Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds could be facing criminal charges for endangering lives after deciding not to contest charges of engineering Nelson Piquet Jr’s crash at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Renault is due to appear before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on September 21 charged with bringing the sport into disrepute by having committed “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 Alsono”.
There are also suggestions that both Briatore and Symonds may find themselves having to fend off a three-pronged legal attack. Yahoo! Eurosport
However, Renault says it will not contest the charges. The French manufacturer has been conducting an internal investigation since the allegations came to light and has yet to make a public statement. Monday’s WMSC hearing will still take place but will probably be attended by a Renault team lawyer, who will plead for clemency, claiming the alleged actions of two men should not affect the employment of about 700 other staff.
The FIA could still impose sanctions if it finds Renault guilty, including excluding the team from the championship, although that must be considered unlikely given that the two people Piquet claimed were responsible have left. The FIA will also bear in mind that it does not want another manufacturer to leave the sport and is likely to let Renault escape lightly in the best interests of the sport.
It is understood Singapore could request extradition from a Commonwealth country for someone charged with offences which are deemed “extradition crimes”.
Part one of the First Schedule of the Singapore Extradition Act lists “acts done with the intention of endangering vehicles, vessels or aircraft” as an extraditable crime. “Malicious or wilful damage to property” is also on the list.
Whether the Singaporean Government would want to jeopardise its chances of hosting future grands prix by dragging formula one’s name through the mud is a moot point. Sydney Morning Herald
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