http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article6815626.ece
FIA launches grand prix ‘fix’ probe
Formula One was plunged into a new cheating crisis on Sunday night after it emerged that the sport’s governing body is investigating claims that a Renault driver was ordered to crash his car to help his team-mate to win a race.
Even as Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, which was won by Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari, was under way, the FIA confirmed that it is launching an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Nelson Piquet Jr’s crash at the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix last September.
“The FIA can confirm that an investigation is under way regarding alleged events at a previous World Championship race,” a spokesperson said. Should the investigation suggest there is evidence of foul play, the governing body could call a hearing of its World Motor Sport Council, which could impose huge fines or other penalties on Renault.
The inquiry comes a month after Piquet was sacked by Renault and replaced by Romain Grosjean, from France. The Brazilian — the son of Nelson Piquet Sr, the former world champion — was furious over his treatment by Flavio Briatore, the Renault team principal, whom he claimed had not behaved as a manager to him but as his “executioner”.
The FIA did not reveal the identity of its informant and there is no suggestion that it was Piquet. But it is understood that it has been supplied with fresh evidence about what happened during Formula One’s first floodlit grand prix, which was won by Fernando Alonso, the Brazilian’s team-mate.
Central to its inquiries will be the timing of Piquet’s crash into the barriers on the fourteenth lap of the 61-lap race, which came only two laps after Alonso had gambled on an unusually early first refuelling stop. Piquet was not hurt in the incident, which did not involve any other cars, but it spread debris all over the track and brought out the safety car.
This proved the turning point in the race. While most of Alonso’s rivals were forced into the pits in the wake of the safety car, the Spanish double world champion was able to take the lead without having to stop. At the time, Piquet claimed he had lost control and spun because he was trying too hard.
“It was my mistake,” Piquet said immediately after the race. “We tried two extreme strategies with Fernando quite short and me quite long in the hope of getting a safety car. If I hadn’t crashed, I would have been lucky with the safety car later in the race. We’re always scraping the walls and once you’ve touched the wall a little too much and lose control, that’s it.”
Alonso admitted that the idea of winning “seemed to be impossible” after errors in qualifying left him fifteenth on the grid in a car that had not won all season. “It is a fantastic first victory,” he said at the time. “I cannot believe it right now. I need a couple of days to realise we won a race this year. The first safety car helped me a lot and I was able to win.”
The investigation marks the second “cheating” scandal to hit Formula One this season after Lewis Hamilton and a senior member of the McLaren Mercedes team were found to have lied to the stewards at the Australian Grand Prix in March.
In Sunday’s race in Spa, Hamilton and Jenson Button, the championship leader, were forced to retire after a first-lap collision.
FIA launches grand prix ‘fix’ probe
Formula One was plunged into a new cheating crisis on Sunday night after it emerged that the sport’s governing body is investigating claims that a Renault driver was ordered to crash his car to help his team-mate to win a race.
Even as Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, which was won by Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari, was under way, the FIA confirmed that it is launching an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Nelson Piquet Jr’s crash at the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix last September.
“The FIA can confirm that an investigation is under way regarding alleged events at a previous World Championship race,” a spokesperson said. Should the investigation suggest there is evidence of foul play, the governing body could call a hearing of its World Motor Sport Council, which could impose huge fines or other penalties on Renault.
The inquiry comes a month after Piquet was sacked by Renault and replaced by Romain Grosjean, from France. The Brazilian — the son of Nelson Piquet Sr, the former world champion — was furious over his treatment by Flavio Briatore, the Renault team principal, whom he claimed had not behaved as a manager to him but as his “executioner”.
The FIA did not reveal the identity of its informant and there is no suggestion that it was Piquet. But it is understood that it has been supplied with fresh evidence about what happened during Formula One’s first floodlit grand prix, which was won by Fernando Alonso, the Brazilian’s team-mate.
Central to its inquiries will be the timing of Piquet’s crash into the barriers on the fourteenth lap of the 61-lap race, which came only two laps after Alonso had gambled on an unusually early first refuelling stop. Piquet was not hurt in the incident, which did not involve any other cars, but it spread debris all over the track and brought out the safety car.
This proved the turning point in the race. While most of Alonso’s rivals were forced into the pits in the wake of the safety car, the Spanish double world champion was able to take the lead without having to stop. At the time, Piquet claimed he had lost control and spun because he was trying too hard.
“It was my mistake,” Piquet said immediately after the race. “We tried two extreme strategies with Fernando quite short and me quite long in the hope of getting a safety car. If I hadn’t crashed, I would have been lucky with the safety car later in the race. We’re always scraping the walls and once you’ve touched the wall a little too much and lose control, that’s it.”
Alonso admitted that the idea of winning “seemed to be impossible” after errors in qualifying left him fifteenth on the grid in a car that had not won all season. “It is a fantastic first victory,” he said at the time. “I cannot believe it right now. I need a couple of days to realise we won a race this year. The first safety car helped me a lot and I was able to win.”
The investigation marks the second “cheating” scandal to hit Formula One this season after Lewis Hamilton and a senior member of the McLaren Mercedes team were found to have lied to the stewards at the Australian Grand Prix in March.
In Sunday’s race in Spa, Hamilton and Jenson Button, the championship leader, were forced to retire after a first-lap collision.
