Renault fires Briatore!

Todd Breakey · **Posted:** Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:53 am

By QUENTIN SPURRING

Renault has fired Formula One team principal Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds, and says it will offer no defense to the allegation it "fixed" the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix by ordering Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash. Renault is set to appear at a hearing before the World Motor Sport Council on Monday.

Briatore and Symonds stand accused of asking Piquet to crash deliberately early in the race to bring out the safety car, which enabled teammate Fernando Alonso to move to the head of the field. Alonso went on to win the race.

Renault's decision to admit the guilt of its wholly owned team, and to fire two of the best-known personalities in Formula One, will not cause the FIA to cancel the hearing. The governing body wants to know if anyone else in the team had knowledge of the race-fixing conspiracy, in particular Alonso. In addition, the council will impose a penalty on the team. For its part, Renault will use the opportunity to plead for clemency.

The Renault board of directors is expected to make a decision about its ongoing participation in Formula One after the World Motor Sport Council's judgments.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Sep 16, 2009 12:17 pm

I have never liked Briatore.

Question is now... Will Renault get a slap on the wrist and get off easy just to keep them in F1, or will they act in a consistent way and hit them just as hard as they have hit others (McLaren) in recent times and risk pushing a big manufacture out of F1?

I can see it going either way and wouldn't put money on either option. If I am going to predict, I will say they will be banned for the rest of this season (only four races) and Renault will use this as an excuse to leave F1 as a team but may continue next year as an engine supplier.

Wes Eargle · **Joined:** Mon Oct 27, 2003 9:47 am **Posts:** 3683

If you remember back several years ago, one of the reasons why the Brow went to McLaren was because Renault was dipping their big toe into the pool of leaving F1.

Mercedes has already positioned themselves as a big player in the engines-for-pay program, and they're not blowing up like the ones that Red Bull have been using from Renault. Which is definitely hurting that teams chances in both the world and constructors championship. That's not exactly good advertising for them to continue as an engine-only partner. And Cosworth is coming back, and Ferrari sells engines too. Just something to think about, especially in this sour economy.

RobLupella · **Posted:** Wed Sep 16, 2009 1:14 pm

I hope they get a suspension, but stay on. While there are other manufacturers of engines, it is yet to be seen if they are competitive with the big dogs. Ferrari doesn't care to supply the world.

Losing Briatore is a blessing, he is a first class ass, and I can Bernie (another first classer) going either way too.

Keith Quistorff · **Posted:** Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:32 pm

I wonder why these team orders for Piquet to crash weren't picked up on Renault's team radio transmission by the FIA immediately after it happened. Heck, the FIA certainly didn't hesitate to review McLaren's team radio transmission when Hamilton did something questionable last season - I seem to recall that only involved a questionable pass under yellow, certainly nothing as blatant as Renault pulled in Singapore.

It's more than obvious, at least since the 2007 Stepney-gate scandal, that McLaren has been held by the FIA to a much higher standard than any other team. Ferrari certainly can do no wrong in the FIA's eyes, makes me wonder if the Renault issue was purposely overlooked until Piquet made it public.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:36 pm

I think Mercedes (while the engine to have for sure) is only looking to support 3-4 teams max. Cosworth is a total unknown with respect to how it will perform next year. Some say it's too far behind the other engines from a dev perspective (favorable fuel consumption and power at reduced revs) to be competitive, while others think Cosworth will manage to pull a rabbit out of the hat.

The Toyota engine appears to be down on power and maybe the worst of all of the engines. I would put the Ferrari just being the Mercedes. Rumor is that FIA is going to allow teams to work on the engines some to allow teams to catch up. Last year it was Renault that was allowed to make some changes. If Renault and Toyota stays, I expect those two (in addition to the work Cosworth is already doing) to be allowed to make changes.

I don’t think Ferrari or McLaren will be allowed to make any changes. BMW has already said they are not providing engines and the new Lotus team (old BMW team) will be using Cosworth. Point being that I think while Renault is not the engine to have now, a revised version may very well be better than the Cosworth.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:52 pm

Keith Quistorff wrote:

I wonder why these team orders for Piquet to crash weren't picked up on Renault's team radio transmission by the FIA immediately after it happened. Heck, the FIA certainly didn't hesitate to review McLaren's team radio transmission when Hamilton did something questionable last season - I seem to recall that only involved a questionable pass under yellow, certainly nothing as blatant as Renault pulled in Singapore.

Crash was pre-arranged, so there was no radio communications. Alonso was running a three stop strategy which was odd for that track. Alonso pitted on lap 12 and took on about 30 laps of fuel. The front runners were all expected to pit on lap 15. Piquet was to crash on laps 13-14 on a specific turn in which there was no easy way to extract the car from the track. This would force a safety car just when most other teams would have been planning to pit for fuel. So the other cars would either have to run out of fuel or pit for fuel while SC which means a penalty for them.

There was much discussion and theories at the time about it being very convenient for Alonso. I suspect that radio transmissions were reviewed, but with there not being anything like "Ok, crash now" messages (as time and place was already worked out) how to you prove it was on purpose vs. bonehead crash by F1 rookie? With Piquet recently admitting it was prearranged, it all fell a bit more into place. It stopped looking like bonehead mistake and began to look like something else. Supposedly data from the car (that still exists I supposed) showed that Piquet was hard on the gas when he spun which is not something an F1 driver (or any decent race driver) would do.

There must have been enough evidence in place (combined with Piquet’s statement) to cause Renault to admit guilt vs. hold the company line and look really bad when they loose. Next question is “Did Alonso know?”. For him to give the OK to the odd three stop strategy, it would imply that he felt there was some reason it would work out. If I remember correctly Piquet has not said that Alonso was involved.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:55 pm

Oh, and someone please post about how they hate F1 because it's a big Soap Opera... Because the drama never seems to stop. :oops:

Wes Eargle · **Joined:** Mon Oct 27, 2003 9:47 am **Posts:** 3683

Matchett/Hobbs/Windsor said something to the effect that Ferrari were already up 30HP over other teams during the Monza coverage. He was reporting on garage scuttlebutt. Not that Ferrari would evAr receive preferential treatment ...

More on topic, the Fifth Beatle and Flava Flav co-own the Queens Park Rangers football club. It'll be interesting to see how Bernie spins this one.

clinehall · **Posted:** Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:25 pm

Poor Flavio, he will probably just be moping around the house the rest of the season with the old ball and chain:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... -ride.html

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:36 pm

Wes Eargle wrote:

Matchett/Hobbs/Windsor said something to the effect that Ferrari were already up 30HP over other teams during the Monza coverage. He was reporting on garage scuttlebutt. Not that Ferrari would evAr receive preferential treatment ...

More on topic, the Fifth Beatle and Flava Flav co-own the Queens Park Rangers football club. It'll be interesting to see how Bernie spins this one.

I may have misheard, but I thought they said that it was Mercedes and not Ferrari that was 20-30 HP up on everyone else? Just look at the top finishing positions of Mercedes powered cars vs. everyone else. :whoknows:

Keith Quistorff · **Posted:** Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:38 pm

clinehall wrote:

Poor Flavio, he will probably just be moping around the house the rest of the season with the old ball and chain:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... -ride.html

The two of them just look so 'right' together. That's really sweet.

clinehall · **Posted:** Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:43 pm

Keith Quistorff wrote:

clinehall wrote:

Poor Flavio, he will probably just be moping around the house the rest of the season with the old ball and chain:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... -ride.html

The two of them just look so 'right' together. That's really sweet.

I actually read that article, did you know he fathered a child with HEIDI KLUM???? I can't comment any further on a family forum.

Wes Eargle · **Joined:** Mon Oct 27, 2003 9:47 am **Posts:** 3683

Richard Casto wrote:

Just look at the top finishing positions of Mercedes powered cars vs. everyone else. :whoknows:

When you have a reliable product, you can push it harder. :shrug:

Keith Quistorff · **Posted:** Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:28 pm

Richard Casto wrote:

Crash was pre-arranged, so there was no radio communications.

Ahh, that makes better sense - thanks.

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