Briatore left "devastated" after lifetime ban, legal action against FIA

This is better than the National Enquirer at the grocery store aisles. AND now he plans to set up a rival series to F1??? I fear he may win his legal battle as already the outspoken Gracia has come to his defense - saying he was not able to defend himself......Mr. Gracia it's time to get your head out of the sand, it was Briatore who resigned for the good of the sport, does that not tell you something. (makes me think Gracia is another character in the Mad Max Puppet Show).

Flavio has only himself to blame for all this.....and being left without a means of making an income, there's always McDonalds.

Carol

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planet f1

Flavio Briatore has been left 'devastated' after receiving an effective lifetime from Formula One, according to reports in the Italian media on Tuesday.

The former Renault team principal received the punishment from the FIA on Monday after he ordered Nelson Piquet junior to crash his car during last year's Singapore GP.

Briatore, along with Renault engineering head Pat Symonds, resigned last week in the wake of the scandal.

"I am distraught," the 59-year-old Italian is quoted in Gazzetta dello Sport.

Reports claim he is planning on launching legal action against the FIA in the Paris courts in an attempt to prove his innocence and win compensation for the damage to his image. He is apparently also considering setting up a rival series to Formula One.

Meanwhile, head of the Spanish motorsport federation Carlos Gracia, who was quite outspoken about the FIA's decision to grant Piquet jr immunity from prosecution, feels Briatore's punishment is "excessive".

"Briatore's (penalty) seems to me excessive, there was no clear proof against him and he was not able to defend himself either," he told Spain's AS paper.

"Moreover, I wouldn't rule out him going to ordinary justice because he has been left without his means of earning a living."