- 21 Sep 09, 19:36#155885I've mixed views on the matter. If one takes the case out of its Renault context, then the punishments handed out are still ridiculously minimal. Briatore got what he deserved, but why did Symonds only get a five-year ban? He was equally as complicit in the whole affair as Briatore. No doubt, politics were involved here. The FIA has come to dislike Briatore recently, so this was their chance to get him out of the way. Symonds was given a sizeable, but not career-ending punishment, so the WMSC could save face. Arguably, the biggest joke is Piquet Junior not just receiving no punishment at all, but being hailed as some kind of moral compass for uncovering the scandal in which he was culpable, only to get back at his former employers. Alonso not getting punished was fair enough. Whether he was involved or not, we will never really know, but there was no evidence against him.
Putting the affair into its full context also reveals money was a big factor. With Renault's long-term involvement in Formula One uncertain, the FIA opted to basically let them off for what is certainly the most heinous act of cheating unearthed in Formula One history. It is unfair, yes, but I can stomach it if it means another team won't drop out of the "sport", wreck the short-term and medium-term plans of other teams, and put hundreds of people out of work during a recession.
As somebody has already said, the biggest losers in this are Formula One fans. Once again, championships have been tarnished with politics and incompetence. Once again, the sport has been brought into disrepute. When I say I'm a Formula One supporter, most people who have an ounce of grey matter pertaining to current affairs laugh in my face, and not without reason. This has to stop. It never ceases to amaze me that a business of the scale, importance and influence of Formula One has not got proper regulations and a legal framework in place to deal with these sorts of matters. Instead, we have an ad hoc set-up in which punishments are made up the spot and entirely in secret by a group of biased men in grey suits. This is made all the more damning by the fact the FIA is headed up by a lawyer.
I don't see anything changing, certainly not under Todt, and almost certainly not in the unlikely event of Vatanen winning the presidency. It's a massive task and too many people stand to lose out. As I don't see six hundred million people not watching Formula One any time soon, the only thing that could have stopped this farce: a breakaway series. Now, however, we will certainly have to put up with more of this nonesense for ever.
Ayrton Senna: WDC 1988,
1989, 1990, 1991
McLaren: WCC 1974, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998,
1999, 2007McLaren: WDC 1974, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2008
- By darwin dali