Flavio Briatore, the team principal of the Renault Formula One team, and engineer Pat Symonds quit yesterday as the team admitted they are not in any position to contest the accusations of attempting to fix last year's Singapore Grand Prix. The news comes days ahead of Monday's Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) hearing into the incident, which stems from accusations by Renault's former driver Nelson Piquet Jr, and deepens the crisis motorsport finds itself in following one of the most chaotic and controversial seasons in the sport's history.
Briatore's resignation came just days after he proclaimed Renault's innocence over claims they ordered Piquet Jr to crash in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help teammate, Fernando Alonso, win the race. Renault have stated they will no longer be contesting the race-fixing allegation. Johnny Herbert, who raced under Briatore alongside Michael Schumacher while the Italian was principal at Benetton in 1995, said growing speculation in the paddock had indicated someone would have to shoulder responsibility.
"Anyone who has been listening to rumours would say that it's no surprise that someone at Renault had to fall on their sword," he said. "But it was a shock that it was them. It smacks a bit of guilt." Herbert said the race-fixing allegation had caused serious damage to F1's reputation, particularly as it comes two years after the McLaren/Ferrari spy scandal that resulted in a record fine of US$100 million (Dh367m) and McLaren losing all their constructors' points in the 2007 championship.
"That was a much less serious charge than race fixing," he said. "McLaren were found to have told a lie about what they had done but if Renault are found to have done this, they will be guilty of concocting a cunning plan that saw them ask a driver to purposely crash in order for another of their drivers to win a race. "Fortunately the plan was not as cunning as they hoped because it has been found out and will now be dealt with. And that should warn other teams against trying something similar."
Herbert said the high stakes in F1 might tempt teams to engage in underhand practices. "There is so much money involved in F1 and teams have always pushed the boundaries in this sport," he said. "In some cases their interpretations of the rules might see them go over the boundaries, but this is a clear, and fortunately unique, case of something much darker. "But scrutiny is also getting tighter and the FIA are going to make sure that this case is answered."
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