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[southern cross]

It could well be that Fia / Mosley are taking out Briatore, he was the first to stand with the alternative series and is a businessman of a similar mold of Ecclestone. (which is why I don't like him, but oh well ) It could be a case of eat before getting eaten?

[McLaren]

No matter what I thought of him before I feel hes getting exactly what he deserves.If anything hes got off lightly.
Yes we all make mistakes in blind faith to things,but endangering peoples lifes is something else alltogether.

[Denthúl]

No matter what I thought of him before I feel hes getting exactly what he deserves.If anything hes got off lightly.
Yes we all make mistakes in blind faith to things,but endangering peoples lifes is something else alltogether.

From everything he's said, he seems to agree completely. I guess that's part of the reason he didn't take the immunity that he was offered, which could have seen him snapped up by one of the new teams for next year.

[f1usa]

The thing is, from what ive read it sounds like its all Symonds and Piquet! They are the masterminds behind it all so where does Flav fit in? and why considering the two whose idea it was, one is free to race on, the other 5 year ban yet Flavio is the one banned for life? Doesnt add up....

Apparently there's a super-secret mystery Witness X who says they were there at the meeting and that Briatore knew of the whole thing.

I'm not the only one who feels there is something fishy there, am I?

I think Bernie Ecclestone is mystery Witness X.

[bud]

Max has ousted Ron Dennis and now Flavio Briatore just before he retires. That is no coincidence.

[Jamie]

It's a shame. He's talented, but a dirty player

[martracer]

It's so very sad when someone who held in so much respect (his former colleagues and the fans), and who was universally admired for his dignified persona is revealed as having involvement in such a dreadful incident.
Pat Symonds has let us all down. Having said that, I personally want to forgive him because he now has to endure the humiliation and punishment handed out to him. With the positive qualities we all know he possesses, I would want him to put those into something productive and positive and eventually to redeem himself in the eyes of the general public.
I wish him well.

[al4x]

i had great respect for him, hes stuck in the same team for ages, seems [and still seems genuine] i believe what he says, but he did do wrong, having his name ruined is probably punishment enough for him, and the 5yr ban enough to show the world hes been punished, hes been pivitol in helping renualt get thier 2 titles, but this was bad, i can also see how it was NP idea, like a small boy going to impress the other school kids

meh, sad day

[racechick]

The thing is, from what ive read it sounds like its all Symonds and Piquet! They are the masterminds behind it all so where does Flav fit in? and why considering the two whose idea it was, one is free to race on, the other 5 year ban yet Flavio is the one banned for life? Doesnt add up....

Max wanted Flavio out. It always comes back to him.

[Jabberwocky]

No matter what I thought of him before I feel hes getting exactly what he deserves.If anything hes got off lightly.
Yes we all make mistakes in blind faith to things,but endangering peoples lifes is something else alltogether.

Maybe because of how safe the sport is seen now, that they did not think of the dangers. If you think about it a driver would never of done it 20+ years ago because it would been certain injury or death. Now after the crash the driver says something like "oopsie I've done it again guys" then gets out of the car and walks away.

[darwin dali]

If Symonds didn't take immunity so that the FIA couldn't single out Flavio, then surely that strategy didn't work. As they got at Flavio anyhow.

It would be very interesting if Flavio sued. I've often thought there must be some laws that should restrict the seemingly (as far as I can see) unlimited powers of the FIA to do whatever they damn well want for the most venal reasons and with the most illogical reasons. That I remember, we've only seen Minardi getting an injunction allowing them to race in Australia once. The FIA then, in my eyes, attempted to bully a country's whole legal system, threatening to take away the Australian GP. Looking at how the FIA, and Bernie, operate, I feel there must be something akin to abuse of a dominant position. I think it would be very interesting if people who have nothing to lose, from a F1 perspective, then engage legal processes.

The FIA is a club with bylaws. If a member doesn't follow the rules/bylaws, the club leadership very well has the right to sanction said member with fines or in extreme cases exclusion/ban. That's what the FIA did here, ban Flabio from their club - he's still allowed to join a rival club (e.g., Nastycars, etc.) as the FIA's long arm doesn't reach beyond its realm in theory (since it's the most powerful club, sanctions by it have a global effect and may jeopardize alternative options of the punished member).

[stevo1973]

No matter what I thought of him before I feel hes getting exactly what he deserves.If anything hes got off lightly.
Yes we all make mistakes in blind faith to things,but endangering peoples lifes is something else alltogether.

I agree, Symonds went along with the plan , he should have said no like Alonso I mean witness X.

[Tony_sa]

No matter what I thought of him before I feel hes getting exactly what he deserves.If anything hes got off lightly.
Yes we all make mistakes in blind faith to things,but endangering peoples lifes is something else alltogether.

I agree, Symonds went along with the plan , he should have said no like Alonso I mean witness X.

come on now - no way X = Alonso. correct me if i am wrong please. Alonso was never implicated in any of the xxxxxgates we had recently. he demonstrated his willingness to use infomation as leverage against others. I respect him for recognising situations for what they are and use it to his own advantage. nothing wrong with that. on a scale from 1 to 10 i rate it a 1 against the lie-gate issue. So hands off Alonso until he proves to be as rotten as the star of the lie-gate scandal - which I doubt will happen ever.

[stevo1973]

We where told only 3 people knew about the crashplan, then witness X appears who said no to the plan.Why did'nt X contact Reno HQ to put an end to it.The flaw in the plan was giving Piquet the boot There will always be speculation about who is witness X by the very nature of the person only known as witness X.

[myownalias]

come on now - no way X = Alonso. correct me if i am wrong please. Alonso was never implicated in any of the xxxxxgates we had recently. he demonstrated his willingness to use infomation as leverage against others. I respect him for recognising situations for what they are and use it to his own advantage. nothing wrong with that. on a scale from 1 to 10 i rate it a 1 against the lie-gate issue. So hands off Alonso until he proves to be as rotten as the star of the lie-gate scandal - which I doubt will happen ever.

I don't believe that Alonso is witness X as he was already named in the inquiry. But Alonso had a staring role in the spy-gate case, he was one of the key people discussing the Ferrari technical information via Email exchanges between Mike Coughlan, Pedro de la Rosa and himself. He was given immunity for testifying against McLaren.

It is widely accepted that Alonso tried to blackmail Ron Dennis into giving him #1 status and/or preferential treatment with in the McLaren garage!