FIA calls Renault to face cheating charges
04/09/09 18:40
F1-Live.com
Piquet’s Singapore shunt under investigation
with Renault called to face cheating charges.
The FIA today confirmed that Renault has been requested to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council on Monday 21st September.
In a statement issued this afternoon by the sport’s governing body, the team has been called to answer charges, including a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code. That particular rule regards bringing the sport into disrepute via “any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motorsport generally.”
“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 Alonso,” reads the statement.
Our report from the inaugural Singapore event was entitled “the cards fall for Fernando Alonso,” and while Piquet’s crash certainly seemed genuine enough at the time, clearly the governing body - via its rumoured tip-off and subsequent investigations - does have some evidence to the contrary.
Should Renault be found guilty of the charges, penalties range from a fine to exclusion from the championship at a time when Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone has publically stated he fears the Anglo-French team could leave the series.
"The ING Renault F1 Team acknowledges the FIA’s request for representatives of the team to appear before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on the 21st of September 2009," the team said in a statement. "Before attending the hearing, the team will not make any further comment."
Click here for our Singapore 2008 race report...
Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International
04/09/09 18:40
F1-Live.com
Piquet’s Singapore shunt under investigation
with Renault called to face cheating charges.
The FIA today confirmed that Renault has been requested to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council on Monday 21st September.
In a statement issued this afternoon by the sport’s governing body, the team has been called to answer charges, including a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code. That particular rule regards bringing the sport into disrepute via “any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motorsport generally.”
“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 Alonso,” reads the statement.
Our report from the inaugural Singapore event was entitled “the cards fall for Fernando Alonso,” and while Piquet’s crash certainly seemed genuine enough at the time, clearly the governing body - via its rumoured tip-off and subsequent investigations - does have some evidence to the contrary.
Should Renault be found guilty of the charges, penalties range from a fine to exclusion from the championship at a time when Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone has publically stated he fears the Anglo-French team could leave the series.
"The ING Renault F1 Team acknowledges the FIA’s request for representatives of the team to appear before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on the 21st of September 2009," the team said in a statement. "Before attending the hearing, the team will not make any further comment."
Click here for our Singapore 2008 race report...
Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International