The Official F1 2009 Thread

[naplesE30]

Kimi to sign with McLaren, interesting.

[quickervicar]

So now it comes out that PK1 reported this to Charlie Whiting back in Brazil last year. Charlie passes it on to Max. Max sits on it. It also comes out that PK1 & 2 told this directly to Max & Bernie on July 30. They sit on it until a London newspaper leaked copies of the transcripts on August 17. Then they spring into action.

This is starting to stink worse than I ever imagined.

[Jon325i]

I find the McLaren Spy-Gate deal to be a raw one. They were fined how much? Payable to whom? The punishment didn't seem to fit the crime at all.

$100,000,000 because Ron Dennis made Max Mosley's skin crawl. The dislike between those two was a secret to no one.

This Renault one is pretty serious, but not entirely different than Schumacher's attempt to scuttle qualifying attempts of others at Monaco by "crashing" near the end of the session.

The difference between Schuey's event and Piquet's is that there were quite a few people on the other side of the barrier that the Renault was stuffed into.....so there was a potential chance of spectators getting hurt from flying debris. The guardrail at Rascasse is just a couple of feet from a tall concrete wall and this area is closed off to spectators.

So what will the team be named when David Richards takes over?

I guess this depends on a number of things....

#1: Will the title sponsor ING want to stay on board with Renault after this?

#2: Does Renault even plan on staying in F1? The weak global economy is causing many factories to realign their funding (see: Honda and BMW). I honestly don't know how strong their continued committment to Formula 1 is and perhaps this whole episode could serve as a pivotal point to re-evaluating things.

#3: You may recall a number of seasons ago David Richards was running the show for BAR Honda. Their peak year was 2004 when they were runner up to Ferrari in the Constructors. When Richards came on board he brought his group of people as a "management team" which turned things around after a rough beginning in the late 1990s under different management. In 2005 Honda's factory management took over and their downhill slide began. Incidentally, Richards right hand man Nick Fry (who stayed on board with Honda after Richards left) and now he's Ross Brawn's right hand man. His loyalty to the team has paid off well this season. If Renault call on Richards to get things back on track, it may be a short term agreement to get them through the remainder of the season. Then again, it could be more. Time will tell.

#4: David Richards runs Prodrive.....a group with deep roots in WRC. Last year Richards wanted to obtain a spot on the F1 grid forming a Prodrive team but I believe money issues kept that from becoming a reality. If David Richards can source up the necessary funding and assume control of Renault's F1 operations in England, he could get his wish to run a "Procar F1" team. Time will tell with that one.....its too early to speculate now.

One final point. The FIA still plan to have their hearing next week in Paris re: the Singapore incident. If they choose to be heavy handed in their means of punishment, they may exclude Renault from the remainder of the season as far as the Championships are concerned. Again, too early to tell. We will have a better idea by this time next week.

Jon

[quickervicar]

I find the McLaren Spy-Gate deal to be a raw one. They were fined how much? Payable to whom? The punishment didn't seem to fit the crime at all.

This Renault one is pretty serious, but not entirely different than Schumacher's attempt to scuttle qualifying attempts of others at Monaco by "crashing" near the end of the session. There does seem to be more of a team effort here than Michael's off had.

So what will the team be named when David Richards takes over?

[z31maniac]

Who else thought Piquet was making this story up?

I didn't. That's a pretty bold accusation to make up.

[naplesE30]

They both did it just not as well as Ferrari. Every one in F1 is always skirting the rules to get an edge, (double difuser anyone) some go farther then others,,, same is true for life and buisness. Wether its ordering a teamate to let one pass or, stealing a design. Renault and McLaren were just stupid and blatent about how they did it.

Symmonds and Briatore are facing lifetime bans and possibly jail time in Singapore, if Signapore authorities decide to press charges for ordering a violent and dangerous act.

I must admit I thought Piquet was just being a bitch about getting canned, I guess he was legit in his accusations. That will teach me to form an opinion before the facts are laid out. Who else thought Piquet was making this story up?

[Hick]

So for all the accused deceptiveness of the Ferrari organization over the years... what do you guys say to the recent allegations of cheating with Renault? Or Mclaren over the past two season?

[Jean]

Thanks Jon!

[Jon325i]

Been doing some Googling of todays' developments re: Renault drama. The Dailymail out of the UK has the dirt on what happened. Within the link below, there are 15 PDF links in the story that contain statements made by Piquet Jr., letters from the FIA, interview records with Renault personnel, telemetry data, radio transcripts, etc. all pertaining to what happened in Singapore last year. If you read it all its many pages....a good hour+ worth of reading. Enjoy.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/for...e-hearing.html


Jon

[YAN-3]

OH SNAP!

Briatore and Symonds leave Renault

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/9/9940.html

http://www.worldcarfans.com/109091621819/briatore-symonds-leave-renault-team

[naplesE30]

"Any publicity, is good publicity"

For a celebrity maybee. But not for banks. Shareholders tend to not like corruption and cheating for some reason. I assume you are being sarcastic.



I thought I remembered something about ING leaving F1 but I dont remember who is taking their place so I figured it was my imagination.

[Hick]

ING said earlier this year that they would not be involved with F1 in 2010. I dont know if they ahve gone back on that, but im sure this wont help.

[z31maniac]

Also, if your ING do you really want t be associated in any way with that team. Could lead to some serious problems for Renault.

"Any publicity, is good publicity"

[naplesE30]

Renault may not quit f1 but I wouldnt be surprised if they miss at least half of next year. If they were trying to suspend them from racing at Valencia because of a wheel nut what do you think the FIA is going to do about purposely crashing a car. How dangerous is that for the driver, other cars, track workesr, and fans. Not something the FIA is going to take lightly. Also, if your ING do you really want to be associated in any way with that team. Could lead to some serious problems for Renault. Sauber has not yet been allowed to race for 2010 but its pretty much a foregone conclusion.

[quickervicar]

Exit Renault from the grid,,, enter Sauber.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090916101243.shtml