F1 Silly Season 2009!

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Motoring

It looks like Lotus will be back in 2010.


http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/9/9939.html

I'm kinda fired up about that! I'm just wondering though how "lotus-like" they're really be, since they're technically Proton (a Malaysian automaker).

The other good news is that Sauber got bought from BMW by Qadbak which is some Swiss and Middle Eastern investment conglomerate. The only problem is that the rules only allow 13 teams in 2010, and Sauber is now technically the 14th team. Hopefully they'll make a change to allow 14 teams. 28 cars on grid will be impressive!

[sperry]

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...17180609.shtml

The loss of their jobs may not be the only ramifications faced by Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds after effectively admitting to race-fixing amid the 'crashgate' scandal, as the FIA's World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) meeting next Monday could result in lifetime bans on the pair.

But according to the Daily Telegraph, a guilty verdict could mean even more dramatic consequences, such as possible extradition to Singapore to face criminal charges for ordering a dangerous and violent incident to take place.

The British newspaper said other lawsuits are also possible, such as one on behalf of Felipe Massa or Ferrari, who might argue they lost the 2008 World Championship because of the events at the Singapore night race. However, such a move on the Italian team's part is unlikely.

The F1 chiefs' employer Renault SA, meanwhile, "may want to sue its former employees for allegedly bringing the company's name into disrepute," the Telegraph added. But specialist sports lawyer Stephen Hornsby said: "Renault are unlikely to want to keep the matter going for little reward."

In addition to his former team boss duties, also in the spotlight are Briatore's separate roles as a driver manager with his own firm FFBB and his co-ownership of the London football club Queens Park Rangers.


The Football League did not comment specifically, but the competition does not allow for an association with "anyone subject to a ban from the involvement in the administration of a sport by a sport's governing body." It is reported that the League is closely monitoring the situation.

The World Motor Sport Council, meanwhile, is tipped to look closely next Monday at the role played in the scandal by Briatore's apparent conflict of interest in being both Nelson Piquet's manager and his team boss.

An insider told the Guardian: "The wider implications for Flavio and others found to have put Piquet in this position, and what sanctions can be brought to prevent this happening again, are likely to be looked at by the WMSC."

As ever, Briatore's close friend Bernie Ecclestone found something ironic to say.

"He told me recently that he didn't want to finish up like me, playing with racing cars at my age," 78-year-old Ecclestone told the Daily Mirror. "So at least he's been saved that embarrassment."

If this whole thing ends with Flavio getting caned in a public square, I'm all for it.

[sperry]

If I were Massa, I'd be getting my laywers warmed up.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...18153532.shtml

A high ranking FIA official reportedly knew about the 'crash-gate' allegations as long ago as the 2008 season finale in Brazil last year according to the Daily Mirror.

The British newspaper on Friday published a transcript of Nelson Piquet Snr's August 17 interview with Quest investigators, commissioned by F1's governing body, about the scandal.

In the interview, Piquet revealed that after learning from his son about the deliberate crash only days after the September 2008 event, he told his former Brabham colleague Charlie Whiting.

Today, Whiting is the FIA's safety and technical delegate and F1 race director and starter, and therefore the first point of contact between formula one teams and the Paris federation. At Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team in the 1980s, he worked as a senior mechanic and engineer with the team's then driver Piquet.

"Anyway in Brazil I talk to Charlie... I got him and I said 'Look, what could happen to Nelson if I bring this up?' And I was afraid to screw up the career of Nelson," Piquet said. "In the race in Brazil I called Charlie and I told the whole story to Charlie."

Max Mosley said at Monza last weekend that, despite earlier hearing rumours, the governing body could only move on the affair when Piquet Jr made an official declaration. But the FIA president also said he only learned about the Piquet family's actual allegations in July of this year.

The World Motor Sport Council hearing will take place on Monday.

If the FIA knew about the race fix before the end of last season, Massa may have a good case he was screwed out of a championship by Renault's cheating.

[sperry]

Well then...

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...21143847.shtml

Flavio just got banned from the FIA forever. Symonds got a 5 year ban. Renault is banned from F1 forever, but their ban is postponed until 2011 because they took the preemptive measures of canning Flav and Pat. If Renault keeps its nose clean thru 2011, their ban will be lifted. Alonso was found uninvolved, and Piquet got immunity for providing evidence.

The weird problem is that as part of Flavio's ban, the FIA is also banning anyone that does business with him... and since he's a manager for several drivers, all those drivers have to find a new manager ASAP or they're banned from racing!

[skimonkey30]

beat me to it

[tysonK]

Is my Renault F1 Alsonso Team shirt a collector's item now?

[sperry]

Originally Posted by tysonK

Is my Renault F1 Alsonso Team shirt a collector's item now?

I highly doubt Renault will actually get banned. As long as they don't participate in any shenanigans for the next 2.5 years, they'll be off probation w/o being excluded.

What I'm disappointed about is that there was no financial penalty (remember McLaren got burned for 100M) and there was no discussion about how the race fixing affected the championship last season. It sounds like Alonso gets to keep his win?

[skimonkey30]

Originally Posted by sperry

I highly doubt Renault will actually get banned. As long as they don't participate in any shenanigans for the next 2.5 years, they'll be off probation w/o being excluded.

What I'm disappointed about is that there was no financial penalty (remember McLaren got burned for 100M) and there was no discussion about how the race fixing affected the championship last season. It sounds like Alonso gets to keep his win?

I read somewhere that due to the sporting regs they cant actually change the results beacuse its to far in the past

Interesting though that for Crash-gate & Spy-gate who has been in the center of both controversies......Alonso

[skimonkey30]

Oh and in the middle of all that......

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...20103457.shtml

Looks like Raikonnen is headed back to Mclaren which I'm assuming means Alonso would be in a ferrari next year. I'm torn I love Ferrari but fucking hate Fernando Alonso.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by skimonkey30

Oh and in the middle of all that......

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...20103457.shtml

Looks like Raikonnen is headed back to Mclaren which I'm assuming means Alonso would be in a ferrari next year. I'm torn I love Ferrari but fucking hate Fernando Alonso.

To be honest, I'd be fired up if Massa came back and Fisichella kept his seat there. And if Alonso went and raced boats or something.

How much you wanna bet Ferrari gets Alonso, and then hires Schumacher out of retirement to replace Massa w/ some BS excuse that Massa isn't healthy enough to drive in 2010?

[skimonkey30]

Originally Posted by sperry

To be honest, I'd be fired up if Massa came back and Fisichella kept his seat there. And if Alonso went and raced boats or something.

How much you wanna bet Ferrari gets Alonso, and then hires Schumacher out of retirement to replace Massa w/ some BS excuse that Massa isn't healthy enough to drive in 2010?

I've grown to like Massa, at first I thought he was a douche it would be sad to seem him get the boot but with Montezemelo in charge it could happen.

If Alonso thought they were favoring hamilton at mclaren just wait and see what happens if they bring MSC out of retirement to race alongside him

[sperry]

Originally Posted by skimonkey30

I've grown to like Massa, at first I thought he was a douche it would be sad to seem him get the boot but with Montezemelo in charge it could happen.

If Alonso thought they were favoring hamilton at mclaren just wait and see what happens if they bring MSC out of retirement to race alongside him

And I agree about Massa. I thought he was kind of a hot headed kid... but now he's by far my favorite driver. He's took all that passion and really developed under Schumacher's wing, and has really become a championship capable driver. I really felt like he deserved the championship last season.

In fact, I always seem to root for the guy that doesn't win it... and the guy I hate wins instead. Alonso over Schumacher in '06, Raikkonen over Hamilton in '07, Hamilton over Massa in '08. I bet this season Reubens will threaten to win it all then get beat out at the last race by Button, just to keep w/ my record of being disappointed at the end of the season.

[skimonkey30]

Originally Posted by sperry

And I agree about Massa. I thought he was kind of a hot headed kid... but now he's by far my favorite driver. He's took all that passion and really developed under Schumacher's wing, and has really become a championship capable driver. I really felt like he deserved the championship last season.

In fact, I always seem to root for the guy that doesn't win it... and the guy I hate wins instead. Alonso over Schumacher in '06, Raikkonen over Hamilton in '07, Hamilton over Massa in '08. I bet this season Reubens will threaten to win it all then get beat out at the last race by Button, just to keep w/ my record of being disappointed at the end of the season.

Button will win this year if he doesnt he should just retire because this will probably be his last chance

BTW your sig......you have Massa's name spelled wrong its Felipe

[sperry]

Originally Posted by skimonkey30

Button will win this year if he doesnt he should just retire because this will probably be his last chance

BTW your sig......you have Massa's name spelled wrong its Felipe

Oops. "Filipe" is the normal Portuguese spelling though... if anyone spelled it wrong, he did.

[skimonkey30]

and you call yourself a "fan"

[sperry]

Originally Posted by skimonkey30

and you call yourself a "fan"

You think that's bad... Massa's name has been spelled wrong the last three seasons of fantasy F1.

[skimonkey30]

Originally Posted by sperry

You think that's bad... Massa's name has been spelled wrong the last three seasons of fantasy F1.

[Nick Koan]

And now Flav is thinking of suing the FIA for basically ruining his reputation and his livelihood.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.a...46934&PO=46934

[skimonkey30]

I'm SHOCKED

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Nick Koan

And now Flav is thinking of suing the FIA for basically ruining his reputation and his livelihood.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.a...46934&PO=46934

Well he won't win because he's a cheater. My guess is the FIA can prove it in court via radio transmissions or something, or they wouldn't have made such a big deal about him being responsible.

[sperry]

Decent article about why Renault got off easy:

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...22152350.shtml

The consensus of opinion following yesterday’s meeting of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) and the lifetime ban of the Renault team – suspended for two years – was that the team escaped lightly from what has been perceived as the worst case of cheating in the history of Formula One.

Flavio Briatore was handed a lifetime ban from any FIA sanctioned series, while co-conspirator Pat Symonds received a five year ban. The team itself however were not fined and did not have any points deducted as had been widely predicted. Instead the team was forced to pay the costs of the investigation – estimated at US $1.6m - and make an undisclosed contribution to the FIA’s safety programme.

"A suspended two year ban for Renault means nothing, they're not really going to do that again are they," Martin Brundle told the BBC. “They're having to put some money into the safety fund - we don't know how much. Many will perceive them as having been treated quite lightly compared to say McLaren of 2007."

FIA president Max Mosley claimed that the penalty handed out was the “harshest one we can inflict,” something that few publicly support given that it is suspended - and diametrically opposed to the punishment faced by McLaren when they were found guilty of breaching the same regulation (Article 151c) in 2007. The WMSC found McLaren guilty of possessing confidential data from Ferrari and the team were hit with a US $100m fine - which brings up the issue of collective responsibility as well as parity.

"The FIA cannot have it both ways," reported the Times."The bill for the investigation is about $1.6 million, which makes Renault's sanction roughly $98.4 million cheaper [than that faced by McLaren]”. Spain's El Mundo agreed, calling crash-gate "a scandal without precedent and almost without punishment."

The Daily Mail likened Renault's feat to "The Great Escape", arguing that the French team "should not only be permanently expelled from the track, but face serious criminal charges."

Singapore newspaper The Straits Times accused F1's governing body of "one of sport's biggest cop-outs" and said by not harshly penalising the deliberate crash, the FIA is telling F1's fans and marshals "that their lives are far less important than possibly losing the support of a car-making giant.
"

The New York Times agreed that the FIA had moved to safeguard "the participation of one of its most powerful and wealthy sponsors", and Britain's Daily Telegraph said "no one had foreseen quite how lenient the punishment would be".

The decision clearly pins the blame on three individuals, two of which have been banned from the sport and one who was granted immunity for ‘blowing the whistle’. In the past, ‘rogue’ activities from individuals employed by a team have resulted in the whole team being punished, be that in Formula One or the World Rally Championship.

It is of little surprise that headlines such as “Fury as Renault get easy ride over crash-gate” (The Times), “Renault are lucky to get away with suspended ban” (The Guardian) and “Teams are in the driving seat” (The Independent) are adorning the back pages of our newspapers.

Max Mosley can talk of the WMSC handing down the “harshest” penalty available to the governing body, but he defends the decision to penalise only the individual conspirators rather than revert to the principle of collective responsibility.

"Renault has demonstrated that they have absolutely no moral responsibility for what took place so it would be wrong to impose an immediate penalty," Mosley insisted. "The blame has been placed where it should be placed and it's the right decision.”

Clearly not everyone is buying Mosley’s line. Ari Vatanen, an independent candidate to succeed Mosley in October's presidential elections, said the fact that the world smells an inside deal strengthens his case for "absolutely independent justice" in these sorts of disciplinary matters. World champion Damon Hill agreed. "Knowing what we know, we cannot dissociate this from the power play going on behind the scenes for control of Formula One," he said.

French industry minister Christian Estrosi. "It is a good thing for French industry and a good thing for the sport in general,” he told L’Equipe."

Double world champion Mika Hakkinen meanwhile simply wants the sport to move on from the latest controversy. "The show must go on," he told Reuters. "People who have done wrong, they need a penalty. Life has to go on. I think what is important now is a great grand prix is coming…"

Once again the FIA reeks of back-room deals. McLaren getting walloped in '07, Ferrari getting paid extra participation money, and now Renault getting a slap on the wrist for the worst incident of cheating in F1. The inconsistency lends all sorts of legitimacy to why the FOTA was starting their own series... and the reason they didn't was because FIA promised to get their shit together... clearly that's not happening.

[Nick Koan]

I think Ari has it right.

Can I vote for him?

[skimonkey30]

Originally Posted by Nick Koan

I think Ari has it right.

Can I vote for him?

I hope he wins. Jean Todt would destroy the sport

[skimonkey30]

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...29132233.shtml

Looks like we will see Loeb in an F1 car. Citroen has agreed to let him race abu dhabi if he wants

[skimonkey30]

Good to hear Massa is back behind the wheel

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...29131931.shtml