Club Arnage

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One less old guy with a hottie bimbo hanging on his arm, sad, truly sad.

 ;D

I doubt its the first time this has happened.

Cheating has been rife in all sport since they were invented and i see no reason why F1 should be the exception.

I doubt F1 would want to lose Renault, so now the Flav and Pat S have gone I would expect a fairly tame penalty compared to the massive fines McLaren faced.

(I do wonder now if Flav 'instructed' Shui to crash into Hill all those years ago)

Even more reason for Jean Todt NOT to be FIA President.

Clearly there needs to be a more impartial President in the guise of Ari Vatenen.

Good riddence to the Flav, from the day the Benetton family brought him in he's acted like a pompous ass with no other objective than to make a buck off motor racing. But at least he had the honesty to say he doesn't give a sh*t about the heritage of the sport, or the racing itself.  For me he's always been one of those people who personify all thats wrong with contemporary F1.
It won't affect Alonso's transfer to Ferrari, hell, they like having cheating SOB's on the team, after all look at how long Schumacher has been there.
Fax

I doubt we have heard the last of this, just who else knew what was going on I wonder?

I find it hard to believe that Alonso did not, I bet Nelson would have told him at the first chance he had.

This puts Hamiliton's Lie-gate into the shade, and heck that was bad enough, but to ask someone to crash with the obvious risks that comes with is a whole new ball game.

Just how did they instruct Nelson to crash cant have been on the radio so it must have been preplanned?

Mclaren - Accused of cheating whilst Alonso was there.

Renault - Accused of cheating whilst Alonso is there.

Co-incidence?  I think not.

I'm not normally quite so forthright in my opinions, but Alonso, his supporters, and his attitude are a menace to F1 - It's time the sport was ridded of him.

As for Flavio - I like his bullish attitude, but his approach to running an F1 team based around 1 person is wrong in my opinion - the what if's in this case are what makes it really scary though....

What if....

Piquet had hit the wall at the wrong angle?

The wheels had bounced along the ground and caused an accident like the Surtees F2 accident?

A wishbone had punctured....well anything?

Another driver had ploughed into Piquet junior?

The consequences could have been catastrophic - and all because the arrogant spaniard believes that the world revolves around him - forsaking the safety and the wellbeing of all others. 

I personally hope he has his superlicence revoked, is never allowed to taint my favourite sport again, and is made to pay Piquet Junior 12 months of Alonso style wages.

Brad

Well said, Brad! 8)

I keep remembering back to last year, during the pre-race show for the Singapore GP, with Briatore saying to The Tool (Peter Windsor) that we need more events like this, we don't need races at Magny Cours or Silverstone.  Basically he was saying that we need more night races on shitty little street circuits in the far east, were I can manipulate the finish of a race by having one of my drivers deliberately crash, to bring out a safety car period so my other driver can win.  Makes you realize just to what depths a once majestic sport has plummeted to.
Fax

Am I repeating something here?: -

If Alonso didn't win then how many extra points should Lewis have had & why wasn't he crowned champ prior to Brasil?

Good point. If the exclusion of Renault is backdated to last year, who did Alonso and NPj take the most points off? Hamilton, or Massa?

Cheating happens, in every team, to a greater or lesser extent, just most people don't get caught.

Gaining strength. Word is that Jan Charouz is buying the team with Richards/Prodrive running it. Charouz has got his AMR Eastern Europe Lola Aston and the entire contents of his motor museum up for sale so is planning on spending some money somewhere.
 Will probably put an end to the Gulf Astons in the LMS if it happens >:(

No reason that it would - surely Richards had a 3 year plan with those Astons - the second two years must be cheaper than the initial design and build phase, and not as labour intensive - I have only seen the Astons for the first time at Silverstone, and I am in love already - please don't pull them out of Le-Mans before I get to see them there!!

AMR have said they are designing & building their own chassis for 2011

Whats this got to do with cheating (see subject)

Yes this is the Walkinshaw 3 year plan.  The problem is the equivalency formula for diesel & petrol.  It still favours gazoil so AMR can't be bothered to play, and will put their efforts into 2011 when its supposed to improve

Sorry, to cut a long story short, the diesel bribes are still good for next year

From the beeb:

Renault have been given a two-year suspended ban from Formula 1 for their role in fixing last year's Singapore Grand Prix.

The team were called before governing body the FIA to answer charges they had asked driver Nelson Piquet Jr to crash to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win.

Former team boss Flavio Briatore has been banned from FIA-sanctioned events for an unlimited period.

Ex-engineering director Pat Symonds has also been excluded for five years.

Briatore and Symonds parted company with Renault last week at the same time as the French car giant said they would not contest the charges.

The FIA agreed not to pursue action against Piquet in return for his role in uncovering the details of the scandal.

 We apologise unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour

Renault team statement
Alonso, who attended the hearing in Paris, was also cleared of any involvement in the race-fixing scheme and the FIA thanked him for "cooperating with enquiries".

The World Motor Sport Council ruled that Renault was guilty of breaking its sporting code, finding; "breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity.

"They not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself.

"The WMSC considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship.

 ANDREW BENSON BLOG
Piquet clearly regrets what he did, it's just a shame he did not see things as clearly at the time
 
"However, 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."

FIA president Max Mosley added: "The blame has been placed where it should be placed and it's the right decision.

"The penalty that we've imposed is the harshest one we can but because Renault have demonstrated that they have no moral responsibility for what took place, it would be wrong in the circumstances to impose an immediate penalty."

The hearing was an attempt to attribute responsibility for the Singapore scandal despite the departure of Briatore and Symonds.

Renault explained that its internal investigation found that Briatore, Symonds and Piquet Jr had conspired to cause the crash with no other team member involved.

After conducting its own investigation, the FIA agreed with Renault's findings and decided to hand the French team a more lenient suspended sentence.

Renault, who will pay the cost of the FIA investigation, as well as contributing to its safety-related projects, said it accepted the council's decision.


Renault's F1 president Bernard Rey
"We are very sad to find ourselves in front of the Word Motor Sport Council," a team statement said.

"We apologise unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour.

"We sincerely hope that we can soon put this matter behind us and focus constructively on the future. We will issue further information in the next few days."

The FIA imposed further sanctions on Briatore, who ended his nine-year reign as Renault team principal last week in the wake of the scandal.

The Italian has been banned indefinitely from attending any FIA events. A route back into F1 was made more difficult for Briatore as the FIA declared it would not grant a licence to any team he was involved with or renew an F1 Superlicence granted to any driver associated with him.

Renault's double world champion Alonso and Red Bull's Mark Webber are both managed by Briatore while McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen also has ties with the Italian.

Symonds was banned from all FIA events for five years but the FIA noted his communication to the hearing "that it was to his 'eternal regret and shame' that he had participated in the conspiracy".

The fateful conspiracy was brought to light by Piquet after he was sacked by Renault following July's Hungarian GP.

The 24-year-old Brazilian said after the hearing: "I bitterly regret my actions to follow the orders I was given. I wish every day that I had not done it."

During last year's Singapore night race Piquet crashed on lap 14, two laps after Alonso had stopped for fuel and tyres, and a safety car was deployed to control the field while the debris from the accident was removed from the track.

Having already pitted in the race, the timing of the safety car - necessary while Piquet's wrecked car was removed from the track - was critical to Alonso's victory in Singapore.

It meant that when the safety car came out, he was alone among the front-runners in not having to stop for fuel and tyres and it promoted him into a position from which he was able to win.

The FIA's ruling on the race-fixing behind the Spaniard's victory has been reached in the same week that Formula 1 returns to Singapore for this season's race, with first practice at 1100 BST on Friday, 25 September.


Renault have got off lightly - Jordan
While the majority of the Renault team flew out to Singapore over the weekend, the long-term future of the French team remains in doubt.

The team's main sponsor, Dutch bank ING, had already decided to withdraw its support at the end of the season while Renault itself reported losses as a result of falling car sales in the first half of the year.

Two major car manufacturers have pulled out of F1 in the last nine months, with Honda quitting last December and BMW announcing in July they would stop at the end of the year.

There have long been rumours that both Renault and Toyota, who have said it will not sign off its 2010 F1 budget until November, could follow them out of the sport.

If Renault and Toyota pulled out, the only two car companies left in F1 would be Mercedes and Fiat through its Ferrari brand.

As the car companies supply engines to the entire grid this year, that could be a major problem, notwithstanding the return of privateer engine company Cosworth next season as supplier to the new teams Lotus, US F1, Campos and Manor.

"Formula 1 can't afford another major manufacturer with such a proud history to walk away," said the BBC's James Munro in Paris.

"So some may accuse the FIA of that having influenced their decision."

Sure. Can't believe "the fingers" gets away with it! >:(

But does suspended ban really mean it will go in effect after 3011? So renault can drive next 2 seasons, and will be bannedthen? And for how long?

I know nothing about motorsport. However, a suspended ban usually means that nothing will happen to them UNLESS they infringe the rules again within the next two years at which time the ban will come into effect. i.e. if Renault are good boys until 2011 nothing will happen, if not, they will be banned for 2 years.

If this isn't correct then blame someone else.

Having once again experienced the fantastic racing at Goodwood yesterday - from an era that did not have mega bucks supporting the racing, seeing F1 disapear up its own orafice and crashing in flames would be great.

OK thanx for explaining guys, sometimes my knowledge of the English language just isn't good enough.  :angel:

I see Renault have lost their two main sponsors today http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8273965.stm

And Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says he thinks Flavio Briatore's indefinite ban for race-fixing is too severe http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8272812.stm

I'm pleased there is some form of financial penalty, as in simple terms they got away scot free, whilst McLaren were hit with $100mil, which is 2 1/2 times what ING pay Renault in a year.  And nobody is going to be keen to pay that sort of money to Renault now.

Not really surprising that the sponsors have pulled out....they don't expect to pump millions in to have somebody cheating tarnishing  them.


Un-bloody-believable.  So the little poisonous dwarf sanctions cheating as dangerous as that, as long as it's by a mate and he handles it the right way.  Bloody little B*stard.  I'm so glad we fight for the freedom for people to behave as they please - just a shame that they abuse it so comprehensively.  Makes it all so worthwhile. >:( >:( >:(       

MG Mark

Spot on Robbo

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=20724