Renault Given Suspended Sentence

[FW14B]

Interestingly I see Flav is now being investigated over his suitability for owning a football team in the UK.  I wonder if this will see him being kicked out of QPR as well?

[Monty]

The one thing in this I am unhappy about is Piquet Jr getting off scot free, he deserved having the book thrown at him, to deliberately crash, without regard for other competitors, marshals or spectators is beyond me.

I agree in principle but Nelson has no future in motor racing anyway. He may be able to drive for one of Daddy's teams but I'm sure he will never get a paid drive anywhere.

I guess none of us should be surprised about any of this. There are stories of cheating going back to the 1940's. The problem is when they get caught doing it (or reported by co-conspititors with nothing to lose).

F1 will survive. My biggest problem is that I hate inconsistency. The FIA (and when I say this I mean Max) carried out a witch hunt against Maclaren based on rumour and about issues that are common place in the sport. The result was huge fines, the loss of a world championship, disadvantages in the following championship (pit position), etc., etc.
However, the FIA (Max) were clearly aware that Renault had staged a crash yet they waited until it got into the public domain and then only slapped Renault on the wrists.

Don't get me wrong, I would prefer 'less not more'. Flav is no loss (in fact the sport will be better without him), I feel sorry for Pat because I suspect he was doing as he was told, and Renault are needed in international Motor Sport. But this response is hardly consistent to the way Maclaren were treated.

[Scott]

Comparing this to the Mclaren scandal is a joke.  Like you said, Mclaren was guilty of doing what is often done, and only involved one employee, without the knowledge of the team principal or Chief Technical Director.  The Renault scandal involved a driver (possibly 2), the Chief Technical Director and the Team Principal.  Once again, I am insulted by how stupid Max thinks everybody else is.  As a result of this, the FIA should reinstate Mclaren's points for 2007 (along with TV revenues) and hand over $100m back to Mclaren.  Simply the fact that Briatore answers directly to the Renault board should make them equally responsible.

I agree with you that in this instance less is better, but I also think that little more should have happened to Mclaren.

[cosworth151]

I wonder if Symonds will be out for the full 5 years, or if the ban might be commuted in some way after a year or two (and Max's departure). He is a skilled and respected figure in the paddock. Many teams would welcome him.

I've heard that the wording of Flavio's suspension is "indefinite," not "lifetime." This could be a legal ploy to get around restraint of trade issues. It could also be a way to get him back in after Max leaves. This also leaves questions about GP2, since it is co-owned by Flavio and Bernie.

This incident goes far beyond previous cheating scandals. "Stretching" tech rules, like Honda's hidden fuel tank, and acquiring data from other teams is one thing. Endangering other drivers, marshals and spectators is much, much worse.

[John S]

 This also leaves questions about GP2, since it is co-owned by Flavio and Bernie.

So that means any driver in a current year's GP2 can't get a superlicence, they will all have associated with Flav. And how are they going to prevent the said Mr Briatore from popping by to check on his GP2 race that is running on the F1 bill:crazy:

There are certainly more questions than answers at the moment.