Briatore and Symonds leave Renault F1

Renault announced on Wednesday that both team boss Flavio Briatore and Executive Director of Engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team. Furthermore, the French squad has announced in a statement that it will not dispute the recent allegations made by governing body the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

The Renault team, without the men accused of race-fixing, will still have to attend the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) hearing in Paris on Monday 21 September due to the 'Crashgate' scandal but said in the statement that, until then, no further comment will be made.

In last year's Grand Prix in Singapore city, also scene of the next event on the 2009 calendar, Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed his Renault - allegedly under instruction from the two men in question - to aid team-mate Fernando Alonso's run to victory. The Spaniard has denied involvement or knowledge in any previously planned plot.

Source: GP Update

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Barrichello: Massa is my inspiration

Rubens Barrichello has revealed the secret to his excellent form recently. It would appear that Rubens has been seeking advice from the sidelined Felipe Massa over the past few races. Massa has been out of contention since his accident in Hungary, ironically caused by a spring from the back of Barrichello's Brawn.

"I went to his house before Valencia and he explained to me how to deal with that track, where he dominated last year, and then I won," Barrichello told Italy's Gazetta dello Sport. "He also dominated in Singapore so I wanted him to tell me how he did that too!"

Rubens is currently 14 points adrift of team-mate and championship rival Jenson Button but hopes that four successive wins in the run up to the end of the season will help him close the gap. Along with this, the improving performances of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren and Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari, Rubens could hope to place cars between himself and Button to possibly overhaul the Briton.

Rubens also explained that he will continue to utilise the advice given by compatriot Massa and will continue to prepare for races in a more appropriate manner, with the hope of avoiding the pitfalls of last year. "I will get there more prepared this year," he added. "They have changed some corners, the track has been re-surfaced and all of those awful bumps should be gone - I wear contact lenses and I had a headache whenever I stepped out of the car! Now I know what to expect."

Source: GP Update

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'Something very unusual happened' - Mosley on Piquet crash

FIA President Max Mosley admits that the crash of Nelson Piquet Jr. in last year's Singapore Grand Prix does appear to be suspect. The Renault team remains under investigation for the incident, which eventually helped team-mate Fernando Alonso to victory.

There is no doubt over the fact that Piquet's incident assisted Alonso's victory, as the Safety Car was deployed just a few minutes after the Spaniard's first pit-stop, although the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) will hear the team's official version of events on Monday 21 September.

"Certainly the data from the car indicated that something very unusual had happened on the corner where he crashed, according to the experts who look at these things," Mosley told The Guardian, "so there was enough there to make it unthinkable not to investigate. This week Renault will send in written documents but the actual hearing of their defence is next Monday."

The FIA President, who will move into retirement next month, also admits that gossip surrounding the incident reached the FIA some time ago. "Two or three months earlier I'd heard this allegation was floating around," he explained. "Of course, there was nothing one could do then because there was no evidence, it was all rumour and hearsay; so I knew the allegation existed but, yes, I was quite surprised they were actually prepared to come forward and make it.

"Nelson Piquet Sr. (father and Manager of Nelson Jr.) came to see me after the Hungarian Grand Prix in late July and said all this had happened, so I listened to him and said 'Well, if Nelson (Jr.) makes a sworn statement then obviously we'll investigate it.' The father arranged for that to happen. We then started to look at all the on-board data and all the recordings we've got of everything that happened in the car."

Source: GP Update

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Lotus returns to Formula One

The famous Lotus name will be back on the F1 grid next year, the FIA has confirmed. The governing body revealed on Tuesday that the Lotus F1 Team entry has been accepted to fill the vacant space left by the departing BMW Sauber, which has also submitted what has been described as an 'impressive application'.

With 13 positions currently available on the grid next year and several entries left to select following BMW's July announcement that it will be pulling out of the sport, governing body the FIA confirmed on Tuesday that the Lotus name will be returning to the sport for the first time since 1994.

The latest version of the Lotus team will be funded by both the Malaysian government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs. The full title of the outfit will be 1Malaysia F1 Team, based at the factory of RTN in Norfolk, England. The building, only ten miles from Lotus Cars, was originally built for Toyota's F1 organisation at the start of the decade before Bentley used the facility for its Le Mans team.

Funding will be provided by the Malaysian Tune Group - the company behind airline Air Asia and headed by Tony Fernandes, who will also be Team Principal - with Mike Gascoyne making his Formula One return as Technical Director, having left Force India last year.

The team will be using Cosworth engines with gearboxes provided by Xtrac and aerodynamics developed by FondTech.

Source: GP Update

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Symonds exempt from FIA punishment

Formula One governing body the FIA has granted Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering at Renault, immunity in the controversial case surrounding race-fixing in last year's Singapore Grand Prix. Like driver Nelson Piquet, the Englishman will not receive a possible punishment of a lifetime ban from the sport providing that honest evidence is provided.

Piquet claims that both Symonds and Managing Director Flavio Briatore instructed the Brazilian to crash deliberately during the night race in order to encourage the deployment of the Safety Car in order to aid team-mate Fernando Alonso's race victory.

The Spaniard duly took the chequered flag and Renault's first win of the year although Renault will attend an FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) hearing on Monday 21 September.

Providing the FIA feels a full and sincere description of events is provided by Symonds, he will not be charged with a lifetime ban from Formula One. The Times reports on Tuesday that the Englishman refused to answer initial questioning from an FIA advisor, pointing out the following quote: "I have no intention of lying to you. I have not lied to you, but I have reserved my position just a little."

It is believed that the FIA-appointed stewards from this year's Belgian Grand Prix have analysed the telemetry information of Piquet's car during the race, claiming that - having viewed the data - Piquet's claims are 'reasonable' and 'on balance'

Source: GP Update

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Alonso knew the plan, says Piquet Sr.

Triple World Champion Nelson Piquet claims that Renault's Fernando Alonso was fully aware of the scheme to cause a deliberate crash involving his son in last year's Singapore Grand Prix. Nelsinho Piquet's retirement in the race led to the deployment of the Safety Car, which assisted the Spaniard to victory.

With the Piquets having accused Renault team chiefs Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds of originating the idea of a crash before the race, Alonso has already explained that he knew nothing of such an idea. However, Nelson Piquet Sr. - World Champion of 1981, 1983, 1987 and manager of his son - is certain that the Spaniard was aware of the proposal.

"Fernando knew everything," Piquet is quoted as saying by Spain's Diario Sport. "Alonso could not ignore it. If you are fifteenth on the grid at a street circuit, there is no point in just hoping for the best; at most, you can pass three cars - it's a senseless strategy."

Further reports suggest that Piquet will do all in his power to 'destroy' Renault Managing Director Flavio Briatore, who some predict could leave the team even before its FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) hearing on Monday 21 September. 'Crashgate' is the second serious case with which Alonso has been linked in two years, having been at the centre of the Ferrari-McLaren 'liegate' scenario in 2007.


Source: GP Update

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Piquet unemployable now, says Brundle

Former driver Martin Brundle believes that Nelson Piquet's recent race-fixing accusations against the Renault team and the subsequent controversy now make the driver unemployable in Formula One.

Ex-Renault pilot Piquet and father Nelson Sr. claim that team chiefs Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds planned a crash in Singapore last year in order to see the deployment of the Safety Car to assist other driver Fernando Alonso to race victory.

"The word in the paddock is that team boss Flavio Briatore will step away from F1 - possibly even before the hearing," television commentator Brundle told the BBC. "The sad thing is that the damage to F1 is already done because of the leaked information."

With Piquet managed by his triple World Champion father, Brundle feels the execution of their actions is a let down to the sport. "I'm disappointed in Piquet father and son," he continued. "Like many of us in the paddock, they have benefited enormously from being in the privileged inner sanctum of F1 and the boy's career opportunities and funding existed only because of F1.

"So, crashing deliberately in the first place, as he claims, and then lobbing this nuclear bomb into the paddock is not impressive to say the least; they've cut off their noses to spite their face because surely Nelson Piquet Jr is unemployable in F1 now. Which team and sponsor wants to be associated with all this? Anger has got the better of them here. F1, though, will survive it and move on."

Source: GP Update

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Domenicali vague over Räikkönen future

Ferrari General Manager Stefano Domenicali is refusing to discuss 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen's future prospects with the team. The Finn remains under contract with the Scuderia for another season although, with Fernando Alonso also linked with the outfit, most drivers in the field are currently out of contract for 2010.

With only the Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso line-ups known ahead of the new season, Alonso's move is widely viewed as the trigger for the rest of the field although, with Felipe Massa injured and his 2010 return by no means confirmed, Ferrari are holding station as teams and drivers remain in limbo with only four races left this season.

"I am definitely not going to discuss that now," Domenicali told the official F1 website of Räikkönen's situation. "As everybody is aware, Kimi has a contract with us next year and I am very happy with his performances because he is driving very, very well, especially in the second part of the season.

"For the last four races he has always been on the podium and I think, after Barrichello, he has scored the most points, so he has shown the true qualities of fighting for the championship. That is our position."

Source: GP Update

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Sutil fastest again in free practice

Force India driver Adrian Sutil was once again the fastest driver out on track. On Saturday morning the German completed the fastest lap in the 60-minute free practice session. He ended ahead of Jenson Button and Nick Heidfeld. Ferrari driver Giancarlo Fisichella crashed into the tyre barriers in Parabolica but was fortunately unharmed.

The third and final free practice session during this weekend's Italian Grand Prix started at 11:00am at Monza. Temperatures are up to 25 degrees Celcius already and it looks like it will remain dry for the rest of the day. Rain during the night caused the track to be a bit more slippery at the start of the session than during yesterday's free practice session.

The fans at Monza saw yellow flags being waved at Parabolica, the final corner at Monza, after thirty minutes. In front of his home crowd Giancarlo Fisichella lost control of his Ferrari and crashed sideways into the tyre barriers. His Ferrari was heavily damaged on the right but is probably going to be repaired in time for the qualifying session. Fisichella himself was fortunately unharmed.

Lewis Hamilton and Adrian Sutil topped the time sheets for most of the session but in the end of the one-hour free practice session it was Adrian Sutil who ended first.

At Red Bull the team faced problems with Mark Webber's car at the start of the session but all looks fine for qualifying.


Source: GP Update

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Mosley: We may lose one or two more F1 teams

At the end of July BMW announced that it will withdraw its Formula 1 team from Formula 1 at the end of the 2009 season. According to FIA president Max Mosley F1 could lose another one or two more car manufacturers and also one or two of the private F1 teams.

Speaking about next year's Formula 1 grid Max Mosley is not sure if the fans will be able to enjoy 13 teams at the grid. "I think we may lose another one or two car manufacturers and there's also one or two of the private teams who will find it difficult to survive," Mosley said.

"I'd stake my worldly goods on Ferrari being there. But not on all the manufacturers. But I may be wrong."

Source: GP Update

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