Vector

I still think it's extremely lenient for Renault to just be given a suspended sentence, why didn't F1 have the balls to just outright ban them? It's obvious that they AREN'T going to do anything like that in the future, and even if they were they'll just get the two year ban which is what they should be getting for the first offence.

I originally thought it was that as well, but from what I understand after reading through the FIA statement and the reports, it's a permanent (possibly indefinite?) ban from F1 that's put on suspsension for two years until it's dropped (or until Renault F1 cause a incident of similar severity within that time and cause the ban to take effect), rather than being a ban from F1 for two years.

Hmmm, looks like the FIA also took the time to make another press release today, this time a rule change/decision and the 2010 Calender.

Press Release

World Motor Sport Council

21/09/2009

An extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council was held in Paris on 21 September 2009. The following decisions were taken:

FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Engine Performance

Following suggestions that there is a differential between the performance of engines used in Formula One, the World Motor Sport Council has decided that should this be the case, and should the teams wish to eliminate this performance differential, they may be allowed to do so by reducing the performance of the more powerful engines. However, no engine upgrades will be allowed.

2010 FIA Formula One World Championship

14/3/09 - Bahrain (Sakhir)

28/3/09 - Australia (Melbourne)

04/4/09 - Malaysia (Sepang)

18/4/09 - China (Shanghai)

09/5/09 - Spain (Barcelona)

23/5/09 - Monaco (Monte Carlo)

30/5/09 - Turkey (Istanbul)

13/6/09 - Canada* (Montreal)

27/6/09 - Europe (Valencia)

11/7/09 - Great Britain (Donington Park)

25/7/09 - Germany (Hockenheim)

01/8/09 - Hungary (Budapest)

29/8/09 - Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)

12/9/09 - Italy (Monza)

26/9/09 - Singapore

03/10/09 - Japan (Suzuka)

17/10/09 - South Korea (Yeongam)

31/10/09 - Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)

14/11/09 - Brazil (Interlagos)

*Subject to the completion of contract negotiations with Formula One Management. If these are not completed then the Turkish Grand Prix will be moved to 6 June.

Note: The race in Australia will start at 1700 local time, in Malaysia at 1600 local time, in Singapore at 2000 local time, and in Abu Dhabi at 1700 local time.

Source: http://fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wmsc/2009/Pages/wmsc_210909a.aspx

Alright, the hearing took place earlier today, and a verdict has been made.

Renault handed suspended F1 ban

Renault have been given a two-year suspended ban from Formula 1 for their role in fixing last year's Singapore Grand Prix.

The team were called before governing body the FIA to answer charges they had asked driver Nelson Piquet Jr to crash to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win.

Former team boss Flavio Briatore has been banned from FIA sanctioned events for an unlimited period.

Ex-engineering director Pat Symonds has also been excluded for five years.

Briatore and Symonds parted company with Renault last week at the same time as the French car giant said they would not contest the charges.

The FIA agreed not to pursue action against Piquet for his role in uncovering the details of the scandal.

Alonso, who attended the hearing in Paris, was also cleared of any involvement in the race-fixing scheme.

The FIA added it "thanks him for cooperating with enquiries and concludes that Mr Alonso was not in any way involved in Renault F1's breach of the regulations."

However, the World Motor Sport Council found Renault in breach of its sporting code, finding; "breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity.

"They not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself.

"The WMSC considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship.

"However, 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 hearing was an attempt to attribute responsibility for the Singapore scandal despite the departure of Briatore and Symonds.

Renault explained that its internal investigation found that Briatore, Symonds and Piquet Jr had conspired to cause the crash with no other team member involved.

After conducting its own investigation, the FIA agreed with Renault's findings and decided to hand the French team a more lenient suspended sentence.

Renault, who will pay the cost of the FIA investigation, as well as contributing to its safety-related projects, said it accepted the council's decision.

"We are very sad to find ourselves in front of the Word Motor Sport Council," a team statement said.

"We apologise unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour.

"We sincerely hope that we can soon put this matter behind us and focus constructively on the future. We will issue further information in the next few days."

The FIA imposed further sanctions on Briatore, who ended his nine-year reign as Renault team principal last week in the wake of the scandal.

The Italian has been banned indefinitely from attending any FIA events. A route back into F1 was made more difficult for Briatore as the FIA declared it would not grant a license to any team he was involved with or renew a Superlicence granted to any driver associated with him.

Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Mark Webber are both managed by Briatore while McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen also has ties with the Italian.

Symonds was banned from all FIA events for five years but the FIA noted his communication to the hearing "that it was to his 'eternal regret and shame' that he had participated in the conspiracy."

The fateful conspiracy was brought to light by Piquet after he was sacked by Renault following July's Hungarian GP.

During last year's Singapore night race Piquet crashed on lap 14, two laps after Alonso had stopped for fuel and tyres, and a safety car was deployed to control the field while the debris from the accident was removed from the track.

Having already pitted in the race, the timing of the safety car - necessary while Piquet's wrecked car was removed from the track - was critical to Alonso's victory in Singapore.

It meant that when the safety car came out, he was alone among the front-runners in not having to stop for fuel and tyres and it promoted him into a position from which he was able to win.

The FIA's ruling on the race-fixing behind the Spaniard's victory has been reached in the same week that Formula 1 returns to Singapore for this season's race, with first practice at 1100 BST on Friday, 25 September.

While the majority of the Renault team flew out to Singapore over the weekend, the long-term future of the French team remains out to question.

The team's main sponsor, Dutch bank ING, had already decided to withdraw its support at the end of the season while Renault itself reported losses as a result of falling car sales in the first half of the year.

Two major car manufacturers have pulled out of F1 in the last nine months, with Honda quitting last December and BMW announcing in July they would stop at the end of the year.

There have long been rumours that both Renault and Toyota, who have said it will not sign off its 2010 F1 budget until November, could follow them out of the sport.

If Renault and Toyota pulled out, the only two car companies left in F1 would be Mercedes and Fiat through its Ferrari brand.

As the car companies supply engines to the entire grid this year, that could be a major problem, notwithstanding the return of privateer engine company Cosworth next season as supplier to the new teams Lotus, US F1, Campos and Manor.

Sources: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8266090.stm

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wmsc/2009/Pages/wmsc_210909.aspx

So to put simply (and for those who for some reason don't want to read the whole article ):

- Renault have been given a two-year suspended ban for their role in fixing last year's Singapore Grand Prix until the end of the 2011 season, and the ban will only go into effect if "Renault F1 is found guilty of a comparable breach during that time".

- Former team boss Flavio Briatore has been banned from FIA sanctioned events for an unlimited period, with the FIA also announcing it'll not grant/renew licenses to any team or driver associated (through a management contract or otherwise) with Flavio Briatore or anyone associated with him.

- Renault's ex-engineering director Pat Symonds received a similar sentence (including not granting licenses to teams working with him), except he's only banned from FIA sanctioned events for five years.

- The FIA will not be pursuing any action against Nelson Piquet Jr., due to him being offered immunity for his role in uncovering the details of the scandal.

Ok, I just came across this in another forum as it seems to have just been announced, and then checked the Renault F1 Team website to validate it. Picked up by Autosport, seemed to have gotten a mention on BBC (radio?) and likely more once it's picked up (EDIT: Now it's mentioned on the BBC website).

Source: http://www.ing-renaultf1.com/en/_2009/team/index.php#/team/newsdesk/communiques/

ING Renault F1 Team Statement – 16 September 2009

The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

It also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team.

Before attending the hearing before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009, the team will not make any further comment.

@AdamDRFC: From checking the BMW Sauber site (after reading news about it online), it makes mention of BMW wishing "Qadbak and the Sauber Team every success for the 2010 season and beyond", so you never know, the Sauber name might remain. But I guess we'll have to wait and see what name the team will definitely go under.

And I'm a bit mixed at the moment in regards to changing the points system, and I understand the reasoning for expanding it due to the grid increasing to 26/28, though I will agree that the winner should have more than a two point gain against a 2nd placed driver. I wouldn't be against the points system expanding to the top ten if need be, but I guess my only issue with changing it to accomodate the expanded grid is that I recall there was around a similar number of cars on the grid during the 80s and 90s, with no refuelling until '94 as well as points only for just the top 6 throughout it all. To those who watched Formula One during the 80s-90s, did the points system work out ok during that time, or was this not at all the case?

Since there's been no mention of it on here yet, here's what was announced earlier today, in regards to deciding who, out of three teams in consideration, would take the remaining spot on the grid, following BMW Sauber's withdrawal a few months ago.

(Taken from BBC Formula 1 website - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8256295.stm, Source - FIA.com )

Lotus will return to F1 in 2010

Lotus are to return to Formula 1 next season for the first time since 1994.

The Malaysian-funded outfit have been awarded the final grid spot and join Campos GP, Manor and US F1 as one of four new teams for 2010.

The FIA has given current team BMW Sauber "14th place" for next season, meaning they are now first reserves.

However, motorsport's governing body says it will "consult urgently" with the 10 existing teams to expand the grid from 13 to 14 teams for 2010.

"The FIA believes that a good case can be made for expanding the grid to 14 teams," read an FIA statement released on Tuesday.

"It will be consulting urgently with the existing teams regarding the introduction of an appropriate rule change to expand the grid to 28 cars in time for the first Grand Prix in 2010."

The Lotus team will be initially based in Norfolk, though its future design, research and development, manufacturing and technical centre will be purpose built at Malaysia's Sepang International circuit.

In its new incarnation the team is a partnership between the Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs.

It will be led by team principal Tony Fernandes, the founder of the Malaysian-based Tune Group, which owns the Air Asia airline.

Mike Gascoyne - who has 20 years experience in the sport after working with Jordan, Renault, Toyota, and most recently Force India - returns to F1 as the team's technical director.

"We are not just a small new team, we have the possibilities to be a very substantial team," Gascoyne told BBC Sport. "And the FIA recognise that, combined with the name and that we're also a team based outside Europe.

"When you look at the calendar now, the centre of F1 is changing. With all that's happening in the sport, this is a very good news story for F1.

"Next year will be a huge challenge… we will be releasing the car late, and that has reliability aspects. But we'll target being the best of the new cars on the grid and I would hope by mid-season we are challenging the bottom rung of the current teams. That's achievable."

Lotus has reached an engine supply deal with Cosworth.

"The team will announce its two drivers by October 31 2009. Currently six local and international drivers have been selected," said a statement from the Malaysian Government.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak added: "This is not only a dream, it is a reality. Malaysia is part of Formula 1 and we are determined to do our best to make our mark in this arena.

"I believe this is a meaningful development that will boost Malaysia's image."

Just three hours after the Lotus return was confirmed by the FIA on Tuesday, BMW Sauber revealed Swiss-based Qadbak Investments had agreed to buy its team.

The German car manufacturer, which took over Sauber in 2005, had said it would withdraw from F1 at the end of July, citing "current developments in motorsport" as the reason for their decision.

BMW was the second major manufacturer to announce it was leaving the sport after Honda's withdrawal eight months earlier.

But the FIA said it had received an "impressive application" from the team despite the uncertainties over its future ownership.

BMW Sauber's reserve slot means they can fill any vacancy that might occur between now and the start of the 2010 championship.

The organisation behind the new Lotus team have bought the rights to the name Team Lotus - which competed in F1 from 1958 through to 1994 - and have been awarded BMW's place, also pushing out Spanish outfit Epsilon Euskadi, following an intensive selection and due diligence process conducted by the FIA.

The team won seven constructors' crowns and six drivers' championships, including wins by Britons Jim Clark and Graham Hill, during their golden era in the 1960s and '70s.

Three-time world champion, the late Ayrton Senna, drove for Lotus for three seasons between 1985 and 1987 - although the team enjoyed limited success during that period.

Lotus withdrew from F1 in 1994 because of financial pressures but remains the fourth most successful constructor of all time.

I think it'll be interesting to see the Lotus name return to the grid (especially when I was hoping for it to be selected as one of the three new teams in the first place ), and we might see the Sauber team staying on for next year, depending on whether or not all existing teams give approval to allow the grid to be extended to 28 cars instead of 26.

Looks like despite the disagreement from the big F1 teams about it, the budget cap is still catching the interest of more teams looking to join F1 as deadlines draw near.

Right now, Formula Three team Litespeed is now considering joining F1 and is collaborating with MGI Ltd, led by former Toyota and Force India technical director Mike Gascoyne. Also, Lola is set to submit/already submitted an application to join F1, so they might be a likely candidate to join the grid next year.

Elsewhere, coming across this piece of news on the BBC Teletext, and also found here, talks between F1 teams and the FIA fell through earlier today with regards to the budget cap, with Max Mosley mentioning that there'd be no compromise on the buget cap, though agreed that a two-tier championship was not acceptable. It also mentioned that Ferrari has filed an injunction to block the proposed buget cap.

Anyone hear about F1 hoping to expand to 13 teams next year? It was a kind of throw away comment I read in an article about the budget caps they are putting in place for next season. Any ideas on who might take up the offer?

I did hear about it a few times during last month and the article explaining it in the FIA's budget cap report confirms it, so I think it could be good, would mean a bit more competition.

Now in regards to who might join next season, the idea of a Team USA joining was brought up during the past month (though I've no idea if that's confirmed). But looking on the Official Formula 1 Website, you have former Benetton & BAR boss David Richards considering joining with his Prodrive team, and we could possibly see the return of Lola to Formula 1.

Looking at the report again, we'll definitely find out during the next month and a half as to who's interested and who'll join next season.

Hamilton excluded from Australian results, Trulli regains third

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix after a second stewards’ investigation on Thursday decided both he and his team had provided ‘misleading' evidence during a hearing held after the Melbourne race.

Hamilton crossed the finish line in Australia in fourth, but was subsequently promoted to third after Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was handed a 25-second time penalty for passing his McLaren under the safety car during the race’s closing laps.

Stewards, however, decided to reinvestigate the incident after fresh evidence came to light and convened a second meeting in Sepang. After the hearing, the stewards issued the following statement:

“The Stewards having considered the new elements presented to them from the 2009 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, consider that driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the Stewards at the hearing on Sunday 29th March 2009, a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.

"Under Article 158 of the International Sporting Code, the driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are excluded from the race classification for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix and the classification is amended accordingly."

In addition to Hamilton’s disqualification, Trulli’s penalty has been withdrawn and the Italian therefore regains his third place - and six world championship points.

Source: The Official Formula 1 Website (http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/4/9113.html)

I've now got a new private game up, still using the F1 2008 set as before. Just need a minimum of nine more to join, though a maximum of a further 12 can also join.

Anyone interested in joining this game, including those new to BATracer, the address for it is http://batracer.com/-cj?&D&37945. Private password for it: Warfare.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

Ok, so hopefully as long as no server issues come up, my private A1GP game will be finished around this Monday, so I'll definitely have a free slot available for another private game between us. I just want to know if anyone is still up for another private game (perhaps obvious choice F1 2008, F1 1986 or IndyCar 2008), or would we have to leave it for another time?

Hell if I know most of these, but this one stood out from Reily's:

#8 - I'm waiting in my cold cell, when the bell begins to chime

Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name

...My goodness is this game fun. Granted, it can be difficult at points and the player is a bit slippery to control (probably intentional). At the same time, however, I found it to be simple yet challenging and it has good variation so you're not playing the same sort of level over and over again.

But yeah, to put it simply, just damn fun.

Anyone up for another private league?

Any chance would you be willing to wait for just a few more weeks? Currently involved in an A1GP private game, and it won't finish until sometime during the 1st week of March. And that's hoping there aren't any further server issues/downtime/whatever to delay it, like it has already done previously.

As soon as the team is bought, we're automatically released.

Bah! I was gonna wait until a new owner was appointed for our team and take it from there. But if that's the case, looks like I'm gonna have to advertise my HB as well.

Docpepper (or anyone else running/part of a team for that matter), would the owner be interested in either of these two players?

Level 20 HB - http://goallineblitz.com/game/player.pl?player_id=807827 - EDIT: Got him instantly into another team soon after being released.

Level 13 QB - http://goallineblitz.com/game/player.pl?player_id=975895

If anyone's interested in the meantime, you could join a new public academy game I'm involved in, also F1 2008, which still needs more drivers. You can join it here. (EDIT: game now filled up and started.)

Now in regards to a new EWB game, unless anyone has any objections, what we could do is take a short break and I'll start a new game during next month. No idea what carset we'd be using (then again, haven't checked yet what's available for private games), but it'd most likely be F1 based. Hope that's ok by everyone.

Guess it's safe to say now that the EWB Season 2008 game is now over. Congratulations once again to Zaz on winning the Drivers' Championship, as well as carrying his team to also win the Constructors' Championship. Let's see now how we fare in the public games.

I have to say having joined BATracer last month solely for our EWB game, this is quite a good game. From determining the car's setup and sharing data/talking with teammates, to choosing how you drive and even competing for points and wins while relying on strategy and some luck, it makes it quite a challenge, but at the same time all the more enjoyable. Pretty obvious to say that I'm now a fan of it.

Out of curiosity, what's the situation with regards to a new EWB game, now that this one's done? Short break before making a new one, or would we wait to see if there's enough interest in doing another one?

Vector's logo has been stolen. If anybody else is having a go we can always decide between em later. Good race there, I didn't think my setup would come off that well but 3rd put me top of the table so I'll take it! If only my public games were going that well.....

Don't forget Slogger retiring during the race to give you that spot.

And just for Slogger, here's one with an Integra-style 'R' in it. Better? Worse? I'll leave that up to you.

Hey, What about doing it like they did with the Integra Type R logo?

Do you mean for the 'R', or have the logo similar to the style of the Integra logo?

A minor suggestion and you could probably convert it from a gif, but how about perhaps the EWB logo at the top left of the board and adding an 'R' onto it? You could even crop it since it's only slightly larger than what's required.

That was my thinking as well. Unfortunately I have no graphical skill whatsoever sooooooooooooooooooo somebody else Size has to be exact sadly or the BATracer site won't accept it.

Thought I give it a try with the board's EWB logo, even though I don't have much graphical skill either. Perhaps something simple like this, Trips?

Anyways, didn't expect the Singapore race to get quite tense in the closing moments like in Monza, cutting the time gap between me and leader Zaz 3/4 into it and snatching his spot right before the last lap to win it. Also, with only three races to go, things are looking interesting at the top of the table, with only a few points separating the top three between each other.

Somebody let me in to this >_>

Into the EWB game? I think Dan asked as well and we couldn't be able to invite anyone in once the private game started. But we might get another one up once this is finished sometime next week, though we'll see when it draws near.

A logo would be good too: has to be a jpeg 200x60.

A minor suggestion and you could probably convert it from a gif, but how about perhaps the EWB logo at the top left of the board and adding an 'R' onto it? You could even crop it since it's only slightly larger than what's required.

Only need a couple more of you to accept your clan invites to make it active!

I actually thought the clan was already active, since I notice our clan ranked 2nd in the public game me and Zaz are competing in. How many more do you need?

Speaking of the public game, part of me finds it kinda...ironic (if that's the word I'm looking for) that me crashing during the the Spa GP last night made some influence on the race, making some contribution to help my teammate, who started at 20th, climb up and get his first win in that public game. In which case, I ain't complaining.

To think I wasn't gonna have another instance of me retiring right on the first lap, this time with me causing it. At least Slogger wasn't badly affected by it.

Not a bad race at Monza, especially the last quarter of it, with both Zaz and Trips being neck and neck with other right to the very end.

He He, 7, Touchdowns, But what is up with my back up, He's 11 levels behind me but still keeping up with my numbers, Whatsupwitdat?

Hey, can't help it that I want a big piece of the action and the glory.

It's all good Vector, Good to know I have someone that can back me up, Whats your stamina at? I don't think my player is used to so much game time, I'm hitting the mid 30's by the end of the game, May need to train that up alittle.

Do you mean stamina stat-wise or energy-wise? If you mean energy-wise, it's at 50 after that last game. I don't quite understand how you got lower stamina/energy than me after the game, especially when I was going all-out and possibly playing roughly the same amount of game time as you.

Both, I'm at 41 stat wise and like I said before im at mid 30's after the game.

Also, Nice block LL, There was a fair chance of him running that one deep.

Stat-wise, my stamina is at 29. 28 excluding the equipment.

He He, 7, Touchdowns, But what is up with my back up, He's 11 levels behind me but still keeping up with my numbers, Whatsupwitdat?

Hey, can't help it that I want a big piece of the action and the glory.

It's all good Vector, Good to know I have someone that can back me up, Whats your stamina at? I don't think my player is used to so much game time, I'm hitting the mid 30's by the end of the game, May need to train that up alittle.

Do you mean stamina stat-wise or energy-wise? If you mean energy-wise, it's at 50 after that last game. I don't quite understand how you got lower stamina/energy than me after the game, especially when I was going all-out and possibly playing roughly the same amount of game time as you.