That photo above is now the definitive image from Formula One’s first night race. It is, of course, the wreckage of Nelson Piquet Jr‘s Renault, that we now know was deliberately driven into the concrete wall for the sole purpose of improving Fernando Alonso’s finishing position. The penalty for such a devious act of “unparalleled severity”?
Well, for the Renault F1 team—nothing! Sure, they will suffer permanent expulsion from the sport if they commit a similar offence in the next two years, but the horse has already bolted. Renault will be a model F1 citizen during that time. Of that you can be sure.
What about the driver who so willingly and weakly complied with the act of race fixing? Nah, he got off too. The World Motor Sport Council thought his willingness to dob in his former team was sufficient to exempt him from any punishment. This young Piquet bloke is a pretty willing guy, it seems. Just pander to his insecurities and it would appear you could have him stealing from his grandmother. If only he was as good at driving as he is at destroying reputations—his own or otherwise—he may never have found himself in this mess.
Surely the bloke that won the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix on account of this race fixing, Fernando Alonso, must have been handed some sort of penalty? Nope. The FIA reckon Alonso knew nothing of it. Even if you are naive enough to believe that to be the case, Alonso won the race because his teammates cheated for his benefit. Yet, the result still stands! It is mind boggling. At the very least the race win should have been stripped, even if it meant leaving the other positions as they finished. F1 has proven time and again that it can laugh in the face of common sense, so having a race in the history books with no official winner should pose no problems.
Of course, Alonso’s name should be removed from Singapore’s 2008 record books and Nico Rosberg, second across the line, should inherit the race win, which would be his first in F1. Importantly, the resulting shuffling of points would only extend Lewis Hamilton’s margin over Felipe Massa in the driver standings. That is, the ultimate result of the 2008 World Championship would not be affected.
Fear not, the heavy hand of the FIA has dealt former Renault F1 team boss Flavio Briatore a knockout blow. He’s been permanently banned from Formula One, including the inability to hold a position within any team for any FIA sanctioned event or series. He has also been banned from continuing his driver management portfolio. At the moment Flav manages four current F1 drivers; Mark Webber, Heikki Kovalainen, Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean. Ironically, he still holds a contract with Piquet Jr, too.
Pat Symonds, the third member of the apex of evil, along with Piquet Jr and Briatore, has also been given a complete ban from the sport. However, he will be free to rejoin F1 after five years exclusion. It is worth remembering that Briatore and Symonds had already “resigned” from their positions with Renault.
So, what do you reckon, is the outcome of the Crashgate saga a farce or a fair result? Damon Hill, 1996 F1 world champ, reckond Renault have been let off lightly. Now, with reports of Briatore considering legal action against the FIA, will Crashgate ever end?
A statement from Renault F1 in reponse to the FIA’s decision can be read after the jump.
[Source: TimesOnline & BBC]
