Renault Handed F1 Suspended Expulsion

Renault’s Formula One team has been given a suspended ban from the sport for its role in the race-fixing scandal at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008. The team’s former head, Flavio Briatore has been banned from all FIA-sanctioned events indefinitely, while Pat Symonds, the former engineering director also implicated by ex-driver Nelson Piquet Jr., was handed a five-year exclusion. Piquet has avoided censure as a result of his whistle-blowing activity, while Fernando Alonso, Renault’s lead driver who won the race in question largely thanks to the ersatz accident, was cleared of any involvement and thanked by the FIA for “cooperating with enquiries”.

The FIA was at pains to underline the seriousness of the breach: “They not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself. The WMSC considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship.

“However, in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1’s disqualification until the end of the 2011 season.” Renault, for its part, dismissed Briatore and Symonds and promised not to challenge any action the FIA investigation may impose against them in a statement that appears to have swayed the ban towards a suspended sentence. The constructor, which will foot the bill for the investigation, apologised “unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour”, and will look towards a constructive future in the sport.

Briatore however, may need to rethink his future involvement with sport, as the FIA said that it would not award licences to anyone involved with the Italian. He currently has management deals with Alonso and Red Bull driver, Mark Webber and has been an associate of McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen; ties which surely constituted a conflict of interests even before now. Meanwhile Briatore’s co-ownership of Football League team, Queens Park Rangers has been thrown into jeopardy, with the League reportedly writing to the FIA for information. League rules state that nobody who has been banned by any sporting body can hold a majority interest or be a director of a club. And what of Briatore’s relationship with F1 honcho, Bernie Ecclestone, who also has a part share in QPR?

Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper published a report that suggests the multi-millionaire is not done yet. Briatore told the newspaper that he intends to sue the FIA, prove his innocence and win compensation for the damage sustained to his character.