from planet f1 Disgraced former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore faces being kicked out of English football where he is part-owner of Queens Park Rangers. On Wednesday, Renault announced that Briatore, who is at the heart of the 2008 Singapore GP race-fixing scandal, had left the team, although it wasn't stated whether he walked or was pushed. Despite Briatore's departure, Renault still have to face next Monday's World Motor Sport Council hearing during which it is believed Briatore, together with the team's director of engineering Pat Symonds, will be banned from Formula One. "The WMSC could consider taking the step of banning Briatore and Symonds from future F1 office, even though it is Renault facing the charges," a F1 source told The Sun. And should that happen, Briatore faces being kicked out of his own football club as the rules state that any shareholder or director who is banned by recognised sport's governing body must be removed. "F1 is included on the list of recognised organisations, so the situation is potentially embarrassing for QPR," said a source. Briatore took over QPR with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone back in 2007.
Formula 1 became a joke ever since M.Schumacher had left it. Spy scandals, silly rules, fixed races, Badoer in for ferrari...etc
Based on the rules of the football club, sounds like he should transfer all his holdings to his wife. (recently done in nascar, wifey became team/car owner) Carol
Let's not forget that in 1997 (last race of the year in Jerez), Michael intentionally crashed into JV and was subsequently stripped of all of his championship points for that year. Michael has called this incident the biggest regret of his career. Of course, before that, we had Senna intentionally crashing into Prost, so the intentional crash event is certainly not without precedent. The difference here, I suppose, is that rather than a driver acting on his own we have a coordinated team strategy involving the intentional crash designed to promote the other team car. That may be unprecedented.
LOL..According to reports the Fit and Proper test might become applicable to Briatore under the rule that nobody can be a director or hold a majority interest in a club if they are subject to a ban from a sports governing body relating to the administration of their sport. Its gonna get worse for old flabbly before it gets better thats for sure. Live by the sword die by it..
You know what, you are right, BUT Schumacher made the call there... it was not like the team conspired to have him do it, etc... even if he talked to everyone else about it... he had to pull the trigger... F-1 has always had cheating going on, so nobody should be suprised, but when you double cross a driver like Piquet, what do you expect... that's the shame of it all. Everybody pretend that they are so honest ... which cant be futher from the truth... I just dont like Briatore, the smug, euro trashy I know better than everybody kind of attitude, so I'm glad he is out. Symmonds - I think just got caught out, too bad, but when you cut cards with el diablo...
Flavio should find a nice island to live on (Mustique?), fly in chicks to bang, and tell the rest of the world to **** off. This is becoming a witch hunt.
Flav treated PK like cannon fodder to pamper FA, while FA was at Mclaren ohh there favouring LH BS!! FA brided and tried to pay his engineers a bonus for getting his car better than LH until Ron Dennis stopped it! I have no sympathy whatsoever for Flav and Co. If FA wasn't as good a driver as he is, he would be fired off as well IMO.
I'll be interested to see how this is handled in terms of Flav's management of other racing drivers. Will this be a mass exodus or will some drivers remain under his management.
You're joking, right? I've been following it for over 40 years and while I know they cheat and lie I'm going to stick my neck out and say that *never* has a driver been to told to crash on a specific lap, at a specific corner..... I'm not "shocked" so much as *outraged* - Suppose a spectator had been killed? Fortunately, no one was hurt, but I reckon a good attorney could make a case for "endangering the public" or similar. And, please don't bring up the "motor racing is dangerous, attend at your risk" argument - This is very, very different IMHO. My 02c, cheers, Ian PS - ROTFL at Dave's ultimate conspiracy theory - It's all the pygmy's doing to get Flabby out from QPR! - Awesome
"Flavio's a crook and a sly Italian businessman", those were the prophetic words of JJ Lehto from the 90's after he'd gone thru the Flavio meat grinder. More recently many have accused him of mentally destroying Kovalainen, including Ron Dennis. Hard to say but I tend to think that those guys never really had what it takes to become a F1 WDC. Crook or not, Flavio was the enabler of both Schumi and Alonso. That's NINE (9) F1 WDC's in the last 15 years. That was not an accident or dumb luck. On some levels, Flavio's a brilliant guy and certainly knows how to spot and foster talent. Of course, that does not explain his involvement with Piquet Jr. I think that in the bigger scheme of things Flavio was much more important to F1 than Alonso. While I don't condone his actions in Singapore I'm actually sad too see him go.
Schumi at Jerez was all human emotion and tactic.This crashgate sage has no surprise to me.I have to be some type of psycic.In an interview with F1Racing earlier this year,Piquet was asked by a fan if he intentionally had crashed.Piquet says with a straight face "are you kidding me?I crashed and risked my life so my teamate can win".Ever since it has been at the back of mind saying it's only a matter of time before it's brought to the table.
Yes no problem with that. IMO The reason Flav got NPJ is for one reason to play rear gunner for FA, No way did he want a team mate that would give him a race, but he couldn't even do that so he come up with this plan.
I certainly agree on the silly rules... I think the FIA has been introducing all manner of rules to try to fabricate variability of the race result - thinking that's what the fans want to see. In fact, I don't want to see variability, I want to see the best of the best fight it out. Some of the most enjoyable F1 racing I'd ever seen was watching Michael Schumacher duel with Fernando Alonso. And those were years when nobody else was really in the hunt... two man shoot outs for the title are exciting! As for Briatore... there's bending the rules (forgiveable) and there's blatant cheating (as we've seen here). It may be called a witch hunt by some, but BAR Honda was punished severely for a mere misinterpretation of the rules a few years ago... for something like this, you'd expect the perpetrators to be hung out to dry. All the best, Andrew.
I know he cheated. I know he lied. I know he put lives at danger. I know he has to go. But a little part of me rues the loss of another one of the great characters that made racing the wonderfully human sport it used to be. Max and the machine win another round.
We have no idea if this idea was part of a team discussion before the race or not, thus we assume it was just MS making the call. Considering he fncked it up so badly, would make you wounder if it was a team tactic and he was too slow to act ... F1 should close shop ... and I'm serious. Pete
