WMSC to review punishment policy after Piquet fallout
It is understood the WMSC are to address the matter in Paris on Monday once they have reviewed their case, and issued any penalty, against Renault over charges of conspiracy relating to last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
In deciding not to dispute the allegation made by the FIA, Renault have effectively admitted conspiring with then driver Nelson Piquet Junior of causing a crash, to the advantage of Fernando Alonso. However, it is only Renault who will stand before the 26 members of the council, headed by FIA president Max Mosley in one of his last acts of office before stepping down on October 23.
Piquet Jnr was offered immunity against prosecution in return for the testimony he provided in the form of two statements in which he stood by the claim he was asked to crash.
Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds will also now not attend after they yesterday resigned from their posts as team principal and executive director of engineering respectively.
Under FIA rules, as neither Briatore nor Symonds are no longer associated with a licence holder – that applies to drivers and teams only – no formal action may be taken against them under the International Sporting Code.
Two years ago following the ‘spygate’ case, the FIA had threatened to issue a lifetime ban against Nigel Stepney, the former Ferrari engineer alleged to have passed on his team’s technical secrets to a then member of McLaren’s staff, Mike Coughlan.
On that occasion, the only course of action open to the FIA was to recommend to licence holders not to professionally collaborate with Stepney without conducting appropriate due diligence regarding his suitability for involvement in motorsport.
It is also why the council were unable to pursue Dave Ryan over his involvement in ‘liegate’ earlier this season as he was sacked from his role as McLaren sporting director prior to the case being heard by the WMSC. Although the WMSC have unlimited power when it comes to imposing a penalty against Renault, they are now powerless to act against Briatore and Symonds, despite the severity of the case. It is why an amendment to the International Sporting Code seems set to be debated, and if agreed upon, will allow the FIA to act in the future.
Renault’s director general Patrick Pelata, meanwhile, confirmed Briatore chose to step down after the team’s investigation discovered “a fault”.
Briatore was last week adamant he had done nothing wrong, insisting he had the support of Renault.
Although admitting the loss of Briatore and Symonds was “a hard blow” for the team, Pelata added: “The team considered that there was a fault, and with a fault there is a penalty.
“Piquet had already left and Pat Symonds is gone. Flavio Briatore considered that he was morally responsible, and he resigned.”
Renault are also considering who should replace Briatore.
At present there are five names in the frame, with the most obvious being four-time world champion Alain Prost, who also ran his own F1 team from 1997 to 2001.
Olivier Quesnel has been mentioned given his success as boss of Citroen and Peugeot in the World Rally Championship. Another possible contender is Frederic Vasseur, team boss of ART which competes in GP2 and F3, whilst former BAR team principal Craig Pollock and Prodrive owner David Richards have also been mentioned.
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