FIA Launch Investigation into 'alleged events' at 2008 Singapore GP

Kevski

Here we go again :rolleyes:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78195

Could Renault actually be found guilty of anything? Team orders - because Piquet was ordered to stick it in the wall in order to give Alonso and advantage? Dangerous driving? However unsporting it maybe, I can't think of any other rule forbidding a driver from crashing his car. I think the FIA are going to have their work cut out with this one.

Ghost Train

Strange for this to come up now... with Piquet just leaving the team
Heres some more info on where this seems to be coming from, brazilian tv station
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21777.html

Wonder was there any strange radio traffic to Piquet before the crash or something that could be a signal to crash. Hard to believe though

edit: from the brazilian tv website

Formula 1 can be close to another scandal. Neste domingo, Reginaldo Leme, comentarista da Rede Globo, revelou que a Federação Internacional de Automobilismo (FIA) contratou uma empresa independente para investigar o acidente de Nelsinho Piquet no GP de Cingapura de 2008, fato decisivo para a vitória de Fernando Alonso. Flavio Briatore, chefe da Renault, teria mandado o brasileiro bater de propósito na 16ª volta, três após o primeiro pit stop do espanhol . On Sunday, Reginaldo Leme, a commentator for TV Globo, showed that the International Automobile Federation (FIA) has hired an independent company to investigate the accident of Nelson Piquet Grand Prix in Singapore in 2008, a fact crucial to the victory of Fernando Alonso. Flavio Briatore , head of Renault, would have sent the Brazilian beat of purpose on lap 16, three after the first pit stop of the Spanish.

Na ocasião, a estratégia de Alonso era considerada ousada e precisaria de um safety car no início da prova para dar certo. Coincidentemente, Nelsinho bateu em um local que forçaria a entrada do carro de segurança. At the time, Alonso's strategy was considered bold and need a safety car in the race to succeed. Coincidentally, Nelson hit a site that would force the entry of the safety car. A FIA confirmou, em Spa-Francorchamps, a investigação. The FIA confirmed in Spa-Francorchamps, research.

- O acidente do Nelsinho teria sido premeditado para que houvesse a entrada do carro de segurança em Cingapura. Ele bateu de uma forma muito estranha. - The crash of the Nelson would have been the intention for there to be the entry of the safety car in Singapore. He hit a very strange way. Recentemente, conversando com o Felipe Massa, ele me chamou a atenção disso. Recently, talking with Felipe Massa, it struck me that. E o Felipe foi ao Briatore e disse: "Essa batida não está certa, aconteceu porque vocês quiseram". And Felipe attended and Briatore said: "This strike is not right, it happened because you wanted to." Outros pilotos levantaram esta hipótese na época e agora isso vem à tona por causa da investigação que a FIA está fazendo. Other pilots have raised this possibility at the time and now this comes up because of the investigation that the FIA are doing. Ela contratou uma empresa independente e tem depoimentos contundentes que incriminam Flavio Briatore - disse Reginaldo Leme na transmissão do GP da Bélgica na Rede Globo. She hired an independent company and has extensive interviews incriminating Flavio Briatore - Reginaldo Leme said in the transmission of the Belgian Grand Prix on TV Globo.

http://globoesporte.globo.com/Esportes/Noticias/Formula_1/0,,MUL1285909-15011,00-FIA+INVESTIGA+ACIDENTE+DE+NELSINHO+PIQUET+EM+CINGAPURA+E+PODE+PUNIR+BRIATOR.html +google translate

T-Maxx

What?! This sort of thing in F1?! Never!:rolleyes:

kaizersoze

Ohhhhh, young Piquet bites back.

I read about last night. more to come on this I think.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090830190133.shtml

f1dan

I can only presume Piquet said something about this after he got fired. How would this come out a year on otherwise?

EvilMonkey

Piquet will never race in F1 again.
Renault will be cleared/nothing will happen.

Slutmonkey57b

+1. If this is coming from Piquet, the only way he'll race in f1 again is if daddy buys a team.

Renault got away scot free in the spygate business, but that's mainly because Max's main target was at the other team. If they get done for this, then it's a solid warning to Team Principals not to ignore a fuming latin driver who might shop you to the feds or at least damage your reputation. Unless you're ferrari, in which case people will tend to assume you cheat and run to a "special" set of regulations, rules, and steward's eyes.

Ghost Train

EvilMonkey wrote: »

Piquet will never race in F1 again.
Renault will be cleared/nothing will happen.

Okay but do we think that something dodgy went down, I find it a bit hard to believe really, too risky for everybody involved

Heres a clip of the crash, looks like he kept his foot planted till half way through the spin in the hope of keeping it out of the wall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbMZ7bs7e3o

and an ironic mistake on the warm up lap, but shows the same type of driving reactions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feXvqfttAuw

rua1972

In the second clip it is clearly a practice run for the real thing later on I don't think any team boss will let his driver delliberatly crash a car. But then again it is F1 anything is possible.
This looks like a case of revenge from Piquet, seeing the timing of F1 career ending.
On the other hand maybe the FIA will investigate Glock for his action in Brazil last year

amacachi

rua1972 wrote: »

On the other hand maybe the FIA will investigate Glock for his action in Brazil last year

manutd4life

why would a team tell one of its drivers to crash out of a race.it just seems ridiculous

amacachi

manutd4life wrote: »

why would a team tell one of its drivers to crash out of a race.it just seems ridiculous

I'm guessing ya don't watch NASCAR so? :P

lendrew1

rua1972 wrote: »

On the other hand maybe the FIA will investigate Glock for his action in Brazil last year

Thats been cleared up because Glock set a faster lap than Trulli and if you saw the official review you can see the onboard from the lap.

This story with Renault does not suprise me at all. :rolleyes:

smooch71

If the FIA start digging this up, Renault will leave.

Bernie reckons so and so do I.

http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3213_5529497,00.html

kaizersoze

smooch71 wrote: »

If the FIA start digging this up, Renault will leave.

Bernie reckons so and so do I.

http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3213_5529497,00.html

If they are found to be cheating or have cheated the good riddance I say.
If found guilty they'd likely be banned anyway.

Things cannot be swept under the carpet on the off chance that a team might throw their toys out of the pram.

smooch71

kaizersoze wrote: »

If they are found to be cheating or have cheated the good riddance I say.
If found guilty they'd likely be banned anyway.

Things cannot be swept under the carpet on the off chance that a team might throw their toys out of the pram.

Not saying they should but the last thing F1 needs now is more negative press.

I suspect Renault and Toyota will both be gone by the end of next year anyway and a new privateer era will dawn.

EvilMonkey

Ghost Train wrote: »

Okay but do we think that something dodgy went down, I find it a bit hard to believe really, too risky for everybody involved

It wouldn't surprise me but i have no idea.
If they did and there is proof they should be kicked including the divers that went along with it.

Also if Piquet made this up then he should be banned from all the FIA's sanctioned series/events.

But i dont think the FIA would have the stomach to do anything and it will be swept under the carpet.

rua1972

lendrew1 wrote: »

Thats been cleared up because Glock set a faster lap than Trulli and if you saw the official review you can see the onboard from the lap.

This story with Renault does not suprise me at all. :rolleyes:

The Glock part was more or less like a joke.
The investigation looks pretty serious is you look around on the F1 sites.
Ron Dennis left f1 after a little lie, so if it's true we won't see Flavio anymore i think.

Charlie-Bravo

rua1972 wrote: »

Ron Dennis left f1 after a little lie, so if it's true we won't see Flavio anymore i think.

True= bye bye Flavio
False= So long Nelson Jr. (and Flavio retiring anyway, no?)

f1dan

This gets weirder and weirder....

http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=343401&FS=F1

The FIA's investigation into Renault runs even deeper than the sensational rumour that Nelson Piquet was told to crash on purpose during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

The Independent newspaper in Britain quoted a source within the sport's governing body as saying "other issues above and beyond Singapore are also to be looked at".

The investigations reportedly began at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend, with engineering boss Pat Symonds and Fernando Alonso among "senior Renault figures" interviewed multiple times, the source added.

The Daily Express newspaper, reporting that team boss Flavio Briatore was also interviewed by a lawyer in Belgium, said Renault executives have already denied the Piquet claims to the FIA.

"Several other engineering staff were also questioned", the newspaper added, while "data and transmission recordings have been removed for examination".

Two men historically close to the French owned team however have questioned whether the race-fixing rumours are true.

Denis Chevrier left the team over the winter, but he was still Renault's engine chief in Singapore last year.

"In my personal capacity I did not have knowledge of the strategy during the 2008 Grand Prix of Singapore," he told French radio RMC, "but I can ensure you that if this is true then it was in radical opposition to the attitude of Renault."

From a driver's perspective, Franck Montagny - a Renault F1 tester earlier this decade - said he "did not believe" the claims could be true.

"Even when you are asked to let someone pass it is annoying," he said, "but to be made to deliberately have an accident is really something else."

Montagny called the rumours "science fiction" and doubted that Briatore could have asked one of his drivers to crash.

"Not even in a dream," the Frenchman said in an interview with 20minutes.fr. "Nobody can give instructions like that; I've never heard anything like that in Formula One."

f1dan

And even more....

http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=343514&FS=F1

Felipe Massa suspected Nelson Piquet crashed deliberately at Singapore last year and confronted Flavio Briatore about the incident in person, it has emerged.

It had been presumed in recent days that the source of the accusation must have been Piquet and his famous father, still furious after being recently ousted by Renault boss Briatore.

But reports this week suggest that Brazilian Massa, who drives for Ferrari, immediately suspected that Piquet had been asked to crash on purpose so that the safety car would emerge and the sister Renault of Fernando Alonso win the race.

"He crashed in a very strange way," TV Globo commentator Reginaldo Leme is quoted as saying.

"It struck me when I was talking recently with Felipe Massa. Felipe had gone to Briatore and said, 'This crash was not right, it happened because you wanted it to'."

Leme also said other drivers had been suspicious of the Piquet crash.

Massa had led comfortably from pole position in Singapore last September until the Alonso safety car, but when he made his pitstop he then famously drove away with the fuel hose still attached.

Now recovering from injury, Ferrari's Massa lost the 2008 world championship to Lewis Hamilton by a single point.

Ghost Train

f1dan wrote: »

And even more....

http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=343514&FS=F1

that was the same sort of story I quoted in post #2 although the translation got mixed up with the original text and was a bit unreadable

Don't see though how this Massa angle can mean much... other than his opinion of how it looked, hopefully it will become clearer

stakey

Ghost Train wrote: »

looks like he kept his foot planted till half way through the spin in the hope of keeping it out of the wall

Piquet seemed to have a habit of that... have a look

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ojfR3xS8FA

Firewalkwithme

There must be a case to answer, Renault are being called before the World Motor Sport Council

"Representatives of ING Renault F1 have been requested to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Monday, 21 September 2009," read a statement on the FIA website.

"The team representatives have been called to answer charges, including a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, that the team conspired with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8239001.stm

amacachi

Gonna just have to be Piquet's word, unless they've found secret radio transmissions. :pac:

Firewalkwithme

amacachi wrote: »

Gonna just have to be Piquet's word, unless they've found secret radio transmissions. :pac:

Piquets word alone would be worthless. Unless there is a recording of a radio transmission where he is specifically told to stick it into the wall I can't see how they could make a charge like this stick unless Renault admitted to it. That's why I have a feeling that they have indeed uncovered some pretty convincing evidence otherwise it would never have gotten to this stage.

amacachi

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

Piquets word alone would be worthless. Unless there is a recording of a radio transmission where he is specifically told to stick it into the wall I can't see how they could make a charge like this stick unless Renault admitted to it. That's why I have a feeling that they have indeed uncovered some pretty convincing evidence otherwise it would never have gotten to this stage.

But if there were some kind of secondary radio system in the car then surely that would be at least as big a charge and we'd be hearing about it?

Firewalkwithme

amacachi wrote: »

But if there were some kind of secondary radio system in the car then surely that would be at least as big a charge and we'd be hearing about it?

I wasn't suggesting that there was a secondary radio system but considering how odd this whole situation is I wouldn't be surprised if there was now that you mention it.

amacachi

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

I wasn't suggesting that there was a secondary radio system but considering how odd this whole situation is I wouldn't be surprised if there was now that you mention it.

Well all the radio transmission are monitored by the FIA, so I can't see how else they could have given the signal. Unless it was an unbelievably cryptic pit board, again something that would just be Piquet's word.
Meh, sure we'll find out soon enough I suppose.

muckwarrior

It wouldn't necessarily have required any radio transmissions though. It could have been planned before the race. I read somewhere that Alonso had an unusually low fuel load starting the race. So the team could have told Nelson to crash on whatever lap Alonso was due in, knowing that Alonso would be the only one pitting so early.

That said, I very much doubt that happened.

amacachi

muckwarrior wrote: »

It wouldn't necessarily have required any radio transmissions though. It could have been planned before the race. I read somewhere that Alonso had an unusually low fuel load starting the race. So the team could have told Nelson to crash on whatever lap Alonso was due in, knowing that Alonso would be the only one pitting so early.

That said, I very much doubt that happened.

Lap 13 of a 61 lap race? You'll see shorter than that in most races.

Again, that evidence is just Piquet's word.

kaizersoze

Maybe Alonso confirmed the story when he was interviewed by the FIA. He turned out to be a bit of a squealer at McLaren kicking off the spy-gate episode then left at the end of the season before his contract expired.....much like he'll be doing at the end of this season.:pac:

Gulli

I just can't beleive any of this is true. It puts beleivability in a sling and launches it to Mars. I mean its Moon conspiracy levels of crazy. It needed so many people to stay quiet about it as to render the whole thing loopy.

Ghost Train

I wonder if Piquet isn't the source of this... I don't think he'd want to be associated with this, he'd just be getting himself in to trouble for going along with the order

EvilMonkey

kaizersoze wrote: »

Maybe Alonso confirmed the story when he was interviewed by the FIA. He turned out to be a bit of a squealer at McLaren kicking off the spy-gate episode then left at the end of the season before his contract expired.....much like he'll be doing at the end of this season.:pac:

They had emails from the Italian police investigation, What was he supposed to do?
How do you know what was in his McLaren and Renault contracts?
Anyway he hasnt left Renault yet and wont till the end of the season. :rolleyes:

If Renault are guilty then both drivers are equally guilty if they agreed to do it.

Frank Bullitt

There are reports now that it was leaked to the FIA by Piquets people or himself.

If he is doing this,then does he realize that he is more or less ending his chances of entering F1 ever again? What a moron!

Top Dog

Gintonious wrote: »

If he is doing this,then does he realize that he is more or less ending his chances of entering F1 ever again? What a moron!

If it is him then its not just F1 he needs to be worrying about - the FIA could ban him from any number of motorsport for his part in it. I know he's pi$$ed at Flavio and might want some sort of revenge, but I seriously doubt he's behind the allegations unless he's seriously thick and doesn't mind murdering his own career and reputation.

Gulli

Well I don't think Piquet has anything to lose. He will never be hired for another team and his sole chance to get back into F1 is the loopy chance his dad invests in the BMW-Sauber rescue.

You have to remember his dad was also a very cynical calculating man in F1 so an insane accusation wasn't that surprising. My post above is true for me, I think the entire idea of it is insane but I can understand it happening if Piquet is the cause.

Irishshin

Looks from this report like some fixing went on somewhere.
Not good at all for Renault

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78446

Charlie-Bravo

Ghost Train wrote: »

Heres a clip of the crash, looks like he kept his foot planted till half way through the spin in the hope of keeping it out of the wall

Well Ghost Train...looks like the telemetry concurs! Well spotted!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78446
...normally the rear wheels of the Renault would lose grip on the exit - requiring the driver to ease off the throttle briefly. However, on the lap he crashed, Piquet kept accelerating even though the rear wheels had lost grip.


They should also look at the telemetry for the practice lap!

thegoth

Looks like the only issue is whos idea it was. Renault are saying the race was fixed but it was Nelsons idea !! http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3261_5547101,00.html

If this turns out to be true I'd say Pat Symonds and Flavio Briatore can kiss goodbye to their F1 careers as well as Piquet Jun.

Its sad to say, but I am not surprised by this at all now. I am certain Renault will be found guilty and would be amazed to see them on the grid in 2011 whatever about 2010

Slutmonkey57b

The admission by Pat Symonds that "a discussion" took place is mind boggling, given what they are accused of.

Looks like there will be 3 (maaaaaybe 4) engine manufacturers between 13 teams next year.

Ghost Train

astrofluff wrote: »

Well Ghost Train...looks like the telemetry concurs! Well spotted!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78446
...normally the rear wheels of the Renault would lose grip on the exit - requiring the driver to ease off the throttle briefly. However, on the lap he crashed, Piquet kept accelerating even though the rear wheels had lost grip.


They should also look at the telemetry for the practice lap!

Well if he has admitted it was done on purpose then the telemetry will be of secondary importance. Could have been a case that he backed off but still lost it, and then accelerated to try recover. So telemetry might indicate which happened

Could be a case that Piquet is trying to get his former team into trouble... and just lost the car due to bad driving... but then why have the hearing, except maybe to uncover this

The latest stories saying it was his father that told max, don't really help matters... can sort of imagine the father going all out to protect the son and possibly having more influence over the whole matter. Did he know what was going to happen before the crash. Is Piquet more likely to take advice about crashing from his father or the team. All very messy really.

If Pat and Flav had this discussion before the race and didn't go along with it, should they have informed the FIA about it after the race, because they would have known the driver had probably crahed on purpose

mickdw

They are f*cked. They cannot claim it was the drivers idea as an excuse. Even if it was, they went along with it, filled alonso short an allowed the whole thing to play out. This is mad stuff. They are gone surely. I hate that flav anyway.

thegoth

mickdw wrote: »

They are f*cked. They cannot claim it was the drivers idea as an excuse. Even if it was, they went along with it, filled alonso short an allowed the whole thing to play out. This is mad stuff. They are gone surely. I hate that flav anyway.

I think the end result will be them leaving as, like Toyota, I suspect they are looking for an excuse, but what I think has to happen is they will be slapped with the similar fine to Mclaren. Might not be the $100 million McLaren, but I think it will be at least the same percentage of the Renault budget that $100 million was to McLaren

What Renault did, is probaly no worse that the McLaren spygate scandal, and they were not actually expelled from F1.

IMO Renault deserve to be kicked out of F1 for 12 months, but for the greater good of F1, a very large fine, stipping of points, and advising teams not to employee Pat Symonds and Flavio is what should happen.

Bye bye Daddys boy Nelson. Might catch you driving in F3 or F2 sometime. No motorsport competing at GP2 or above will touch this guy now. I'd say no IRL team would touch time either

8-10

Full statement given by Nelsinho Piquet to the FIA regarding the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix:
I, Nelson Angelo Piquet, born July 25, 1985 in Heidelberg, Germany...say as follows:
1. Except as otherwise stated, the facts and statements contained in this Statement are based on facts and matters within my knowledge. I believe such facts and statements contained in this Statement to be true and correct. Where any facts or statements are not within my own knowledge, they are true to the best of my knowledge and belief and, where appropriate, I indicate the source of that knowledge and belief.
2. I make this Statement voluntarily to the FIA and for the purposes of allowing the FIA to exercise its supervisory and regulatory functions with regard to the FIA Formula One World Championship.
3. I am aware that there is a duty upon all participants in the FIA Formula One World Championship and all Super Licence holders to ensure the fairness and legitimacy of the Championship and I am aware that serious consequences could follow if I were to provide the FIA with any false or misleading statement.
4. I understand that my complete statement has been recorded on audio tape and that a full transcript of my audio recording will be made available to me and the FIA. The present document constitutes a summary of the main points made during my full oral statement.
5. I wish to bring the following facts to the FIA’s attention.
6. During the Formula One Grand Prix of Singapore, held on 28 September 2008 and counting towards the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship, I was asked by Mr. Flavio Briatore, who is both my manager and the Team Principal of the ING Renault F1 Team, and by Mr. Pat Symonds, the Technical Director of the Renault F1 Team, to deliberately crash my car in order to positively influence the performance of the ING Renault F1 Team at the event in question. I agreed to this proposal and caused my car to hit a wall and crash during lap thirteen/fourteen of the race.
7. The proposal to deliberately cause an accident was made to me shortly before the race took place, when I was summoned by Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds in Mr. Briatore’s office. Mr. Symonds, in the presence of Mr. Briatore, asked me if I would be willing to sacrifice my race for the team by “causing a safety car”. Every F1 race driver knows that the safety car is deployed on a track when there is an accident which leads to the track being blocked either by debris or a stationary car, and where it is difficult to recover a damaged car, as was the case here.
8. At the time of this conversation I was in a very fragile and emotional state of mind. This state of mind was brought about by intense stress due to the fact that Mr. Briatore had refused to inform me of whether or not my driver’s contract would be renewed for the next racing year (2009), as is customarily the case in the middle of the year (around July or August). Instead, Mr. Briatore repeatedly requested me to sign an “option”, which meant that I was not allowed to negotiate with any other teams in the meantime. He would repeatedly put pressure on me to prolong the option I had signed, and would regularly summon me into his office to discuss these renewals, even on racing days – a moment which should be a moment of concentration and relaxation before the race. This stress was accentuated by the fact that during the Formula One Grand Prix of Singapore I had qualified sixteenth on the grid, so I was very insecure about my future at the Renault team. When I was asked to crash my car and cause a safety car incident in order to help the team, I accepted because I hoped that it could improve my position within the team at this critical time in the race season. At no point was I told by anyone that by agreeing to cause an incident, I would be guaranteed a renewal of my contract or any other advantage. However, in the context, I thought that it would be helpful in achieving this goal. I therefore agreed to cause the incident.
9. After the meeting with Mr. Symonds and Mr. Briatore, Mr. Symonds took me aside to a quiet corner and, using a map, pointed me to the exact corner of the track where I should crash. This corner was selected because the specific location of the track did not have any cranes that would allow a damaged car to be swiftly lifted off the track, nor did it have any side entrances to the track, which would allow a Safety Marshall to quickly move the damaged car away from the track. Therefore, it was felt that a crash in this specific position would be nearly certain to cause an obstruction on the track which would thus necessitate the deployment of a safety car in order to allow the track to be cleared and to ensure the safe continuation of the race.
10. Mr. Symonds also told me which exact lap to cause the incident upon, so that a strategy could deployed for my team-mate Mr. Fernando Alonso to refuel at the pit shortly before the deployment of the safety car, which he indeed did during lap twelve. The key to this strategy resided in the fact that the near-knowledge that the safety car would be deployed in lap thirteen/fourteen allowed the Team to start Mr. Alonso’s car with an aggressive fuel strategy using a light car containing enough fuel to arrive at lap twelve, but not much more. This would allow Mr. Alonso to overtake as many (heavier) cars as possible, knowing that those cars would have difficulty catching up with him later in the race due to the later deployment of the safety car. This strategy was successful and Mr. Alonso won the 2008 Formula One Grand Prix of Singapore.
11. During these discussions, no mention was made of any concerns with respect to the security implications of this strategy, either for myself, the public or other drivers. The only comment made in this context was one by Mr. Pat Symonds who warned me to “be careful”, which I took to mean that I should not injure myself.
12. I intentionally caused the crash by letting go of control of the car just before the relevant corner. In order to make sure I would cause the incident during the correct lap, I asked my team several times via the radio to confirm the lap number, which I would not normally do. I was not injured during the accident, nor was anyone else.
13. After the discussions with Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds discussed above, the ‘accident strategy’ was never discussed again with either of them. Mr. Briatore discreetly said “thank you” after the end of the race, without mentioning anything further. I do not know if anyone else was aware of this strategy at the start of the race.
14. After the race I informed Mr. Felipe Vargas, a family friend and advisor, of the fact that the incident had been deliberate. Mr. Vargas further infirmed my father, Mr. Nelson Piquet, some time later.
15. After the race several journalists asked questions about the accident and asked me whether I had caused it on purpose, because they felt it was ‘suspicious’.
16. In my own team, the engineer of my car questioned the nature of the incident because he found it unusual, and I replied that I had lost control of the car. I believe that a clever engineer would notice from the car’s telemetry that I caused the incident on purpose as I continued accelerating , whereas a “normal” reaction would be to brake as soon as possible.
Statement of Truth
I believe and swear that the facts set out in this statement are true.
This statement was made at the FIA Headquarters in Paris on 30 July 2009 in presence of Mr. Alan Donnelly (FIA Chairman of the Stewards), Mr. Martin Smith and Mr. Jacob Marsh (both of investigations firm Quest, retained by the FIA to assist with its investigation). Notes were taken by Ms. Dondnique Costesec (Sidley Austin LLP).
Signed:
Nelson Piquet Jr

Ghost Train

I see renault will be trying to go after Piquet

"However, today the ING Renault F1 Team and its Managing Director Flavio Briatore personally, wish to state that they have commenced criminal proceedings against Nelson Piquet Junior and Nelson Piquet Senior in France concerning the making of false allegations and a related attempt to blackmail the team into allowing Mr Piquet Jnr to drive for the remainder of the 2009 season. The matter will also be referred to the Police in the UK."

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/9/9903.html

Piquets statement (where did this come from 8-10, is it reliable(edit: i see the time says its real)), does give lots of details. Will be interesting to see if the radio and telemetry can back it all up

Have to say that I can't imagine the driver doing it without the planning from the team and the team addmitting that it was talked about in some form before the race doesn't look good


Interesting that Bernie has known about it for a while, from the Times

Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One commercial rights-holder, told The Times that Piquet informed him he was going to tell the FIA about the affair as long ago as the Monaco Grand Prix at the end of May.

According to Ecclestone, Piquet has told the FIA that it was Ecclestone who encouraged the driver to follow through on a course of action that would damage Briatore, but the promoter denied this.

“At no time did I tell him to f*** Flavio,” Ecclestone said last night. “He said he was going to do it and I simply said, ‘There is no use you saying you are going to do something — either do it or stop talking about it.’ To be honest, I genuinely believed at that time that he would not do it.”

8-10

Ghost Train wrote: »

Piquets statement (where did this come from 8-10, is it reliable(edit: i see the time says its real)), does give lots of details. Will be interesting to see if the radio and telemetry can back it all up

Sorry, link - http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/10092009/23/transcript-nelson-piquet-jr-statement-fia.html

smooch71

Piquet has apparently been given immunity.

If Renault are found guilty, he won't be punished.

His career is finished either way..

thebman

Symonds is also reported as saying: "It's true, during the Sunday meeting with Piquet the issue of deliberately causing a SC deployment came up, but it was proposed by Piquet himself. It was just a conversation."

Say what now? Why would Piquet offer to crash to help Alonso? That's basically an admission IMO. They know they have been found out and are trying to say anything to get out of it because that is nonsense.

No way a driver requests can he crash his car on purpose to bring out a safety car to help his team mate win the championship IMO :rolleyes:

Frank Bullitt

Piquet is saying that he has nothing to fear with all of this,i think he does cause he is sealing the coffin with his F1 career in it,suppose it doesnt matter much really though cause he is rubbish.