Nelson Piquet Snr, whistleblower in the Formula One cheating scandal, promised to pour as much of his fortune as it takes into defeating Flavio Briatore in the courts.
Briatore, who this week left Renault in shame after apparently ordering Piquet’s son, Nelson Jnr, to crash his car in last September’s Singapore Grand Prix, has started criminal proceedings in France against the pair, alleging they blackmailed him.
But on Thursday Piquet Snr, the triple world champion who first contacted the FIA to claim the race had been fixed, said: ‘I have the money in order to get the best lawyers. And about what does he actually want to complain? About the truth?’ Daily Mail
Briatore resigned on Wednesday after apparently ordering Piquet Jr to deliberately crash his car in last September’s Singapore Grand Prix but he continues to manage the Brazilian driver through his management company FFBB. Piquet Jr signed for FFBB in October 2006 and his contract means a fifth of his earnings go directly to Briatore.
The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) will hear the case against Renault in Paris on Monday and Piquet Sr says he will wait to hear their findings before deciding whether to pursue a case against the Italian.
“I could not talk to other team members about it [the contract], because Nelson was working for Flavio and his management has a contract with the team,” Piquet Sr said. “Now I finally have something - contract violation - to put pressure on Flavio.
“If the FIA world council confirms the case, I will have a hold for going to court.” Times Online
“At a certain point people like Flavio have so much power, they believe they can walk on water,” remarked Piquet Snr. “He obviously thought, even though there was lots of proof, no-one could catch him.”
Despite the ‘crashgate’ scandal that resulted in Briatore resigning from his position on Wednesday, Piquet Jnr is still managed by the Italian and has a contract in place that would see him give up 20% of his earnings to Briatore over the next 15 years.
Piquet Snr is awaiting the verdict from Monday’s World Motor Sport Council hearing before determining whether to pursue a case as he said. The Press Association
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