Renault bosses quit team

[Guest Swiftie]

Renault managing director Flavio Briatore and executive director of engineering Pat Symonds have sensationally quit the team. The news was announced as the team revealed that they would not be challenging recent allegations made against them that Nelson Piquet Jnr was ordered to crash his car at last year's Singapore Grand Prix.Despite Briatore's assertion of no wrongdoing, the swift departure of he and Symonds appears to point to their guilt.Piquet Jnr, who was recently sacked by Renault following a poor season, subsequently revealed he was told to crash into a wall in order to facilitate victory for team-mate Fernando Alonso.Renault then launched criminal proceedings - including those relating to an alleged blackmail attempt - against Piquet Jnr and his three-times world champion father.However, it was reported earlier this week that both Symonds and Piquet Jnr would be granted immunity from punishment by the FIA if they provided details of the alleged race-fixing.An investigation into the incident is already under way, with FIA president Max Mosley revealing on Tuesday that there was evidence to support Piquet's claim.ChargeRenault bosses had been called to appear at an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Monday, which will now go ahead without them.The WMSC may still impose severe sanctions on the team now they have chosen not to launch a defence.The FIA charged Renault with "conspiring with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jnr, to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso".Alonso went on to take the chequered flag at Formula One's first night race, his first victory for two years, and at a time when Renault were considering quitting the sport.The French manufacturer will almost certainly plead for clemency from the FIA as they will claim the actions of two men should not affect the employment of nearly 700 other staff within the team.The FIA have the power to exclude Renault from the championship, although it is anticipated such a strict penalty will not be administered.

I'll hold my tounge on what I think of Alonso but these man went deep. Could've killed a young man all coz he wanted a seat for the sport that he must love coz crashing at a circuit like Singapore is just beggin death by default.In other news, Lotus are entering next year and BMW have a Swiss buyer so they're staying put once everything is finalized.

[MrJibbles]

Was rolling when I heard they quit.Still want to see what the WMSC have to say on this.If it's true I'm sorry but what they told him to do is just crazy, crashing at over 100mph smh! Lucky he never lost his life.

[Captain Planet]

Oh FFSSome dumb ploy

[kahuna]

if this was mclaren they wud get a 10year ban, even before the whole lie gate biz.lol at ppl saying he was risking his life crashing. he over cooked it coming out of a corner, not went off at the end of a straight into a wall

[The King]

Lol

[MrJibbles]

It is the worst single piece of cheating in the history of sport. We must accept that Renault, in refusing to defend its Formula One motor racing team against the allegation that one of its drivers was told to crash, is admitting that the allegations are indeed true.That is to say that Nelson Piquet Jr, son of the eponymous three-times world champion, a young man desperate to make his mark on the sport and yet struggling to keep up with its demands, was told to have an “accident” at the Singapore Grand Prix last September.As a result of his crash, Piquet’s team-mate, Fernando Alonso, was able to win a race he would otherwise have not, taking advantage of the safety procedures that are laid down in Formula One. Piquet was sacked by his team in July for his failure to bring in the results they wanted and turned whistleblower.After the usual bluster and cover-up, Renault — the company, not the Formula One team — has made its move. It will offer no defence to the charges and has parted company with the team principal, Flavio Briatore, and his No 2, Pat Symonds. That is what happens when leading commercial concerns get mixed up in sport: their ultimate goal is profit, not sporting success. They are in it for image. They want to be associated with glamour and with success, while the faintest hint of sordidness and cheating is anathema.This is no run-of-the-mill piece of skulduggery. The Renault team’s crime was not an act of cheating as mere fraudulence. Rather, it was cheating as a potentially lethal act; as potential murder, if you like. This is not melodramatic. Deaths in motor racing still happen. They are not a relic of the wizard-prang days. Deaths come from crashes, and no crash can be controlled.There have been two horrifying incidents this year alone. In a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch, Henry Surtees, son of the former world champion, John, was killed.He was struck by a wheel that escaped from another car that had crashed. In Formula One less than two months ago, Felipe Massa’s skull was fractured by a spring that flew from a car that was ahead of him during qualification for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Initially, there were fears for Massa’s life. Motor racing remains a very dangerous sport.It is supposed to be. Huge advances in safety measures have been made, but speed is by definition dangerous. Motor racing is dangerous for drivers, for pit-crews, for marshals and even on occasions for spectators. It follows, then, that to play fast and loose in this sport is breathtakingly irresponsible.The first person at risk was Piquet, obviously. He was 23, eaten up with ambition, out of his depth, desperate to please. It is all very well to say that he should have refused and got sacked: would you? After him, every other driver in the race was put at risk by the decision to crash on purpose. And after that, the lives of marshals and spectators were wilfully risked — and for what?A few points in a table. Money. Sporting prestige. Fame. Glory. It is this willingness to take risks with the lives of so many people, including those of bystanders, that separates this event of cheating from the many others that have occurred with such regularity throughout the chequered history of sport. This single incident is clearly different from long-term institutionalised cheating, of which the East German drugs programme is the most notorious.The most famous single-event cheat in sporting history is Ben Johnson, but what did he do? He took drugs to win the Olympic 100 metres final in 1988. His coach, Charlie Francis, must take at least equal responsibility. But it was only Johnson’s life and health that were at risk, not those of his fellow competitors and certainly not of the officials and spectators at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul.In recent weeks we have had the so-called “Bloodgate” scandal in rugby union. By comparison with the Renault affair, this is just farce: a comic episode in which fake blood was used in an attempt to gain a victory by fraudulent means.In football, the cheating issue that excites people is the faking of fouls: diving, simulation, whatever. In the most recent high-profile case, Eduardo da Silva, the Arsenal forward, was banned for simulation and then got off on appeal. Even had he been guilty, this would have been no more than a routine example of deception. No one from Celtic was in danger of dying.English football’s favourite example of cheating is Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal at the World Cup of 1986 that helped to eliminate England in the quarter-finals. This also had no lethal consequences; it was just a piece of urchin malice.Some examples of cheating, or alleged cheating, are more violent. In the Lions’ rugby union tour to New Zealand in 2005, their captain, Brian O’Driscoll, was driven into the ground by a spear-tackle by two All Blacks in the first international, a potentially crippling manoeuvre. The rugby authorities never charged Tana Umaga, the New Zealand captain, with wrongdoing; others have suggested that the tackle was recklessly dangerous and premeditated, as well as illegal.But “Crashgate” is the worst. This example of cheating passes all its single-event predecessors. The potentially lethal consequences of this act were beyond anyone’s control.What we must now ask is whether this is an isolated example of a total loss of perspective, or whether it is a straw that shows which way the winds of sport are blowing. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/for...icle6837713.ece

[Wavant]

What a madness.

[Flojo]

lol at any man telling me to crash'Yeah so Flojo if you could just ya know.....lose it a bit at that corner':mellow:

[carpedeum]

if this was hamilton and mclaren now the outcry would be crazy.quitting after all that talk about filing charges for blackmail in paris court

[Guest Swiftie]

if this was hamilton and mclaren now the outcry would be crazy.quitting after all that talk about filing charges for blackmail in paris court

My man was cush from time when he's been f*ckin with Bernie Ecclestone from their QPR links.

[The King]

Renault have escaped with a two-year suspended ban by the FIA after admitting they ordered former driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.However, former team principal Flavio Briatore, who issued Piquet the order and who left Renault last week, has been banned indefinitely from all Formula One activities, including driver management.Pat Symonds, the team's former executive director of engineering, has received a five-year ban for his part in the scandal while Piquet, who blew the whistle after being sacked by the team, had already been granted immunity from punishment.The Brazilian's former team-mate Fernando Alonso, who won the race after benefiting from the safety car period the crash brought about, was cleared of any involvement.Although the FIA admitted the "unparalleled severity" of the incident merited permanent disqualification, it instead suspended the punishment after taking into consideration the steps taken by Renault "to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved".The team have been told that the threat of a permanent ban will hang over them until the end of the 2011 season and will only be activated if they are found guilty of a similar charge."We apologised in front of the World Motor Sport Council," Renault F1 president Bernard Rey said after the 90-minute hearing, held in Paris. "We took full responsibility and we hope that we will enjoy better days in the future."The FIA has effectively handed Briatore a lifetime ban from motor sport, as well as determining he should not manage any drivers. The flamboyant Italian currently looks after the interests of four F1 drivers and, ironically, those of Piquet himself.ComplicitBriatore had insisted that no wrongdoing occurred during the race, held on September 28 last year, but the WMSC decided he was "complicit", also ruling that he continued "to deny his participation in the breach despite all the evidence".Symonds was given a more lenient sentence after accepting his part in the conspiracy, as well as communicating his "eternal regret and shame" to the 26 members of the council.According to the FIA, Renault made a number of points in mitigation, not least the acceptance "at the earliest practicable opportunity" that it "committed the offences with which it was charged and co-operated fully with the FIA's investigation".It confirmed "Mr Briatore and Mr Symonds were involved in the conspiracy and ensured that they left the team", that Renault apologised "unreservedly" to the FIA and were also committed to paying the costs incurred by the FIA in its investigation.Describing the action taken against Briatore, the FIA noted that it "does not intend to sanction any international event, championship, cup, trophy, challenge or series involving Mr Briatore in any capacity whatsoever, or grant any license to any team or other entity engaging Mr Briatore in any capacity whatsoever."It also hereby instructs all officials present at FIA-sanctioned events not to permit Mr Briatore access to any areas under the FIA's jurisdiction."Furthermore, it does not intend to renew any Superlicence granted to any driver who is associated (through a management contract or otherwise) with Mr Briatore, or any entity or individual associated with Mr Briatore."As well as having management contracts with Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen, Mark Webber, Romain Grosjean and Piquet Jnr, Briatore also has an involvement with the GP2 feeder series.'Right decision'Speaking after the hearing in relation to the penalty, FIA president Max Mosley said: "I think it's the right decision."I think the blame has been placed where the blame should be placed."The penalty we have imposed is the harshest one we can inflict, which is disqualification, and it is complete expulsion from the sport."However, because Renault have demonstrated they had absolutely no moral responsibility for what took place - that's to say Renault F1 the team didn't know, and still less of course the company - it would be wrong in the circumstances to impose an immediate penalty."As for Briatore, Mosley added: "It's sad because he's been in motor sport for 20 years, more actually."It's sad to see a career end like that, but what else could we do?"With regard Renault's future in F1, when asked whether they would remain in the sport, as they are committed to do through to the end of 2012, Mosley issued a firm "yes."

[yadunknojz09]

haha

[kahuna]

flav got dealt with