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Renault's Formula One future hangs in the balance. On Monday the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) will meet in Paris to discuss the allegations of race-fixing at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, in which Nelson Piquet Jr was instructed to crash in order to obtain a sporting advantage for team-mate Fernando Alonso, who went on to win.
Renault will be hoping to escape lightly from the meeting; both team principal Flavio Briatore and head of engineering Pat Symonds resigned earlier this week in an apparent attempt to limit the level of punishment imposed on the team by the FIA. Nevertheless, the exits of two of the main parties involved should not be a reason for the WMSC to show leniency. Deliberately altering the course of a race in such a way as Renault have done is as serious a crime as can be committed in sport, and cannot be atoned for by the simple sacrifice of two team members. Race-fixing cannot be tolerated. The FIA must take firm action if they are to demonstrate this stance, and prevent such a scandal from ever happening again.
The FIA might be wary of striking the Renault team from its roster in the wake of Honda's departure last winter, and rumours of similar withdrawals from other manufacturers - principally Mercedes and Toyota. Even if they hold back from excluding Renault outright, they might be concerned that inflicting too heavy a punishment upon the French constructor will induce them to leave anyway. Renault's future is already far from certain, with poor results this year, and both Alonso and title sponsor ING leaving the team in 2010. Any negative result from the hearing might give the parent company cause to consider the value of its F1 operations.
The truth, however, is that the sport can and will survive without Renault's involvement. Threats of a breakaway championship have receded for now since all teams signed a new Concorde Agreement on 31 July. And the FIA does not need to worry about falling grid sizes: with the future of the BMW Sauber outfit thought to be secure after its sale to the Swiss consortium Qadbak, the 2010 grid should still have 13 teams and 26 cars even without Renault - more than at any time in recent Formula One history. (The last event to be contested by so many participants was the 1995 Monaco Grand Prix.) Furthemore, with the global recession easing, the danger of other manufacturers scaling back or abandoning their involvement in F1 seems to be diminishing. Indeed, after speculation earlier this year that Mercedes was considering leaving the sport entirely, it now appears that they are set to buy into Brawn GP.
Not for the first time this season, the credibility of Formula One is in jeopardy. If the race results cannot be trusted as genuine, the sport is meaningless. Renault have brought the sport into disrepute in the most blatant way, and should be dealt with accordingly. It was only two years ago that McLaren were fined $100m over the spygate saga - an offence which was far less serious than Renault's. Nothing less than exclusion from the F1 championship - with immediate effect - should be on the table in Paris on Monday.
Depends, James. I understand that emotions are running high on this, particularly as they have grave implications for the image of the sport.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think we need to wait to hear more about the exact circumstances of the situation. So far, from the leaks and hearsay, all I can gather is the guilty parties are the three named participants: Symonds, Briatore and Piquet Jr.
I am not saying or naive enough to believe that maybe a few more personnel were not aware of some 'plot' or even the exact details. But the whole team? Some of these people, for example on the factory floor, may end up with no job simply because somebody in a gilded tower decided to play high stakes poker on a racetrack. Stakes that in some ways are rumoured to have 'saved' the team.
Whether that is true or not should not influence the punishment but may explain why somebody was willing to go to such extreme lengths.
I am not condoning what was done, and so far at least the three participants have got what was coming to them-they are all no longer in F1. However, I also think additionally life bans should be given to Briatore, Symonds and Piquet Jr.
I have no sympathy with the latter even if it was done under duress to save his seat. I think he would have won more fans if he had spoken up before the race announcing his resignation and why. Or, knowing he had insufficient evidence carried out the act and conducted his own press conference track side there and then explaining why he carried it out-in order for the evidence to back up what he wanted to say before the race but felt he had proof without doing it.
To come out now, after his sacking is pure bitter grapes and frankly shows him in as bad a light as any. Piquet had ample time before now but surprise, surprise, it was only after he is sacked for his own poor performance he waves his ace.
As for how far the rabbit hole goes, who knows? But for the sake of the sport we need to believe that at least 90% of the guys at Renault are honest racers, are hurting like hell and as shocked as the rest of us.
If that is the case then why throw Renault out with the bad eggs, just root them out surely and punish them. Why not throw out Mclaren for not standing up sooner in Spygate and only coming to the table, having already discussed the data, when a disgruntled driver threatened them? Not quite so serious an event but following your argument you could argue the whole team are just as culpable in that case.
More so possibly - this (Renault)seems to be a race strategy decision meeting. Mclaren's could conceivably have covered the whole engineering department and nobody spoke up.
On the other hand, if Renault has been so insidious that the whole team deserves sanction then we have big problems because that runs beyond mere team integrity but the whole sport's integrity. For if an entire team could collude in a plot this big and high profile can you ever look any other team in the eye again without thinking what smaller scale stunt they are pulling? Seriously. Think about.
Renault should be fined, maybe even banned from the Singapore race, the site of the crime, docked the points they won that race from this years tally and warned as to future conduct and control of their personnel.
The three main conspirators as said should receive lifetime bans and I understand Briatore may even be stripped of his ability to own QPR-seeing how unfit a person he is.
And that should be the end of it. After all, if you want to throw out Renault why not strip Hamilton of his title-who knows without that 'incident' Massa and Ferrari may not have had their shenanigans and may have won the race......
I jest but the point is once you start slapping bans around beyond the given facts of the case where do you stop.
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I can see your argument to a certain extent - that the whole Renault team is not to blame in this case, simply the management, and so it is only Briatore and Symonds who should receive any punishment.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as with any corporate entity it works both ways. Obviously those 'on the factory floor' - the engineers and the mechanics etc - have a responsibility to those above them - the managers and the team principal, as well as the parent company. But it should be remembered that those at the top also have a responsibility to everyone below them. More than just rogue individuals operating in a vacuum, Briatore and Symonds were the chosen representatives of the Renault F1 team. It was on behalf of the entire team that they committed these misdemeanours, and so the entire team can and ought to be punished.
The severity of the original offence is not diminished by the fact that Renault have dealt with the matter internally and decided not to defend themselves against the charges - which is essentially an admission of guilt. Nor should the sentence be lessened as a result.
Race-fixing is the most serious offence in sport, precisely because it is not sport. It undermines the core principle of Formula One racing and consequently it must be dealt with by the FIA in the severest terms.