917962:
It's amazing to me that Renault got off this lightly. It seems that the WMSC didn't want to loose another manufacturer. My only issue is the instability in their decision making. Look at what McLaren was hit with when it was found that a few people had Ferrari technical information. I think that both teams should have been punished but that the disparity between the punishments is troubling. I guess we should all be used to this by now.
Now I have Renault right where I want them!
Maybe the fact that Renault has handled the situation in a complete different way than McLaren did has had some influence in the veredict....
Sep 22, 2009 1:02:27 PM
Very perceptive blog from Andrew Benson of the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2009/09/f1_must_dig_deep_to_discover_t.html
Piquet apologises:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8267241.stm
Flavio Briatore may have to end his connection with Queen's Park Rangers Football Club because of this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/8260661.stm
Rennteam Moderator - 997.1 C2S Coupe GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection
Sep 24, 2009 8:11:40 AM
That guy is busy, dont worry for him:
http://www.billionairecouture.com/
http://www.billionaireclub.it/
I'm confused -
1) Nelsinho apologizes for not following his heart and following team orders (and regrets it)
2) Pat Symonds apologizes for not following his heart and following Nelsinho's suggestion (and regrets it)
3) Neither implicates Flavio
4) Flavio gets banned for life
WTF is happening here?! I smell the smelliest rat there can be!! Who inititated crashgate - Nelsinho or Symonds? IMO it has to be Symonds, as which driver would ever suggest such bullshit? But this is just that - opinions - no facts have emerged from the case. And just because Symonds apologised, he got a lower sentence? How naiive do they think we are?!
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Actually, it's Piquet Jr and his father that went to Max to blow the whistle on Flavio, who, btw is the one who fired him but it's also his business manager. Jr thinks he had fulfilled his obligation to Flavio by crashing the car to ensure his seat, that didn't happen so the dirty laundry went out. he was given immunity to testify.
Symonds was also initially offered immunity to testify which he did and named Jr as the one drumming up the idea.
A witness X from the team also testified and he echoed Jr's general statements, which makes Symonds testimony invalid.
Briatore is the mastermind so he gets the lifetime ban. Symonds had the immunity but it still amounts to 5 years because he had provided false statements.
Jr got the full immunity for being the whistler blower together with witness X, who remains unknown to protect his identity for future ratting.
Alonso got off clean because people buy his innocent theory.
Renault got off lightly because Max didn't want to push out Renault, he's afraid that Renault is going to pull out if it was punished any heavier.
Sep 25, 2009 10:20:45 AM
Renault F1 has just lost 2 sponsors because of this scandal:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8273965.stm
Renault says it intends to continue in F1 but without sponsorship money, how is this possible?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8270849.stm
I would have thought Renault may quietly pull out of F1 during the winter months...
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Rennteam Moderator - 997.1 Carrera S Coupe GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection
Sep 25, 2009 10:21:41 AM
And Bernie Ecclestone now thinks that the lifetime ban on Flavio Briatore is too harsh:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8272812.stm
Rennteam Moderator - 997.1 Carrera S Coupe GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection
Sep 25, 2009 10:25:52 AM
Sep 25, 2009 10:32:07 AM
ING had already announced (some months ago) that it was ending F1 sponsorship at the end of the 2009 season - that included Renault sponsorship and sponsorship of about 4 F1 races. But this Renault scandal has just brought forward the end of ING's sponsorship of Renault i.e. it is happening with immediate effect and not as of the end of the 2009 season.
I don't blame them - they are a Dutch bank/insurance group that has tried hard to build its brand image. The last thing they want is to be associated with a team that cheated. People are especially careful about where they deposit their savings nowadays...
ING survived the 2008-2009 global financial crisis but has been cutting costs drastically to stay afloat.
Rennteam Moderator - 997.1 Carrera S Coupe GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection
Sep 25, 2009 1:20:25 PM
Sep 25, 2009 2:24:01 PM
Sep 25, 2009 8:23:28 PM
Sep 26, 2009 5:56:19 AM
ING pulled off their car sponsorship but to what end? The scandal happened last year and the offending parties are now gone from Renault.
If anything they could have used this to leverage for a more favorable rate for the following season.
...the only thing stopping you in all likelihood, is you!
Heist:
ING pulled off their car sponsorship but to what end? The scandal happened last year and the offending parties are now gone from Renault.
If anything they could have used this to leverage for a more favorable rate for the following season.
Instead they used this situation as an opportunity to get themselves out of their sponsorship contract with Renault earlier than they would otherwise have been able to.
There will surely have been a clause in there enabling them to do so legally, if they could show that Renault was somehow in default.
fritz
fritz:
Heist:
ING pulled off their car sponsorship but to what end? The scandal happened last year and the offending parties are now gone from Renault.
If anything they could have used this to leverage for a more favorable rate for the following season.
Instead they used this situation as an opportunity to get themselves out of their sponsorship contract with Renault earlier than they would otherwise have been able to.
There will surely have been a clause in there enabling them to do so legally, if they could show that Renault was somehow in default.
Thanks fritz, that might also be part of the reason why this all comes to light after so long...