The full extent of the alleged conspiracy by the Renault Formula One team to cheat by deliberately causing a crash at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix was laid bare yesterday with the leak of a summary of the evidence given to the FIA by the driver at the centre of the scandal.
Nelson Piquet Jr, who was sacked by Renault at the end of July, says in a statement recorded at the FIA headquarters in Paris on July 30 and published on the internet yesterday that not only was he asked to crash his car on purpose during the race in Singapore but that a senior team manager showed him on a map of the circuit exactly where he was to drive his car into the barriers.
The disclosure of the witness statement, which forms the basis of the case against Renault that will be heard before the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) on September 21, overshadowed the build-up to Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, with paddock talk at Monza dominated by the issue. Several drivers took the unusual step of commenting on the affair, with Rubens Barrichello, of Brawn GP, echoing the views of many when he said that, if the claims against Renault are true, it was “a very, very sad” day for the sport.
The statement by Piquet gives a full account of how he was summoned to the Renault motorhome hours before the race and allegedly asked by Flavio Briatore, the team principal, and Pat Symonds, the director of engineering — who deny the allegations against them — to crash his car to provoke a safety car intervention that would help Piquet’s team-mate, Fernando Alonso, to win the race.
“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,” Piquet told the FIA. “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.” Times Online
“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.
“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 key to this strategy resided in the near-knowledge that the safety car would be deployed in lap 13/14, allowing the team to start Mr Alonso’s car with an aggressive fuel strategy using a light car containing enough fuel to arrive at lap 12, 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.” Alonso won the race. Independent
“At the time of this conversation I was in a very fragile and emotional state of mind,” Piquet said.
“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.”
“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.” Brisbane Times
Championship leader Jenson Button was incredulous at the unfolding drama.
“I can’t imagine a driver doing that,” he said. “I can’t ever imagine a situation where I’d do that, even as a young driver but then I can’t believe anybody would ask me that.”
His team-mate Rubens Barrichello, twice a winner here, added: “It’s very sad if it’s true, The only thing I can see is that someone wants Briatore’s head.” Mirror.co.uk
UPDATE: September 12, 2009 10:44 am
The Renault Formula One team have commenced legal proceedings against former driver Nelson Piquet Junior over allegations made by the Brazilian that he was asked by the team to deliberately crash his car in last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
It has been claimed that Renault boss, Flavio Briatore, in order to maximize the chances of Fernando Alonso winning the 2008 race, planned the crash of teammate Piquet Jr.
Renault, who dismissed Piquet Jr as their driver in August, confirmed they have referred the matter to the British police.
The French car constructor face being thrown out of Formula One if the allegations are proved by an investigation being conducted by the governing body of world motorsport, the FIA.
The team will go before the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council in Paris on September 21 to hear the findings of the probe.
Piquet attributed the crash to a simple error at the time.
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone recently warned “there is going to be a lot of trouble” if the allegations are found to be true.
| 
|