People are over-reacting to Renault F1 race fix scandal - Irvine

Ex-Formula One driver Eddie Irvine says there has been an overreaction to the race-fixing charges being levelled at the Renault team.
Renault have been called to answer charges by governing body, the FIA, of ordering Nelson Piquet Jr to crash.
"Formula One has always been a war and in war all is fair," the former Jordan and Ferrari driver told Radio 5 live.
"When I was in various teams you would do anything to win. Back in the day it was normal."
On Wednesday, Flavio Briatore left his post as boss of the Renault team along with executive director of engineering Pat Symonds after the team decided not to contest charges of fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Despite the departures, Renault will face a World Motor Sport Council hearing in Paris on Monday.
The team have been called to answer charges that they "conspired with 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".
But Irvine says that this matter is the latest in a long list of rules that have been bent in the sport over the years.
"This is probably slightly on the wrong side of the cheating thing but in days past every team have done whatever they could to win - cheat, bend the rules, break the rules, sabotage opponents," he claimed. "This is just the FIA going on a crusade."
The Northern Irishman also believes that if Renault are found guilty, the FIA will deal with them leniently.
"Formula One cannot afford to lose more teams. For me, it will be a massaged court where the fine will be reduced in order not to scare Renault away.
"There are several teams in the sport that are looking shaky and they cannot afford to kick Renault out of Formula One."
The 1996 world champion Damon Hill added that the case is not a good episode for the sport.
"There have clearly been some issues in the sport recently and there is a lot of soul-searching to be done," he said.
"It is a huge sport with a huge amount of interest and sometimes controversies add to the interest but you want it to be for the right reasons.
"I'm concerned that the sport is going to suffer as a genuine challenge of skill and competitiveness."

Is eddie right? Do you think people are over-reacting post your views below! Make sure you preview your comments before posting them !!


By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
-- Post From My iPod Touch

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Renault boss blames Briatore over scandal controversy

Renault chief Patrick Pelata has blamed departed team bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds for the Formula 1 race-fixing controversy.
Briatore and Symonds resigned after Renault chose not to contest charges of fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
"Flavio Briatore considered he was morally responsible and resigned," Pelata told French radio station RTL.
"We don't want a fault by two people to reflect upon the whole company and the entire Formula 1 team."
Renault will appear before governing body, the FIA, in Paris on Monday charged with ordering former driver Nelson Piquet Jr to deliberately crash in Singapore last year to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win the race.
"I don't know all the details but there was a fault and a fault requires a sanction," said Pelata, Renault's chief operating officer.
"We will know more about the details after what will happen on Monday with the FIA. For the moment we have assumptions but it is clear that basically there was a fault."
Piquet crashed two laps after Alonso had come in for a routine pit-stop, meaning that when race officials sent out the safety car to clear up the debris from Piquet's car, Alonso was alone among the front-runners in not having to stop for fuel and tyres.
Renault's double world champion went on to take the chequered flag at Formula 1's inaugural night race and clinch the team's first victory in two years.
At the time, Piquet attributed the crash to a simple error, but after being dropped by the team after July's Hungary GP the race-fixing allegations emerged.
The Brazilian has since testified to the FIA that he was instructed by Briatore and Symonds when and where to crash.
Renault's response was to accuse the 24-year-old and his father Nelson Piquet of false allegations and blackmail, going as far as saying they would begin legal action against them.
But on Wednesday the team said in a statement they would "not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix", while team boss Briatore and executive director of engineering Symonds departed their posts.
Monday's hearing will attempt to attribute responsibility for the affair and the FIA could still impose sanctions if Renault are found guilty.
Potential punishments include excluding the team from the championship, although that must be considered unlikely given the two people Piquet said were responsible have now left the team.
Pelata would not be drawn on the French manufacturer's continuing involvement in the sport and the possibility that they could walk away.
"This is not the debate today. We will have it calmly," he added. "Formula 1 is the world's most-watched show and you have to respect that. Formula One has been in the vanguard of progress for car technology.
"It is probably not the case at the moment, but it could be again and it is always what Renault have tried to do."
Meanwhile, ex-Formula 1 driver Eddie Irvine feels there has been an overreaction to the charges being levelled at Renault.
"Formula 1 has always been a war and in war all is fair," the former Jordan and Ferrari driver told BBC Radio 5 live. "When I was in various teams you would do anything to win. Back in the day it was normal.
"This is probably slightly on the wrong side of the cheating thing but in days past every team have done whatever they could to win - cheat, bend the rules, break the rules, sabotage opponents. This is just the FIA going on a crusade."
The Northern Irishman also believes that if Renault are found guilty, the FIA will deal with them leniently.
"Formula One cannot afford to lose more teams. For me, it will be a massaged court where the fine will be reduced in order not to scare Renault away.
"There are several teams in the sport that are looking shaky and they cannot afford to kick Renault out of Formula 1."
The 1996 world champion Damon Hill added that the case is not a good episode for the sport.
"There have clearly been some issues in the sport recently and there is a lot of soul-searching to be done," he said.
"It is a huge sport with a huge amount of interest and sometimes controversies add to the interest but you want it to be for the right reasons.
"I'm concerned that the sport is going to suffer as a genuine challenge of skill and competitiveness."



By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
-- Post From My iPod Touch

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BMW F1 to be bought by owners of Notts County FC!

German car manufacturer BMW says it has agreed to sell its Formula 1 team to Swiss-based Qadbak Investments.
BMW has been looking for a buyer for the team since it announced in July that it was pulling out of the sport at the end of the current season.
Qadbak bought Notts County FC in July through its Munto Finance company.
Earlier on Tuesday, F1's governing body gave BMW Sauber "14th place" on the grid next year, meaning they are first reserves to fill any vacancy.
The FIA has announced the expansion of the F1 grid to 13 teams for next season, with Lotus, Campos GP, Manor and US F1 all joining.
However, it will be "consulting urgently" with the 10 existing teams with a view to increasing the number of teams to 14.
There are also doubts over the F1 future of current teams Renault and Toyota.
Renault are embroiled in a race-fixing controversy while Toyota insist they are not signing off their F1 budget until November.
Despite previous doubts over its future, the FIA described BMW's application as "high quality" and a team statement said: "We are pleased to confirm that the FIA has indicated that we may have a place in the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship.
"The team expects to line up on the grid for the first race of the 2010 season."
BMW, which took over Sauber in 2005, announced in July it was pulling out of the sport at the end of the season citing "current developments in motorsport" as the reason for the decision.
Founder Peter Sauber, who holds a 20% stake in the team, tried to buy the team last month but negotiations collapsed after he said BMW's demands were "far too high".
BMW has not revealed financial details of the deal it has agreed with Qadbak, a company which it described as representing the interests of "certain Middle Eastern and European-based families".
"A strong investor has therefore been found for the Hinwil-based team," added the statement. "Qadbak's interest in the team will be represented by Lionel Fischer, a Swiss national."
When the Qadbak-owned Munto Finanace bought League Two side Notts County in the summer, they wiped out debts of £1m when taking over from a supporters' trust and made Championship football their five-year target.
They have made a statement of intent by installing former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson as their director of football while former Spurs, Arsenal and Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell has also moved to Meadow Lane.
BMW Sauber finished third behind Ferrari and McLaren in last year's constructors' championship but have had a disappointing 2009 so far.
They are currently lying in seventh place with the team claiming only one podium finish all season.
Drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica are 13th and 15th respectively in the drivers' standings.


Do you think BMW should stay in the sport?
What do you think of the buyout?

Comment your vews below!!

By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
-- Post From My iPod Touch

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Briatore and chief engineer quit Renault during scandal

Flavio Briatore has left his position as boss of the Renault team after they decided not to contest charges of fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Executive director of engineering Pat Symonds has also left the team.
Renault were summoned by governing body, the FIA, after Nelson Piquet Jr claimed he had been asked to crash to help team-mate Fernando Alonso's race.
An FIA spokesperson confirmed a World Motor Sport Council hearing in Paris on Monday would go ahead.
Renault have been called to answer charges that they "conspired with 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".
The hearing will attempt to attribute responsibility for the Singapore "crash-gate" despite the news that Briatore and Symonds have left Renault.
The FIA could still impose sanctions if Renault are found guilty, including excluding the team from the championship, although that must be considered unlikely given the two people Piquet said were responsible have now left the team.
Piquet crashed in Singapore two laps after Alonso had come in for a routine pit stop.
That meant that when race officials sent out the safety car to clear up the debris from Piquet's car, Alonso was alone among the front-runners in not having to stop for fuel and tyres.
Renault's double world champion went on to take the chequered flag at Formula 1's inaugural night race and claim his first victory in two years.
At the time, Piquet attributed the crash to a simple error, but after being dropped by the team after July's Hungary GP the race-fixing allegations emerged.
The Brazilian has since testified to the FIA that he was instructed by Briatore and Symonds when and where to crash.
Renault's response was to accuse the 24-year-old and his father Nelson Piquet of false allegations and blackmail, going as far as saying they would begin legal action against them.
But on Wednesday the team said in a statement they would "not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix."
The statement added: "The team also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team."
BBC pundit and former team boss Eddie Jordan said he was surprised by Renault's announcement but believes it was effectively an admission of guilt.
"By suggesting they are not going to contest the allegations is in itself an admission," Jordan told the BBC.
"That's how I see it. Legally, there may be another argument. I think this is a clear-cut admission and I am surprised.
"I don't know what goes on in teams but certainly in the Jordan team you would contemplate all sorts of things but you certainly couldn't contemplate that."
It remains to be seen whether this latest controversy, and the departure of Briatore and Symonds, will affect Renault's decision to stay in Formula 1.
Briatore had denied speculation that the French team's future was under threat and the team have signed a new Concorde Agreement to stay in F1 until 2012.
But this latest controversy, coupled with a decline in cars sales, could yet have repercussions for the staff of around 700, who are are employed at the team's headquarters in Enstone, in Oxfordshire, and Viry-Chatillon in Paris.
As it is, Renault's statement draws the curtain on two of F1's best-known protagonists.
Briatore became Benetton team principal in 1991 and when Renault bought Benetton in 2000 to run under its own moniker, the 59-year-old Italian was chosen to lead the team.
Symonds joined the Toleman team, which morphed into Benetton and Renault, in the 1980s and worked his way though the ranks becoming executive director of engineering in 2001.
Briatore was also heavily involved in the teams' association Fota, as it sought to reach an agreement on the future of the sport with the FIA this season.



By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
-- Post From My iPod Touch

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