A Summary of the Renault Case and How It Came To Be

Very interesting article. This part is very damning, IF true:

"After the meeting with Mr. Symonds and Mr. Briatore, Mr. Symonds took me aside to a quiet corner and, using a map, pointed me to the exact corner of the track where I should crash."

 

This bit interests me:
In particular, Symonds was adamant in his interview with the stewards that the idea for the crash had come from Piquet - and not from himself or Briatore.

"Mr Symonds said that it was NPJ who first suggested that a deliberate crash could be caused," he said. "The Stewards have not been able to put that allegation to NPJ prior to producing this report. Mr Symonds declined to give any more detail on this subject, either at interview on 27 or on 28 August."

With neither Symonds nor Briatore now expected to appear at Monday's FIA hearing, it may well come down to Piquet to explain where the first idea for the crash came from.

The other intriguing aspect is how much Alonso knew - either before or after the race - about the events that took place. The FIA investigations suggest that he was totally in the dark about what Symonds, Briatore and Piquet had agreed, yet there have to be some doubts as to why he would accept such a radical strategy before the event - and, for someone of his intelligence, would not have quietly questioned the perfect timing of Piquet's crash afterwards

So I don't know how it can be really proved who's idea it was, and whether Alonso was in on it. However it seems the FIA have concluded FA is in the clear.

 

Yeah, I read that earlier - Very interesting indeed.

My take is *only* Flabby, Pat and PK were "in" on the deal - This seems apparent if you read the radio transcripts - Everyone else appears to be in the dark.

As to Fred's "bizarre" strategy, I believe he said he leaves those decisions to Pat - Now, whether his engineers would/should have questioned such a fuel load is another question.

In this case I believe Fred's in the clear - Did he suspect a deliberate crash? Probably, but he did win the race so how many questions is he going to ask?.....

My 02c, cheers,
Ian

 

Another 100m Fine in the pipeline

 

Well yes Ian, however IMO FA knew or was given the nod and just "get on with job of driving/winning leave it to us, don't ask WHY low fuel just TRUST me!!.. sort of talk.

Not a cat in hells chance of proving otherwise, so he will be ok whether he knew or not it's not worth pursuing.

 

I'm not so sure - The crazy man is on record saying that, if proven, this is much more serious. [And for once I agree with him! - Sorry Steve ]

200MM? 500MM? I've got a feeling they're going to be stripped of all points in 2008, 2009 and may even be thrown out next year - Which may be want the BOD wants of course....

IMHO this, if proven, is beyond reprehensible. I suspect however that Renaults ability to supply engines to many teams next year may cut them some slack - The circus needs 'em....

Cheers,
Ian

 

+1

I wonder what his engineers thought though? - Nobody starts that far back that light - Pat must have carried some clout getting 'em to accept a bizarre strategy without question...

 

I think the telemetry is pretty conclusive. The radio transmissions are suspicious but the telemetry clearly is not anything anyone would normally do. Even Piquet's own mechanic thought it was suspicious after the race.

Did Piquet crash intentionally to aid in Alonso's fuel strategy? I think that's extremely clear. The only question left is who told him to do it. Certainly, Piquet didn't dream this up himself because it needed the complete coordination of the fuel load in Alonso's car, the exact pit stop strategy, and the exact timing and location of Piquet's crash.

This is not going to end pretty. The integraty of race results in F-1 are now in question. The sport must make sure that the penalties indicate that it will never be tolerated again.

Piquet's career is over. Flav can go retire, screw more fashion models, and hope he doesn't end up in jail somewhere. For Renault, it's a horrible blow. No one wants to be associated with a cheater.

There are no winners here. It's amazing Flav thought there could be.

Blame the Piquet's for spilling the beans or even blackmailing the team bosses but you have to remember: there is no honor amongst theives.

 

Well, the sad part is there may be more of this going on.

Tragic barely describes it.

 

Basically, FA had to be either a moron or a cheat. The FIA concluded he's a moron lol

 

Very true Ian.

 

LOL one way of looking at it John ..

 

At worst FA turned a blind eye. Does anyone think that it would occur to him that Jr. would do something as drastic as intentionally crash? He might have reason to believe that there was something in the works that was not being shared with him but we can't assume that he KNEW that it was something as extreme as what transpired.
He was the beneficiary of the crime but that alone does not establish guilt. A reasonable man might suspect that something was afoot but did he have a LEGAL responsibility to take preemptive action? Personally I don't think that falls within his job description.