After finding the Renault Formula One team guilty of ordering one of its drivers to crash deliberately to fix the outcome of last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, the sport’s governing body let them walk away from its World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) on Monday without any real punishment.
The WMSC ruled no sanctions were necessary because Renault had already fired team boss Flavio Briatore and chief engineer Pat Symonds, who ordered driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash early in the Singapore race and cause a safety car period, which set the stage for his teammate, Fernando Alonso, to win.The WMSC did slap a two-year ban from F1 competition on the Renault team, which will not be enforced unless it asks another driver to crash deliberately to change the outcome of a race.
The only real punishment went to Briatore, who was banned from the sport for life, and Symonds, who is out of the sport for five years. Piquet was given immunity for blowing the whistle on his bosses.
“It’s a regrettable day for F1,” said former Minardi F1 team owner Paul Stoddart.
“I find myself worrying about the bigger picture. For the 10 years I was in the paddock, I always used to say that F1 survived despite the best efforts of those at the top to destroy it.”
Two years ago, the FIA fined McLaren $100-million (U.S.) for espionage after one of its engineers received a confidential technical document from a Ferrari worker and made use of the information.
With Honda leaving the F1 series at the end of the 2008 season and BMW deciding to pull out of the sport when this season closes, Stoddart thinks the lack of a fine leaves little doubt that Renault would have packed up its cars and left the sport had any monetary penalty been imposed.
But he also believes the true impact of the WMSC decision may not be felt for months, as Briatore extricates himself from his interests in the sport, such as the F1 feeder GP2 Series.
“The sanctions against him have far-reaching effects, in particular, for drivers like [Red Bull F1’s] Mark Webber and others, who are managed by FB Management. It would be truly wrong if any of these individuals were to suffer,” Stoddart said.While Piquet escaped punishment, there’s no doubt his F1 career is over.
He certainly showed a clear lack of judgment, but heading to the barn for torches and pitchforks might be a bit severe. A quick reality check shows that deliberate crashes to change the outcome of a race or a championship aren’t exactly rare.
There was seven-time champion Michael Schumacher’s fake crash into a tire barrier – albeit at extremely low speed – in a clumsy attempt to prevent title rival Alonso from taking away pole position in qualifying for the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix. Rewind to 1997, when Schumacher deliberately rammed Jacques Villeneuve in a failed effort to win the championship. Three years earlier, Schumacher won the title using a similar move on Damon Hill in the season finale. The late Ayrton Senna clinched the 1990 championship by taking out rival Alain Prost at that season’s penultimate race in Japan.
But perhaps the worst example of race fixing in recent memory was the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, where Ferrari forced race leader Rubens Barrichello to let Schumacher win, despite the fact the German had won four of the first five races. Ferrari went on to win 15 of 17 races that year and Schumacher easily took the championship. In another strange move by the FIA, no penalty was assessed for Ferrari’s blatant unsportsmanlike behaviour.
To make matters worse for F1, the architect of the Austrian fiasco, then Ferrari team boss Jean Todt, is the man that Mosley endorsed as the candidate to take over as FIA president when he steps down in October.
No wonder Stoddart is worried about the future of F1.
globeauto@globeandmail.com
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