Renault Formula One crash controversy
Encyclopedia
The Renault Formula One crash controversy, dubbed Crashgate by some in the media, is a sporting scandal perpetrated by the Renault F1
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...

 team who ordered Nelson Piquet, Jr. to crash deliberately during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix
2008 Singapore Grand Prix
The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, formally known as the 2008 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, was a Formula One race held on 28 September 2008 at the newly built Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore...

, in order to gain a sporting advantage for his Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....

.

On 28 September 2008, on the fourteenth lap of the Singapore race, the Renault R28
Renault R28
The Renault R28 is a Formula One racing car, with which Renault F1 contested the 2008 Formula One season.-Launch: Similarly to Honda, Renault arrived at Valencia with their contender a week before its official launch, giving the first laps of the R28 to Fernando Alonso on the January 21 2008...

 driven by Piquet crashed into the circuit wall at turn seventeen, necessitating a safety car
Safety car
In motorsport, a safety car or pace car is a car which limits the speed of competing cars on a racetrack in the case of a caution period such as an obstruction on the track. During a caution period the safety car enters the track ahead of the leader...

 deployment. The other Renault driver, Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....

, subsequently went on to win the race. Piquet described his crash at the time as a simple mistake.

After being dropped by the Renault team following the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix
2009 Hungarian Grand Prix
The 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 26, 2009 at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, north of Budapest, Hungary. It was the tenth race of the 2009 Formula One season. The race, contested over 70 laps, was won by world champion Lewis Hamilton for McLaren-Mercedes,...

, Piquet alleged that he had been asked by the team to deliberately crash to improve the race situation for Alonso, sparking an investigation of Renault F1 for race fixing by Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...

 (FIA), the Formula One governing body. After an investigation, Renault F1 were charged with conspiracy on 4 September, and were to answer the charge on 21 September 2009.

On 16 September Renault stated that they would not contest the charges, and announced that the team's managing director, Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore is an Italian businessman. During the 1980s, he was convicted for multiple counts of fraud, receiving two prison sentences, only one of which he served. As a fugitive from Italy, he set up restaurants and then a number of successful Benneton franchises in the Virgin Islands and the...

, and its executive director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...

 of engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

, Pat Symonds
Pat Symonds
Patrick Bruce Reith Symonds is the former Executive Director of Engineering of the Renault Formula One team....

, had left the team.

On 21 September it was announced that the Renault F1 team had been handed a disqualification from Formula One, which was suspended
Suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a legal term for a judge's delaying of a defendant's serving of a sentence after they have been found guilty, in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation...

 for two years pending any further comparable rule infringements. Briatore was suspended from all Formula One events and FIA-sanctioned events indefinitely, whilst Symonds received a five-year ban. Their bans were subsequently overturned by a French court, although they both agreed not to work in Formula One or FIA-sanctioned events as part of a later settlement reached with the governing body.

Renault F1

The Renault F1
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...

 Formula One team came into existence with the car manufacturer Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

's re-entrance into Formula One in 2000, by purchasing the Benetton Formula One team. Italian businessman Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore is an Italian businessman. During the 1980s, he was convicted for multiple counts of fraud, receiving two prison sentences, only one of which he served. As a fugitive from Italy, he set up restaurants and then a number of successful Benneton franchises in the Virgin Islands and the...

 had been managing director of Benetton until 1997, when he was replaced by Subaru
Subaru World Rally Team
The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003...

 WRC
WRC
WRC may refer to:Auto racing:* World Rally Championship* World Rally CarVideo games:* World Rally Championship * WRC: Rally Evolved* WRC: FIA World Rally Championship Broadcasting stations:...

 team boss David Richards
David Richards (racing)
David Pender Richards CBE is the chairman of Prodrive and Aston Martin, and a former team principal of the BAR and Benetton Formula One motor racing teams. He lives with his wife, Karen, in Warwickshire and has three children....

. After managing Renault's motorsport sister company Mecachrome
Mecachrome
Mecachrome SAS is a precision engineering company involved in aviation, the automotive industry, motor racing and industrial engineering, but is most famous for assembling the engines designed by Renault for the Renault Formula One team.-Formula One:...

, he returned to the main team following the Renault takeover, again as managing director. In addition to his Formula One sporting interests, as of August 2007, Briatore was Chairman and part owner of the English football club Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

 (QPR), which he purchased jointly with Formula One president Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone is an English business magnate, as president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration and through his part-ownership of Alpha Prema, the parent company of the Formula One Group of companies. As such, he is generally considered the primary...

, being joined later by funds from Indian industrialist Lakshmi Mittal
Lakshmi Mittal
Lakshmi Narayan Mittal is an Indian steel magnate. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company....

.

Spanish racing driver Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....

 had been involved in Formula One since 2001, and drove for the team from 2002
2002 Formula One season
The 2002 Formula One season was the 53rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 3, 2002, and ended on October 13 after seventeen races....

 to 2006
2006 Formula One season
The 2006 Formula One season was the 57th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship which began on March 12 and ended on October 22 after eighteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Fernando Alonso of Renault F1 for the second year in a...

. After becoming World Champion in 2005 and 2006 and a one-year stint with McLaren
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...

, he returned to the team in 2008. English engineer Pat Symonds
Pat Symonds
Patrick Bruce Reith Symonds is the former Executive Director of Engineering of the Renault Formula One team....

 had risen to his position as Executive Director of Engineering with Renault F1 having worked for the Benetton team, and having entered Formula One with Benetton's predecessor Toleman Motosport
Toleman
Toleman Motosport was a Formula One constructor based in the UK. It was active between 1981 and 1985 and attended 70 Grands Prix.-Origins:In the 1970s, businessmen and motorsport fans Ted Toleman and Alex Hawkridge began their involvement in various car racing formulae in the UK. Ted was also noted...

 in the early 1980s. Brazilian racing car driver Nelson Piquet, Jr. – son of the Formula One triple-world champion Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan...

 – joined the Renault F1 team as the second car driver alongside Alonso for the 2008 season, having been their reserve and test driver during 2007. Since October 2006, Piquet Jr. was also personally contracted to Flavio Briatore's management company FFBB. Before the Singapore incident, Renault F1 had not won a race for almost two years (the last Grand Prix won was on 8 October 2006, the Japanese Grand Prix
2006 Japanese Grand Prix
The 2006 Japanese Grand Prix was the seventeenth race of the 2006 Formula One season. It was held between 6–8 October at Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka. It was won by Fernando Alonso, his last win for the Renault team before he moved to McLaren the following season...

), and were said to be close to quitting the sport.

2008 Singapore Grand Prix


The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix
2008 Singapore Grand Prix
The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, formally known as the 2008 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, was a Formula One race held on 28 September 2008 at the newly built Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore...

 was the fifteenth race of the 2008 Formula One season
2008 Formula One season
The 2008 Formula One season was the 59th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on 16 March and ended on 2 November with eighteen Grand Prix races....

, and took place on 28 September 2008. The race was Formula One's first night race. On the race weekend, despite Alonso being close to the top in practice, Renault had a poor qualifying session and started well down the grid, with Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....

 starting in fifteenth place, and Nelson Piquet, Jr. alongside him in sixteenth. Alonso was eliminated during qualifying because of mechanical failure.

After the race started, Alonso was the first driver to make a routine pit stop
Pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...

 for fuel and tyres on lap twelve, rejoining the race at the back of the field. He had put in a light fuel load in an attempt to pass the cars in front of him; most drivers that qualify in low positions tend to do the opposite and go for heavier fuel loads to make one less pit stop (~30secs each in terms of time loss) than the leaders, as they do not want to waste a light car and an extra pit stop for a faster car that is stuck behind slower vehicles. Three laps later, Nelson Piquet Jr. hit the circuit wall at turn seventeen, one of the turns on the circuit which did not have a crane nearby, necessitating the deployment of the safety car
Safety car
In motorsport, a safety car or pace car is a car which limits the speed of competing cars on a racetrack in the case of a caution period such as an obstruction on the track. During a caution period the safety car enters the track ahead of the leader...

.

The long-standing rule was that the pit lane remained open during safety car incidents, and because the cars had to travel slowly behind the safety car, teams took advantage of this to pit immediately and re-enter the race with less loss of track position. However, the regulations in 2008 ruled that the pit lane was closed until all cars were picked up by the safety car, meaning that the advantage of the lead cars would be eliminated before they were able to pit, and afterwards they would re-enter the race at the back of the queue. Under the previous regulations, the leaders could quickly pit before they were hauled up and their lead eliminated, meaning that they could still resume a front-running position. Some drivers needed to stop while the pits were closed to avoid running out of fuel, so they were handed penalties for their infractions.

Most of the leading cars ended up behind Alonso and some slower drivers, who proved difficult to pass on the narrow circuit, while those ahead of Alonso were lighter on fuel and were able to pull away, but had not pitted. After gaining the lead in the final third of the race, Alonso went on to win the race.

No action was initially taken over the crash. Piquet Jr. initially characterised the crash as a simple mistake. In the post-race press release from Renault F1, the team described Alonso's performance as a "brilliant tactical drive", while both Briatore and Symonds attributed the safety car deployment as a case of good luck. Following the race, freelance Formula One journalist Joe Saward
Joe Saward
Joe Saward is a British Formula One journalist. He was educated at Haileybury College and attained a degree in history at Bedford College, University of London. In 1984 he joined Autosport magazine in London. He began reporting on Formula One in 1988, working alongside Nigel Roebuck and remained...

, writing on grandprix.com, stated that "some cynics" were questioning the incident, but dismissed it with the opinion that "one likes to believe that no team would ever be so desperate as to have a driver throw his car at a wall". According to the Brazilian television station Rede Globo
Rede Globo
Rede Globo , or simply Globo, is a Brazilian television network, launched by media mogul Roberto Marinho on April 26, 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Organizações Globo, being by far the largest of its holdings...

, Brazilian driver Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:...

, who finished the Singapore race in thirteenth having been leading at the time of Piquet Jr.'s crash, and eventually lost the 2008 World Championship to Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...

 by one point, did question Briatore about the crash at the time, although FIA president Max Mosley
Max Mosley
Max Rufus Mosley is the former president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile , a non-profit association that represents the interests of motoring organisations and car users worldwide...

 stated the sport could take no action based on "speculation".

Piquet Jr. leaves Renault

Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....

 ended the 2008 season fifth in the Drivers Championship with 61 points, while Nelson Piquet, Jr. finished in twelfth place, with 19 points. Their collective total earned Renault F1
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...

 fourth place in the Constructors Championship. Despite rumours that he was set to leave the team, Renault re-signed Piquet Jr. on a one-year contract for the 2009 season
2009 Formula One season
The 2009 Formula One season was the 60th FIA Formula One World Championship season. The season took place over 17 rounds, and started with the on 29 March 2009. It ended on 1 November 2009 with the inaugural ....

, once again alongside Alonso. By the tenth race of the 2009 season
2009 Formula One season
The 2009 Formula One season was the 60th FIA Formula One World Championship season. The season took place over 17 rounds, and started with the on 29 March 2009. It ended on 1 November 2009 with the inaugural ....

, Piquet Jr. had failed to score any points whereas Alonso had managed 13 for the team. On 3 August 2009, Piquet confirmed that he had been dropped by Renault. The departure was acrimonious, with Piquet Jr. criticising his former Renault F1 team and Briatore.

Initial reports and investigation

On 30 August 2009, reports by the Brazilian television station Rede Globo
Rede Globo
Rede Globo , or simply Globo, is a Brazilian television network, launched by media mogul Roberto Marinho on April 26, 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Organizações Globo, being by far the largest of its holdings...

 stated that Nelson Piquet Jr. was ordered to crash during the Singapore race. Formula One's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...

 (FIA), immediately announced it was investigating "alleged incidents at a previous F1 event". It was widely reported that the race in question was the Singapore 2008 race.

Renault charged

On 4 September, following the investigation by the FIA, Renault F1 were formally accused of interfering with the outcome of the 2008 Singapore race and conspiring with Piquet Jr. In a statement, the FIA stated that the charges against Renault F1 included "a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, that the team conspired with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, 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." The team was called to a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council
FIA World Motor Sport Council
The World Motor Sport Council is the most powerful body of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . It decides on rules and regulations for the FIA's various racing series, from karting to Formula One. Its membership is chosen by the FIA General Assembly, which contains representatives from...

 in Paris on 21 September, days before the 2009 running of the Singapore Grand Prix. After being charged, the Renault F1 team stated that they would be making no comments until the hearing.

Leaked evidence

On 10 September, Piquet Jr. made the second of two statements to the FIA. On the same day, a transcript of Piquet Jr's first statement to the FIA made at their Headquarters in Paris on 30 July was published by F1SA.com (the F1 Supporters Association). In response to questions over its authenticity, the FIA president Max Mosley stated "I haven't seen anything which I believe to be a forgery." In the transcript, Piquet Jr. states that he was asked by Briatore and Symonds to crash his car at a specific corner. Alonso denied knowing of any plan to ask Piquet to crash, stating "I cannot imagine these things, these situations. It's something that never entered my mind." Nelson Piquet Jr. questioned whether Alonso knew that a crash was planned, citing that in his place, he would have questioned Renault's "senseless" Alonso race strategy of starting with a low fuel load and making an early pit stop
Pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...

 on the twelfth lap. During the course of the investigation and before the WMSC hearing, Alonso was absolved of any blame by the FIA. On 11 September, Max Mosley, the FIA president confirmed Piquet Jr. would face no action after making his two statements, even if the case was found in favour of Renault.

Renault commence legal action

On 11 September, the day after Piquet Jr.'s statement to the FIA was leaked, Renault F1 stated that it intended to take legal action against Nelson Piquet Jr and his father in both French and British courts, stating that "...today the ING Renault F1 Team and its managing director Flavio Briatore personally wish to state they have commenced criminal proceedings against Nelson Piquet Jr and Nelson Piquet Sr in France concerning the making of false allegations and a related attempt to blackmail the team into allowing Mr Piquet Jr to drive for the remainder of the 2009 season". In response to the legal action, Piquet Jr. stated "Because I am telling the truth I have nothing to fear, whether from the Renault team or Mr Briatore – and while I am well aware of the power and influence of those being investigated, and the vast resources at their disposal, I will not be bullied again into making a decision I regret".

On the 7 December 2010 it was announced that Nelson Piquet Jr and his father had won a libel case against Renault at the High Court based on the allegations described above. Renault apologised to the Piquets and paid them substantial damages. Admitting they libeled the duo, a Renault statement read: "The team accepts, as it did before the World Motor Sport Council, that the allegations made by Nelson Piquet Junior were not false. As a result, these serious allegations contained in our press release were wholly untrue and unfounded, and we withdraw them unequivocally. We would like to apologise unreservedly to Mr Piquet Junior and his father for the distress and embarrassment caused as a result. As a mark of the sincerity of our apology and regret, we have agreed to pay them a substantial amount of damages for libel as well as their costs, and have undertaken not to repeat these allegations at any time in the future. It also accepts that Mr Piquet Junior and his father did not invent these allegations in order to blackmail the team into allowing him to drive for them for the remainder of the 2009 season."

On 14 September, Pat Symonds was also reported to have been offered immunity from action if he provided the FIA with details of the alleged conspiracy. Symonds was reported to have told FIA investigators that the initial idea of a crash had come from Piquet Jr.

On 15 September, The Times newspaper published extracts of Renault F1 radio conversations transmitted before and after the Singapore race between Renault F1 personnel including Piquet Jr., Alonso, Symonds and Briatore.

Briatore and Symonds depart Renault

On 16 September the Renault F1 team announced it would not be contesting the charges at the meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September, and stated that both Briatore and Symonds had left the team.
The FIA confirmed that the 21 September meeting would still go ahead following the departure of Briatore and Symonds, with sanctions against Renault F1 still possible. The day after the Renault announcement, Renault confirmed Briatore had resigned from the team, while Briatore himself stated of his departure that "I was just trying to save the team", "It's my duty. That's the reason I've finished."

World Motorsports Council meeting

The extraordinary meeting of the World Motorsports Council took place on 21 September 2009 in Paris. After a ninety-minute hearing, the council imposed a disqualification on Renault, suspending
Suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a legal term for a judge's delaying of a defendant's serving of a sentence after they have been found guilty, in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation...

 them for two years. This meant that if a similar incident occurred before 2011, Renault will be banned from Formula One. Briatore was banned indefinitely from any FIA-sanctioned event, while Symonds received a five-year ban. Furthermore, Briatore was indefinitely banned from managing drivers when the FIA stated that superlicences would not be issued or renewed to any driver associated with him in the future. Alonso was cleared of wrongdoing; the FIA found no evidence that he or his mechanics knew anything about the scheme.

The council came down hard on Briatore because he denied his involvement despite overwhelming evidence. In announcing the sanctions, the council stated that Renault's actions were serious enough to merit being thrown out of Formula One altogether. However, it opted to impose a suspended sentence because Renault took swift action in forcing Briatore and Symonds to resign. The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is often referred to in popular parlance. It had an...

 described the de facto lifetime ban on Briatore as the harshest sanction ever imposed on an individual in the history of motorsport.

A major contribution to the punishment of Briatore and Symonds was the testimony of the unnamed "Witness X", a Renault employee who was also present at the pre-race meeting but rejected the idea. The Daily Mail has reported that Witness X was Alan Permane, the team's chief race engineer.

Reaction

After Renault F1 were formally charged, the alleged offence was thought to be unprecedented within Formula One. The scandal followed two recent Formula One cheating scandals: a case of industrial espionage between teams
2007 Formula One espionage controversy
The 2007 Formula One espionage controversy, also known as "Spygate," or "Stepneygate" involves allegations that the McLaren Formula One team was passed confidential technical information from the Ferrari team, and that the Renault F1 team was passed confidential technical information from the...

 (including Renault F1); and an instance of the 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...

 being found to have lied to race stewards
2009 Australian Grand Prix
The 2009 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 29 March 2009 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia. It was the first race of the 2009 Formula One season. The race, contested over 58 laps, was won by Jenson Button for the Brawn GP team after...

 in March 2009.

The scandal interrupted the team's parent company Renault S.A.
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

's launch of four electric vehicles at the Frankfurt Motor Show after journalists questioned Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn
Carlos Ghosn
Carlos Ghosn, KBE , born 9 March 1954, is a Brazilian-Lebanese-French businessman who is currently the Chairman and CEO of Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan and holds the same positions at Paris-based Renault, which together produce more than one in 10 cars worldwide...

 over the affair, who directed all inquiries to Bernard Rey, chairman of Renault F1. On 17 September, Patrick Pelata, Renault S.A.'s
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

 chief operating officer
Chief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...

, first representative from Renault to officially comment on the Singapore crash affair, stated that "The [Renault F1] team believes that a mistake has been made, and punishment must follow. Flavio Briatore considered himself to be morally responsible and resigned" and that the team would defer making a decision on the future options for the team. Pelata added that he did not wish the actions of Briatore and Symonds to "reflect upon the whole company and the entire Formula 1 team". In addition, Ghosn also called for calm and for Renault to "not react in the heat of the moment" while the Renault F1 team collaborated with the authorities, adding that "I am confident when the facts are established, we can take a very clear decision".

Former Jordan Grand Prix
Jordan Grand Prix
Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan...

 F1 team principal Eddie Jordan
Eddie Jordan
Edmund "Eddie" Jordan also known as "EJ" founded and owned Jordan Grand Prix, a Formula One constructor which operated from 1991 to 2005...

 believed that the departure of Briatore and Symonds from Renault on 16 September was an effective admission of guilt. Former three-time Formula One World Champion and former team
Stewart Grand Prix
Stewart Grand Prix is a former Formula One constructor and racing team. The team was formed by three times Formula One champion Jackie Stewart and his son Paul Stewart in 1996. The team competed in F1, as the Ford works-supported team, for only three seasons, from 1997 to 1999...

 owner Sir Jackie Stewart
Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am...

 said of the Singapore scandal that "There is something fundamentally rotten and wrong at the heart of Formula One. Never in my experience has Formula One been in such a mood of self-destruction. Millions of fans are amazed, if not disgusted, at a sport which now goes from crisis to crisis with everyone blaming everyone else." Former three-time Formula One World Champion and former Jaguar Racing
Jaguar Racing
Jaguar Racing was a Formula One team that competed in the FIA Formula One World Championship from 2000 to 2004. It was formed from the purchase by Ford of Jackie Stewart's Stewart Grand Prix Formula One team in June 1999. Ford renamed the team Jaguar Racing as part of its global marketing...

 team manager Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.- Early years in racing :Born in Vienna,...

, while comparing the Singapore incident to the 2007 espionage scandal
2007 Formula One espionage controversy
The 2007 Formula One espionage controversy, also known as "Spygate," or "Stepneygate" involves allegations that the McLaren Formula One team was passed confidential technical information from the Ferrari team, and that the Renault F1 team was passed confidential technical information from the...

 declared that "This [the Singapore crash incident], though, is new. The biggest damage ever. Now the FIA must punish Renault heavily to restore credibility in the sport." Former 1996 F1 World Champion Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...

 described the Singapore crash as "not a very good episode" for the sport and said of the future of F1 that "I'm concerned the sport is going to suffer as a genuine challenge, which is what I always felt it should be and would like it to be, of skill and competitiveness". Former racing driver Eddie Irvine
Eddie Irvine
Edmund "Eddie" Irvine, Jr. is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He grew up in Conlig, County Down, and was influenced by his parents, who were also involved in motor racing...

, who retired from Formula One at the end of 2002, believed that the response to the Singapore incident had been an overreaction, stating that "This [Singapore incident] is probably slightly on the wrong side of the cheating thing but in days past every team have done whatever they could to win – cheat, bend the rules, break the rules, sabotage opponents", "[t]his is just the FIA going on a crusade". He also speculated that the FIA would be lenient on Renault F1 and not expel them, due to the sport's current "shaky" condition after recent team departures.

Chief Sportswriter Simon Barnes
Simon Barnes
Simon Barnes is an English journalist. He is currently Chief Sports Writer of The Times. He also writes a column on wildlife in the Saturday edition of The Times....

 of British newspaper The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

 sparked debate over the incident when he labelled it "the worst single piece of cheating in the history of sport" primarily because of its "potentially lethal consequences" to Piquet, the other drivers, marshals and spectators. Supporting Barnes, The Times motor racing correspondent Edward Gorman cited the alleged top level pre-conceived elements of conspiracy that sought to sacrifice one team member to benefit another to put the incident on a par with controversies such as Ben Johnson, horse doping and illegal keels used in the America's Cup
America's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...

. Gorman then postulated that this incident was worse than those because Briatore and Symonds set in motion "an event of violent destruction, the consequences of which they could neither predict nor control." Matthew Syed
Matthew Syed
Matthew Syed is a British journalist and broadcaster. He used to be an English table tennis international, and was the English number one for many years...

 countered that while the incident was premeditated, "unspeakably unethical" and dangerous, it was not nearly as reckless as the East German athletics doping scandal
Doping in East Germany
East Germany conducted a decades long program to feed performance-enhancing drugs to their athletes. The drug regimes, given either with or without the knowledge of the athletes, resulted in victories in international competitions, including the Olympics.Systematic doping of athletes ended with the...

 and other instances of long-term doping. Syed also argued that the Renault team would not have been expecting injuries to result from the crash, in contrast to incidents such as the assault on ice skater Nancy Kerrigan
Nancy Kerrigan
Nancy Ann Kerrigan is a two-time American Olympic figure skating medalist and 1993 U.S. champion.-Early life and skating career:...

.

Responding to Flavio Briatore's resignation from Renault F1, Formula One Management's Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone is an English business magnate, as president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration and through his part-ownership of Alpha Prema, the parent company of the Formula One Group of companies. As such, he is generally considered the primary...

 stated that "It is a pity that Flavio has ended his Formula One career in this way", "You can't defend him at all. What he did was completely unnecessary. It's a pity that it's happened", although Ecclestone denied that the scandal would 'finish' the sport, citing the sport's recovery from the death of Ayrton Senna
Death of Ayrton Senna
The death of three-time Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna on May 1, 1994, occurred as a result of his car crashing into a concrete barrier while he was leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy. The previous day, Roland Ratzenberger had been killed...

 and the retirement of seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...

.

Main sponsors leave Renault F1

In response to the scandal, Renault's main sponsors ING
ING Group
The ING Group is a global financial institution offering retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, asset management, and insurance services. ING is the Dutch member of the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, a cooperative consortium of 11 prominent European banks...

 and Mutua Madrileña
Mutua Madrileña
Mutua Madrileña is a large non-profit Spanish insurance company founded in 1930 that provides life, automobile, health and accident insurance as well as pension and investment funds.- Formula One sponsorship :...

 ended their sponsorship agreements with Renault early, within a week after the FIA's decision and right before the next race, the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix
2009 Singapore Grand Prix
The 2009 Singapore Grand Prix was the fourteenth race of the 2009 Formula One season. It was the second Singapore Grand Prix to be part of a Formula One Championship and the tenth Singapore Grand Prix overall. It was also the second Formula One race to be held at night...

. Their logos were stripped from the team cars.

Major sponsor Mutua Madrileña withdrew its sponsorship of the Renault F1 team first, just before the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix weekend, believing that the situation "could affect the image, reputation and good name of the team's sponsors." Mutua Madrileña did not withdraw sponsorship of Renault driver Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....

, as he was not implicated in the scandal. This was followed hours later by the withdrawal of title sponsor ING Group
ING Group
The ING Group is a global financial institution offering retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, asset management, and insurance services. ING is the Dutch member of the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, a cooperative consortium of 11 prominent European banks...

 with immediate effect, who had been previously due to end their sponsorship of the team at the end of 2009.

Flavio Briatore's response

On 19 October 2009, Flavio Briatore announced his intentions to sue the FIA for his lifetime ban, claiming that "the FIA [had] been used as a tool of vengeance on behalf of one man" and that there were several miscarriages of justice, including a delay in summons, a failure to state the charges in advance and a lack of access to documents and "Witness X". On January 5, 2010, the French Tribunal de Grande Instance
Tribunal d'instance
In France, the Tribunal d'instance , is a judicial inferior court of record of first instance for general civil suits and includes a criminal division, the Police Court , which hears cases of misdemeanors or summary offences...

 overturned his ban, and awarded him €15,000 in compensation. Symonds' ban was also overturned, and he was awarded €5,000 in compensation. Briatore was believed to be suing the FIA for damages in addition to getting his ban overturned, and has also stated his intention to pursue legal action against the Piquet family.

FIA appeal

On 11 January 2010, the FIA announced that they would appeal the decision of the Tribunal de Grande Instance to overturn the bans imposed on Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds. The FIA reinstated the bans while the appeal was active, but stated that drivers managed by Briatore would be granted their superlicences for 2010. On April 12, the FIA announced a settlement with Briatore and Symonds, and that the legal action had been ended. Both men have agreed not to work in Formula One until 2013, nor any other FIA-sanctioned championship until the end of 2011.

Potential consequences

It was suggested in the media that if Briatore were personally found guilty of race-fixing, he might fail the English Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

's Fit and proper person test
Fit and proper person test
The Fit and proper person test or Director's test is a test undergone by owners and directors of major British football clubs in the hope that it prevents corrupt or untrustworthy businessmen from buying them.-Application:...

 which applies to football club owners and directors, whose regulations exclude people who are "subject to a ban from a sports governing body relating to the administration of their sport", though a BBC report opined that his position might be secure given that he had left Renault. The Football League stated that they would wait for the conclusion of the investigation before examining Briatore's fitness to continue to be a director of Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

. The Football League board discussed the matter on 8 October 2009 and declared that they would be awaiting a response from Briatore to various questions before commenting further.

In addition to any sporting sanctions by the FIA, Renault, Piquet, Jr. or even Felipe Massa could take legal action over the incident. It was speculated by the media that Briatore and Symonds could be extradited
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...

 to Singapore to face criminal charges relating to the incident, which according to one lawyer could encompass "causing malicious or willful damage to property, endangering a vehicle and criminal conspiracy to commit a serious crime". This was thought to be unlikely however, with the Singaporean authorities believed to be unwilling to attract the negative publicity charges it would create, and also complicated by the fact that Singapore has an extradition treaty with the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 (Symonds being a British citizen) but not Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (Briatore being an Italian citizen).

Piquet Jr. was criticised by many in the community and some suggest that the controversy effectively ended his hopes of continuing in F1. BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 F1 commentator Martin Brundle
Martin Brundle
Martin John Brundle is a British racing driver from England, known as a Formula One driver and as an F1 commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011 and Sky Sports from 2012....

 suggested that Piquet Jr. was now unemployable in Formula One, saying that no team or sponsor would want to be associated with the Piquet family. Brundle noted that Piquet Jr. "didn't deliver at Renault, he wasn't fast enough, that's why he was released and that's why he has dropped hand grenades into the system ever since". Brundle was also highly critical that Piquet Jr. escaped sanction from the FIA despite admitting to race-fixing, while the others involved were heavily punished. Other leading F1 figures have echoed Brundle's sentiments. Toyota team principal John Howett was quoted as saying, "I think on his performance...disregarding the issue, I probably would not give him a drive and I would probably be further influenced in that decision by what took place." Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull Racing, has added, "I don't think we would have any interest [in Piquet Jr.] at Red Bull Racing."

See also

  • Allegations of cheating in the 1994 Formula One season
  • 2007 Formula One espionage controversy
    2007 Formula One espionage controversy
    The 2007 Formula One espionage controversy, also known as "Spygate," or "Stepneygate" involves allegations that the McLaren Formula One team was passed confidential technical information from the Ferrari team, and that the Renault F1 team was passed confidential technical information from the...

  • 2008 Formula One season
    2008 Formula One season
    The 2008 Formula One season was the 59th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on 16 March and ended on 2 November with eighteen Grand Prix races....

  • 2008 Singapore Grand Prix
    2008 Singapore Grand Prix
    The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, formally known as the 2008 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, was a Formula One race held on 28 September 2008 at the newly built Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore...

  • 2009 Formula One season
    2009 Formula One season
    The 2009 Formula One season was the 60th FIA Formula One World Championship season. The season took place over 17 rounds, and started with the on 29 March 2009. It ended on 1 November 2009 with the inaugural ....

  • List of scandals with "-gate" suffix
  • List of sporting scandals

External links

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