So it was TRUE! Flavio and Pat Symonds resign and admit guilt

[robains]

After hearing Flavio's comments to the press, it did appear pretty obvious that he did indeed tell Piquet to crash so Alonso can win... his "told you to robb a bank..." statement was bizarre.

But Alonso MUST have known about this also and said nothing. That is also in violation as far as I understand FIA. Alonso knew his fuel load, it was a fuel load that didn't stand a chance of victory unless something ELSE was to happen.

Quick, let me get my resume out ...

Rob

[Desperado]

Bizarre ! F1 is even more messed up now than usual. Hey I want free tickets if you get the drive !

[powerbookguy]

a very bad day for F1.

[JLSELISE]

Too bad--kind of sounds like NASCAR antics.

[RichS]

Doing anything to win usually means that you lose in the end.

[EliseAtLeast]

Wow. Just Wow. Thats why men don't watch soap operas. We don't need to.

[robains]

It's a shame, I'll miss both of them -- all in the name to help Alonso win one. Pat and Flav probably set this up to "try" and keep Alonso in the team - he's talented and took it to Schumacher when no one else could. But "Drama" seems to follow Alonso where ever he goes -- a lot of casualties, I'm just not sure that is good for the sport.

I don't think this is over ... FIA will want to know if Alonso knew this "strategy" pre-race.

[Vexige]

From bad to worse. Clearly, in F1 the goal justifies the means, any means.
I suspect what we know is only the tip of the iceberg. G-d only knows what’s happening behind the scenes...

[fishguy]

i think that this is a good thing.
they have been exposed as cheaters, and have left the sport quickly, rather than having this long and drawn out process.
I also agree that Alonso must have known about this. I heard varsha/hobbs/matchett talking about this and they said that everyone felt that prerace the fuel load was strange to start the race on.

I have a hard time thinking that Alonso did not know what was up also.
he should also have consequences, but i am not sure what they would be.

its a tough spot for a driver to be put in. the owner, your boss, asks you to do something, but how can you prove anything before it happens? there will be consequences for complying or refusing with the boss. nelson was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

although damaging to nelson P. carrer for doing this, i commend him for having the balls to speak up, even though it was only out of anger for being fired before his contract ended.
its really dirty all the way around on this one.

[EliseAtLeast]

Alonso is definitely in on this. Like to see how he'll get out of this one. I do agree that as a driver, there is not much you can do. Just like with Hamilton last year had to lie about something but now I just can't remember what that was. Help me out guys!

[dwkoski]

Alonso knew the plan and will get nothing for his part in it, just as Hamilton got nothing for his part in the scandal last year. After all, like OJ and Michael Jackson, they are "celebrities" and anything damaging their images would be harmful to the sport (and it's profitability.) Formula One is the only professional sport I follow and the only current reason I follow it is that it's the perfect soap opera for men (as a previous poster noted.) The competition itself is a joke...Dave

[jasper]

So, if Mclaren gets fined 100 million and loses all constructors points for having access to some Ferrari technical papers it may have never used or benefitted from, what is the penalty for an intentional crash that orchestrates an unlikely victory while risking the safety of other unsuspecting drivers?

I would think they have to ban the team from any participation, as a constructor or engine supplier.

But on the other hand, since it didn't really affect Ferrari directly maybe an apology and a box of donuts would be acceptable to the FIA

[robains]

I was thinking more on the lines of sending Flavio's left overs to Max for a good spanking would resolve any possibility of fines/penalty/banning...

As for Alonso, I hear Max likes his men in wigs and handcuffs...

[Green Hornet]

This is like the nolo contendere plea of Nixon's VP ...

Spiro T. Agnew (anybody remember him???)

I think the sacking of these two is the only thing that may save Renault in F1

[Green Ghost]

If you ask someone to do something and don’t pay them their compensation….well you get what you paid for. You think little Piquet would have had a new contract with a few extra $$mill$$ in it a few races later after this stunt.

I liked Briatore, thought he brought some flash to the show. O-well.

[Spudboy]

Flavio is and always will be a total D-bag. He should take his billions and float away on his yacht.

Pat Symonds on the other hand was a brilliant guy, I hope he's not done for good with F1.

[dwkoski]

I love this thread!!! C'mon guys, let's heap some more dung on this Eurotrash manure pile,,,,Dave

[bryanf]

Originally Posted by robains

I was thinking more on the lines of sending Flavio's left overs to Max for a good spanking would resolve any possibility of fines/penalty/banning...

As for Alonso, I hear Max likes his men in wigs and handcuffs...

[Boondock Saint]

Wow, this is crazy. Piquet sure had some major dirt on them. Surprised they had the balls to let him go. Does his team have a private way to speak to Alonso when he is on track? I thought that all the communication was public. If it is how could Alonso have known what was gonna go down. He's just driving, if someone doesn't say, hey Alonso, we're going to have your teammate crash so you can win then how would he know? He may have found out afterwords but what is he gonna do, rat out his own team?

[robains]

Alonso will most likely come out of this squeaky clean, in the interest of retaining F1 fans, regardless of what Alonso did or didn't know -- there doesn't appear to be any "physical evidence" to support that Alonso did know without asking Alonso under oath -- but without any evidence he can say whatever he likes.

“As regards Mr Alonso and the other engineers, the Stewards have found no evidence to suggest that they knew anything about the plans to cause a deliberate crash on lap 14. Renault’s strategy was aggressive and somewhat unusual but the Stewards do not conclude that individuals at Renault other than NPJ (Piquet), Mr Symonds and possibly Mr Briatore were aware of any crash plan. This position appears to be supported by the documentairy and radio communications evidence provided by Renault.”

Rob

P.S. Of course it might start a war between Brazil and Spain