Formula One 2009

[Vector]

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.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Vector

[Crybaby Bunting]

With Briatore being banned from F1 it has a knock on effect as he'll be forced to pull out of his football club QPR under the ownership rules.

I just figured I'd point that out because it means that QPR (who have been mostly funded by Briatore for the past few years) may now end up in financial ruin. But that's what you get for allowing a crook to run your business.

[Vector]

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

Edited September 21, 2009 by Vector

[Adam]

With Briatore being banned from F1 it has a knock on effect as he'll be forced to pull out of his football club QPR under the ownership rules.

I just figured I'd point that out because it means that QPR (who have been mostly funded by Briatore for the past few years) may now end up in financial ruin. But that's what you get for allowing a crook to run your business.

QPR fans have been hoping Briatore was banned, they hate him, and let's remember that they are also owned by Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal, two of the richest men in the country.

I don't like that the season is starting in Bahrain instead of Australia, but the return of Canada is very welcome.

[Crybaby Bunting]

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.

[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.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Vector

[Jayzon]

Yeah, the suspended sentence means that if, during the two-year period, Renault should be found guilty of anything like this again, they'd be banned forever. But I do think that this suspension is just a slap on the wrist. FIA doesn't want to force Renault out, but they had to do something to "punish" them.

[maninblack]

Renault looking like they would be willing to leave F1 probably saved them from getting any hefty fines.

If the McLaren spy scandal was exposed this year instead of 2007 (with the shitty economy forcing big teams to actually leave F1), I think they wouldn't have been penalized the way they were.

[hackerjack]

Renault looking like they would be willing to leave F1 probably saved them from getting any hefty fines.

If the McLaren spy scandal was exposed this year instead of 2007 (with the shitty economy forcing big teams to actually leave F1), I think they wouldn't have been penalized the way they were.

Actually I think they would still have been hammered. If this was a team that was in the dock instead of a constructor then they would have been far more harshly dealt with. Let's face it a deal was done with Renault agreeing to sack the two guys and probably guarentee another year or two in the sport in exchange for the slap on the wrist, anyone who thinks otherwise does not know how the business world works.

McLaren basically did the same thing (got rid of those involved) and still got hit. My feeling is it's because despite not being a true privateer due to the Mercedes part-ownership, they are also not a true constructor. If McLaren pulled out of the sport tomorow, Mercedes would still be there powering Brawn, Force India and probably Red Bull next season so while F1 loses a marquee name, essentially it is a small loss. That means that McLaren do not have the weight of a pull-out threat that a proper manufacturer like Renault does because if the Renault F1 team goes then that leaves us with just three engine suppliers next season and one of those is Cosworth. Renault are also the only French team left so their non-participation would hurt the FIA there.

In the end a deal was done to get rid of Briatore, make sure Alonso stays clean, let Renault off litely and keep Renault in the championship next year, all of which are positive outcomes for the FIA. Of course they would not want to have gone through the negative publicity to get those outcomes in teh first place but they have certainly made lemonade out of the sour lemons they found dumped in their lap.

It's Symonds I feel sorry for, he was likely put under just as much pressure as Piquet in the circumstances but no-one is rushing to defend him while the stampede to point out how young and inexperienced and under pressure Piquet was is sickening. HE is the one who endangered people's lives, he should also be banned. Thankfully his reputation is now in tatters after lieing about it just to keep his job and I'd be surprised to see him back in F1 unless his daddy can start a new team for him.

[Gazz]

26/28 cars on the grid will be a major clusterfuck. Should make for some interesting first laps of the race next season.

You assume that they'll all qualify within 107% of the pole time.

[hackerjack]

26/28 cars on the grid will be a major clusterfuck. Should make for some interesting first laps of the race next season.

You assume that they'll all qualify within 107% of the pole time.

They almost certainly will. The last time cars failed to do that was in the mid 1990's when there were no limits on engine revs, all the engines now are pretty similar so someone would have to screw up a chassis pretty damn bad to be more than 5 seconds off the pace.

[Fry_4000]

26/28 cars on the grid will be a major clusterfuck. Should make for some interesting first laps of the race next season.

You assume that they'll all qualify within 107% of the pole time.

They almost certainly will. The last time cars failed to do that was in the mid 1990's when there were no limits on engine revs, all the engines now are pretty similar so someone would have to screw up a chassis pretty damn bad to be more than 5 seconds off the pace.

is the 107% rule still in effect?

[Adam]

Hamilton drove very well today, deserved the win. I thought Rosberg and Vettel were unlucky to get the drive-throughs and it would have been a much more interesting race if they hadn't, but oh well. Button will surely win the title now, I can't see him winning it in Suzukua but I doubt Barrichello has enough left now, Vettel certainly doesn't.

I really don't like this circuit and hate the fact that it takes nearly 2 hours to complete. Looking forward to next week much more.

Edited September 27, 2009 by AdamDRFC

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Suzuka's an awesome track. Tickets were quite pricey though so not going. Also gonna be a sell-out cos it could be the last time there's a Japanese GP that's raced there for some time.

I'm very happy Button's closing in on the Championship. Sutil's crash screwed up his fuel advantage and he could have finished even higher up today. Since the car advantage has all but gone, especially on the colder tracks, Brawn have had to work around fueling strategies which have been really good, and on Barrichello and Button's racing ability. Both of whom are VERY smooth when they're on form and have battled well these last few weeks.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

A good piece from the BBC F1 correspondant writer guy:

It finished with....

A championship is about putting together the best possible season over all the races, and it is about being in the right car at the right time.

No driver goes through a year without having a bit of a dip - it's just more obvious when someone is leading the championship.

And looked at as a whole, which driver has definitively driven a better season than Button in 2009? Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, possibly, but their cars have not allowed them to be in the title fight this year.

One final point, too. Had F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone got his way earlier this year and been successful in introducing his wins-based championship scoring system, Button would already be world champion.

He has scored six victories. No other driver has more than two, so with three races to go, no driver can now win more races than Button.

Personally, I hope Ecclestone's idea is never adopted, but regardless of the scoring system, it is hard to argue with the driver who has won most races in a season being the most deserving world champion.

[Rich]

26/28 cars on the grid will be a major clusterfuck. Should make for some interesting first laps of the race next season.

You assume that they'll all qualify within 107% of the pole time.

They almost certainly will. The last time cars failed to do that was in the mid 1990's when there were no limits on engine revs, all the engines now are pretty similar so someone would have to screw up a chassis pretty damn bad to be more than 5 seconds off the pace.

is the 107% rule still in effect?

No, it was stopped in 2002.

Particularly in the light of the newer qualifying format with so many different short sessions its unrealistis, apparently with 26 they were going to go with 8 cars eliminated at the end of the first session, 8 at the end of the second session thus leaving ten for the final ten minute session.

As far as I can see the world title is so close to being decided its unreal. Barichello has to take 5 points each race off Button to equal him on points, and this means that he would still finish second on race victory count back. I am in two minds baout the last three races, sure its exciting to see the title be decided in the final race of the season, but for the sake of my nerves after last years ridiculous end to the Brazilian GP I would like to see Jense have it all tied up by Abu Dhabi.

[Rich]

Double post but they're hours apart

Ferrari are poised to announce that double world champion Fernando Alonso will join the team for 2010.

The Spaniard, 28, has signed a two-year contract with options to extend and will earn a salary in the region of 19-25 million euros (£17.3m-£22.8m).

The deal, which has been widely expected in Formula 1 for some time, is likely to be announced this weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

He will partner Felipe Massa, with Kimi Raikkonen tipped to move to McLaren.

The Finn had a contract with Ferrari until the end of 2010, but the team have been in negotiations to move him to another team.

As part of the cascade of driver moves that will follow Alonso's switch, Pole Robert Kubica is tipped to fill the vacancy left by Alonso at Renault.

Alonso, 28, signed his Ferrari contract as long ago as July 2008, according to sources close to Ferrari.

The Italian team had been planning to announce it at the end of the season, but it has become such common knowledge that they have decided to bring that forward.

His contract runs to the end of 2011, but there are options for a further three years, which could mean he will drive for Ferrari until the end of 2014, when he will be 33.

Source: BBC Sport

FINALLY is all I can say, hopefully this will set everyone off and we will see next year taking shape, so the question is who's off where here are a few of my thoughts that are coming out of rumours:

Raikkonen: Mclaren seems the obvious choice, thats if he wants to stay in the sport.

Kubica: Renault seems the obvious choice for me, before anyone jumps on the race-fixing incident we all know that most drivers would give anything to drive for such an experienced team that harks back to the 1970's through its various incarnations and with BMW pulling out and the takeover seemingly a little shady I think it would be a positive move for the pole.

Kovalainen: Again a return to renault could do the man some good if Grosjean is not retained for next year.

Heidfeld: I am worried about "Quick Nick" I really want him to stay in the sport but he isn't getting any younger (he's 32 now )and staying with the new incarnation of the Sauber/BMW team could mean being a member of an uncompetitive team next season.

Rosberg and Barichello are apparently going to switch places, which for me is to both teams benefits, Brawn getting the exciting young prospect (Yet another German however ), retaining Button means they have the experience which covers the loss to Williams who will have a fantastically experienced driver in Rubens, and I think it'll suit him if he wants to be considered a number one driver in a team.

Also who do people think will fill the spaces in the new teams? I would like to see some experience drivers in those cars as I feel it can only be beneficial to the teams and to the sport as a whole. I am already looking forward to next season and this one still has over a month to go!

[Crybaby Bunting]

Does it really matter now? Ferrari will just dominate everything like they used to with people racing for third place.

[TheArsenal]

Kubica did say that following the Renault controversy he's waiting to see how the team emerges from it before he signs with them. I think it's just (sensibly) just trying to distance himself from the team at the minute while everything is up in the air.

Although I know it's not going to happen, I'd like to see Hamilton and Kubica line up at McLaren.

[Rich]

Does it really matter now? Ferrari will just dominate everything like they used to with people racing for third place.

Just like they have this year, and last year and the year before that, and the one before that and the one before that?

Come on, this type of flipancy and hyperbole is hardly needed

Not since 2004 have Ferrari absolutely dominated and with a former world champion in the team in Kimi, and for the most of the season the driver who was within seconds of winning it last year in Massa they have not been shown barely shown themselves to be a top team, it is unlikely that even with Alonso (who is the best driver in the world IMO) that they will run away with it, assuming that due to the lack of regulation shanges the current top teams challenege at the front a various points next season as well as the established teams development coming through we could see a championship with competitive teams from, but not limited to Brawn, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull with Toyota long overdue a competitive package and Williams always looking like they could pull something out of the bag I hardly expect it to become a Ferrari procession again, especially with the rule changes, particularly the lack of testing during the season making it harder for Ferrari to wield their significant finaincial advantages and use their Marinello facility to their full potential.