Renault Probe Could Have Consequences

Interesting reports from the world of Formula 1 this morning regarding Fernando Alonso's win at last year's Singapore Grand Prix.

According to Brazilian TV Channel Globo, Renault are accused of ordering Nelson Piquet to deliberately crash in the racce last year, shortly after Alonso made a surprisingly early pit-stop.  I remember watching the race at the time, and I realised instantly how much of a boost this crash was for Alonso, who was, of course, Piquets' team-mate.  The ensuing safety car allowed Alonso to catch up on the rest of the field and overtake them when they made their pit-stops, thus putting the Spaniard into a lead that he never relenquished.

There were, I read, rumours at the time surrounding Piquet's crash (they went over my head) and how much of an 'accident' it was.  They make sense to the cynic, for sure, but an FIA investigation will determine whether or not the Brazilian was ordered to dump his car into the wall, a very serious offence if true.

A few comments regarding the investigation however:

It would not be a gross assumption to presume that the source for Globo is Piquet, or someone from his camp.  The Brazilian was fired recently, and a statement on his personal website showed his disgust at the decision.  This may not be any more than sour grapes, but only time will tell on that.

If it turns out that Piquet is telling the truth, then Renault will (rightly) find themselves in hot water.  Any such action, which not only corrupts the essence of the sport but also endangers drivers and patrons, would be dealt with in the most severe of fashions by the FIA.  Coming off the back of their screw-up with an Alonso pit-stop in Hungary, an offence so serious that it initially earned them a one-race ban (later revoked on appeal), there's no telling what sort of a penalty would be imposed.  A multiple-race ban and hefty fine would both be likely. This could end Renault's participation in the sport, as it is already in doubt, but I doubt that the sport's governing body would let that stop them in the imposition of their penalty.

And finally, how will Filepe Massa feel if it turns out that Piquet's crash was deliberate?  The Ferrari driver saw his World Championship hopes fade after a botched pit-stop in the aftermath of Piquet's crash.  He had been leading but he lost the lead when her drove off with the fuel-hose still attatched, while he was then given a drive-through penalty to rub salt into the wounds.  How different things almost certainly would have been if not for the incident?  It could turn out that Piquet cost his fellow countryman the World Championship.

Say It Ain't So Lewis

Many sports require a world-wide star to thrive. Look at golf. As I’ve blogged about before, it is a sport that needs Tiger Woods and suffers dramatically without him. That was backed up by the US TV Ratings for the Bay Hill Invitational last week, won by Tiger Woods, which were the highest since last June’s U.S. Open, won by Tiger Woods. I also feel that it’s no co-incidence that the heydays of heavyweight boxing were the 1930s/1940s and the 1960s/1970s which were the eras of Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali.

Another sport which requires a star is Formula 1. More so than golf, boxing, tennis or perhaps any other sport, Formula 1 is personality driven due to the fact that there are so few competitors. From Senna to Schumacher to Hamilton, it is a sport that has been led by one man or another throughout my lifetime and for many years before that. There is no doubt, that in Western Europe at least, Lewis Hamilton is the sport’s most important figure. It is because of this that this week’s scandal has been of such major importance.

For those of you who’ve not been paying attention, Lewis Hamilton has been retrospectively disqualified from last week’s Australian Grand Prix for lying to stewards who were investigating a late-race overtaking manoeuvre which occurred under safety car conditions. Hamilton and McLaren sporting director Dave Ryan claimed that he had not been instructed to allow Toyota’s Jarno Trulli past, when the team’s radio clearly indicated that he had been. McLaren have suspended Ryan for his part in this debacle – whoop-de-doo. But where is the action against Hamilton?

The stewards have disqualified him but the team are, unsurprisingly, shying away from sanctioning the man who led them to a World Championship last year. Should they? Well, anyone who has listened to the team radio would clearly recognise that he was fully aware that he was told to allow Trulli past. Yet he claimed, in front of the sport’s governing bodies, that he was innocent. Disgraceful is not the word. Hamilton is a duplicitous little shit who has told a bare-faced lie. Now he wouldn’t be the first Formula 1 driver to cheat. He wouldn’t be the first World Champion. And this story, due to it’s technical nature, may have bypassed the vast majority of sports fans but within the sport his image has been tarnished. This writer has lost a lot of respect for a driver he once admired.