"Crash-Gate" New Alligations with Renault

The Renault Formula One team will face charges of fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help Fernando Alonso win, the FIA has announced.

More F1 news The FIA said in a statement that Renault representatives had been summoned to an extraordinary meeting of its World Motor Sport Council in Paris on September 21, the Monday before this year's Singapore race.

The charges were 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".

If found guilty the team could be kicked out of the championship they won in 2005 and 2006.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has already warned the allegations could prompt Renault to walk away from the sport.

Renault, whose team boss Flavio Briatore co-owns English football club Queen's Park Rangers with Ecclestone, have made no comment on the allegations.

The team were accused of breaching article 151c of the international sporting code, which covers "any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally".

McLaren were fined a record $100 million and stripped of all their constructors' points for breaching it in 2007 in a spying controversy involving Ferrari data.

Renault and Piquet, whose father and namesake was a triple world champion, parted in August and Brazilian television reported allegations about the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend.

Double world champion Alonso won the sport's first night race, his first victory in more than a year and from 15th place on the starting grid, after Brazilian Piquet crashed and brought out the safety car.

Alonso had just refuelled at that point, a lucky break for the Spaniard who was able to come through and lead to the finish.

Ecclestone told the Times newspaper on Tuesday there was a danger of Renault following Honda and BMW out of the sport.

"All I know is Flavio is insisting he knows nothing about it," Ecclestone said, adding the Italian was "well and truly upset".

Renault replaced Piquet Jr in August after he failed to score a point in 10 races, a parting that triggered an angry reaction from the driver who accused Briatore of being his "executioner".

"If it's just young Piquet saying this because he wants to say it, that's one thing. If, on the other hand, there's some reality to it, then it's all different," said Ecclestone.

"It will be difficult to prove. If there is something on the radio that said, 'Er, Nelson, you'd better crash now,' then what the hell can they (Renault) do? It depends exactly what comes out of the investigation."

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/04092009/58/renault-face-race-fixing-charges.html

Whatever, Flavio is still my hero:

"The Young and the Restless" can't hold a candle to the soap opera that surrounds the Bernie and Max show.

It's true, that Flavio Briatore (perhaps my favorite name ever; it's just fun to say, and rolls well off the toungue) is one of the coolest dudes on the planet. He made a billion running Bennatton, and cashed out to buy a top level F1 team. Then he's dating Heidi Klum, and they have a child just before she runs off with Seal. Then he's nailing Naomi Campbell, until she gets pissed and trashes his boat, reputed to be the 2nd largest privately owned yacht in the world. Lord knows what that cost to fix!

Ultimately, I can't imagine any team wrecking a half million dollar car just to grab some points. I smell a red herring..

Nelson is mad because he couldn't cut it in the big leagues and got canned.

I have a VERY hard time believing a team would do that. Much less so over the monitored and recorded radio transmissions.

Actually, he denies that Heidi's child is his. She did not "run off" with Seal, she was dumped by Flav, and then left on her own with his bastard child.

I am sorry, but one does not earn my respect by dumping the most beautiful woman in the world. (seriously, i could watch Project Runway on mute all day long).

NYG95GA said: Ultimately, I can't imagine any team wrecking a half million dollar car just to grab some points. I smell a red herring..

Actually, at the end of the season, TV revenue is divided amongst teams based on points...points=millions...ten points for a win=lots of millions.

My bud works with several celebrity types and has become friends with Seal and Heidi, I'm not sure if that is a boast or a warning

Why is the investigation coming up now about a race from last year? This is something that should have been dealt with a year ago if it did happen that way.

Also why would the penalty be retroactive to championships won 3 and 4 years ago? Is the reasoning that if they cheated at 1 race then they must have been cheating for years?

And I thought Nascar was drama....

The investigation is happening now because Piquet jr. jr. was fired, and he says it happened in order to get back at Renault. Piquet does not understand that a burned bridge w/ Flav is a burned bridge across the paddock.

zoomx2 wrote: Why is the investigation coming up now about a race from last year? This is something that should have been dealt with a year ago if it did happen that way. Also why would the penalty be retroactive to championships won 3 and 4 years ago? Is the reasoning that if they cheated at 1 race then they must have been cheating for years? And I thought Nascar was drama....

I do not think the the author meant the championships in 05 and 06 would be vacated, but was noting they won them in 05 and 06.

I think Alonso ought to get penalized too if this is true

Smells like "sour grapes" to me. But either way I think Piquet has just killed his racing career.

maroon92 wrote: I am sorry, but one does not earn my respect by dumping the most beautiful woman in the world. (seriously, i could watch Project Runway on mute all day long).

See, maybe there's the difference. The mute button doesn't work in real life

maroon92 wrote: Actually, he denies that Heidi's child is his. She did not "run off" with Seal, she was dumped by Flav, and then left on her own with his bastard child. I am sorry, but one does not earn my respect by dumping the most beautiful woman in the world. (seriously, i could watch Project Runway on mute all day long).

No matter how good looking the woman (or guy) there is a guy (or a woman), somewhere, tired of their "issues"....

But this does seem to be a strange time to bring this up. F1 is a bit of a soap box though...

maroon92 and Hal, Piquet didn't have a future in F1 anyway. It's obvious he didn't cut it at the highest level (to me anyway) and even before this accusation he has been whining about it non-stop.

Piquet Sr. should have taught his son how to take it like a man.

You didn't see Bourdais throwing a big ruckus like this when he got let go. I was a big fan of his, he just couldn't get the car right for him. Although given STR history I wonder how similar it was to the Scott Speed situation.....

I have no reason to mute her...the mute button is for all of those whiney "designers"...I hate people that identify themselves as "creatives"...I guess I should not have gotten into advertising then...

z31maniac wrote: Piquet Sr. should have taught his son how to take it like a man.

Amen. To steal a quote from "Batman Begins"..

"The apple has fallen far from the tree."