Renault faces eviction from Formula 1 after effectively admitting fixing the result of last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Team boss Flavio Briatore and executive director of engineering Pat Symonds – the men that former team driver Nelson Piquet Jnr claims asked him to deliberately crash during the race – have left the team. Renault released a statement saying that it does not intend to contest the charges of race fixing due to be levelled against it by the sport’s governing body. Many have taken that as an admission of guilt.
The controversy began after Piquet was fired from the team in August of 2009 after a string of poor performances. He then approached the FIA and gave a statement accusing Symonds and Briatore of asking him to crash deliberately at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Piquet said the location of the crash was agreed upon and planned to be in a place where recovery equipment was at a minimum, so that a safety car would be deployed on track.
The crash was timed so that Renault team mate Fernando Alonso would benefit from other drivers having to pit for fuel and tyres after the safety car was deployed – Alonso was on a refuelling strategy that meant he was already refuelled when the accident, and he went on to win the race. There is no suggestion that Alonso was in on the scheme.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, who was leading the race before the safety car was deployed, eventually finished in 13th place and scored no world championship points. He later lost the title to Lewis Hamilton of McLaren by a single point.
Telemetry data from the car at the time of the crash seems to corroborate Piquet’s claim that he deliberately lost control of the car and slammed into a wall.
The Brazilian, son of three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet Snr, was promised immunity from punishment by the FIA for his co-operation in the case. He says he agreed to go along with the plan because he was in a fragile state of mind caused by Briatore’s reluctance to renew his contract in F1.
The FIA World Motorsport Council will meet in Paris on September 21 to hear the case against Renault and decide its fate.
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