurted out by fans. But do people stop watching? Nope.
 
This just getting bad... People want to hear the actual result, not the result that finally been released a year later...

I think Renault was just desperate to find a victory last year that they actually nailed it at the Singapore GP... But how??? To use Piquet as a victim to give Alonso a deliberately undeserve victory??? I think this is the last chance for Renault and if this happen again, the Renault is just History... SORRY RENAULT FANS...
 
KidrauhlM5
This just getting bad... People want to hear the actual result, not the result that finally been released a year later...
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But at the same time, Renault cannot be allowed to get away with cheating. I mean they are French, but it's no excuse ...
 
In F1, they would do everything that they want... Even crossing the FIA's rules...

Remember about McLaren 2007??? They will do anything that they like to...
 
*drums fingers on chin*

So, let's assume Renault are found guilty and punished. Renault are fined heavily and maybe suspended from a season. But what happens with the result of the race? I can see several possibilities with varying plausibility...

1) Nothing
2) Alonso stripped of victory, no further action.
3) Alonso stripped of victory, other drivers moved up; Rosberg wins his first race!
4) Alonso stripped of victory, other drivers moved up and points reassigned; Rosberg, Coulthard and Button gain a place in the championship.
5) Race result annulled.
6) Race result annulled and points reassigned; Massa wins championship by 5pts...
7) Renault's results from the entire 2008 season cancelled; Whole championship goes insane.

The whole thing is nuts.
 
Option 4 is the only sensible outcome if they're found guilty. At least it doesn't affect who won the championship.
 

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