Today, Renault were hauled in front of the World Motor Sports Council (WMSC) as the investigation into allegations of race-fixing at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix were wrapped up. Unfortunately, the punishment dished out bore little correlation to the seriousness of the crime, and did little to draw on the context of how previous offences have been dealt with.
The charge – just to recap very quickly – was that three members of the Renault F1 team (Flavio Briatore, Pat Symonds and Nelson Piquet) conspired to fix the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008 so as to gain an unfair advantage for the team’s other driver, Fernando Alonso (although without his knowledge). The claim originated from Nelson Piquet. Briatore denied the charges, Pat Symonds chose to say as little as possible to avoid incriminating himself, but did nothing to say that such a plan was not in place – an implicit admission of guilt.
The WMSC could have permanently thrown Renault out of F1 today, such was the seriousness of the crime. However, they could take little action against the three men involved as Piquet was granted immunity, and Symonds and Briatore no longer are employed by an F1 team, and so therefore technically fall outwith the jurisdiction of the body.
The penalties actually imposed were: a suspended two-year ban for the Renault F1 team. Oh, and that’s pretty much it. Apart from billing Renault F1 for the costs of the investigation, and requiring them to take part in FIA road safety campaigns (which they actually offered themselves).
As the WMSC technically couldn’t personally punish Briatore or Symonds, they have resolved to refuse to sanction any events that either of the two involve themselves in – Briatore for an indefinte period, Symonds for a period of five years.
Here is an extract of the statement from the hearing regarding the punishment imposed upon the Renault F1 team:
The World Motor Sport Council considers Renault F1’s breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity. Renault F1’s breaches not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself. The World Motor Sport Council considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship. However, having regard to the points in mitigation mentioned above and in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1’s disqualification until the end of the 2011 season. The World Motor Sport Council will only activate this disqualification if Renault F1 is found guilty of a comparable breach during that time.
So, what’s the problem? Well, for one thing, Piquet – the guy who smashed his car into the wall, the only person with the physical capacity to enact this plan, as the driver of the car – walks away. No fine, no ban, not even so much as a slapped wrist. Of course, he won’t be employable to any self-respecting racing outfit, but still, there is no formal punishment. This is a result of the immunity agreement, which is unfortunate. If someone needs immunity to tell the truth, can they really be trusted in the first place?
The second problem is the lack of any real punishment to the Renault F1 team. Remember Schumacher taking out Villeneuve in 1997 at Jerez? He was excluded from the Championship that year. Remember when Schumacher passed Damon Hill on the parade lap at the British Grand Prix in 1994, and then ignored the black flag? He was given a straight 2-race ban. Remember in 2007 when McLaren were found guilty of possessing Ferrari documents? They were given a $100 million fine and excluded from the Constructors’ Championship.
Yet, none of these crimes were anything compared to the seriousness of a driver crashing on purpose, endangering himself, other drivers and spectators, in order for his team-mate to win a race. This was not like Schumacher instinctively trying to punt his rival off the track to win the World Championship desperately in the realisation that if he didn’t, he wouldn’t get another chance. This was not like Schumacher ignoring a 5-second stop/go penalty for a trivial offence. This was not like in the case of the Spy Scandal of 2007, where a McLaren held Ferrari technical documents that meant they could potentially steal ideas to gain an unfair advantage.
No, this was a blatant attempt to steal a race relying on no technical ability, but on the fact that their driver would be certain to be at the head of the field in the event of a safety car.
And let’s remember, McLaren were punished despite the fact that the Spy Scandal had nothing to do with an institutional desire to cheat at McLaren. No, it was one individual there too, albeit not one at the top of the team.
Quite simply, Renault should have been thrown out of F1, at least for the rest of this season, possibly longer. The idea that the perpetrators of the plot in Singapore last night have left the team matters little. Yes, the team have dealt with them, but it was also the team that brought the sport into disrepute. Symonds, Briatore and Piquet all worked for Renault, and Renault have to take responsibility for the actions of their staff. They are also responsible for the power structures that existed in the team that allowed this to happen – power structures that are not replicated in any other team in the pit lane.
Now I know that many will say F1 needs Renault, we mustn’t make them run away. Rubbish. We’ve survived without them before, and we could do again. Few teams are indispensible, and Renault sure aren’t one of them. They have a place on the grid next year and as such could potentially be an attractive investment – their facilities as Enstone may not be the best, but they are solid, and the team has a history of winning (albeit with Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds).
F1 should not be subject to the whims of manufacturers. Let them come and go as they please. But if they want to stay, they should understand the rules of the game, and the punishments for breaching such rules. That didn’t happen today, and that is bad for F1.