Oliver WhiteIn an effort to lift the lifetime ban from motorsport imposed on him following the race-fixing scandal that came to light earlier this year, Flavio Briatore intends to lodge papers in the French courts on Monday that will see him start a fightback against the FIA. Briatore was given his ban on motorsport involvement after it was ruled the Renault boss was part of the controversial incident that saw Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crash his car during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix in order to benefit his team mate. Briatore resigned from his position at Renault along with co-conspirator Pat Symonds. Piquet Jr had already been fired from the team due to poor performance.
However, Flavio believes the FIA did not follow protocol properly and also believes that the governing cannot ban him from attending and involving himself in motorsport because he is not a licensee. Furthermore, Briatore is expected to seek compensation from the FIA as his reputation has been tarnished, something which many presume will have further ramifications in the world of football, Briatore part-owning the Queens Park Rangers club.
In this case, the FIA has been used as a tool to exact vengeance on behalf of one man. This decision is a legal absurdity and I have every confidence that the French courts will resolve the matter justly and impartially. Flavio Briatore, Journal Du Dimanche.
Briatore feels that the FIA acted improperly when there was a delay in issuing summons, failure to disclose the charges in advance and a lack of access to prosecution documents and also to the key witness. The former Renault boss is also questioning the selective immunity imposed by the FIA, the secret negotiating of the decision prior to the hearing and the lack of impartiality of the FIA when passing judgment. As mentioned, Briatore believes the FIA cannot impose this ban on him and also feels that the ban is disproportionate and illegal, and also that the threat of not renewing licenses of those in association with Briatore is in breach of their own rules.
It would seem that Flavio Briatore is not about to back down and take this punishment, which from his point of view you can understand; motor sport makes up a large part of Briatore’s life and the Italian earns much through his association with various people in the sport. However, what is clear from this debacle is that Briatore did wrong, and should therefore quietly disappear into the background. To continue to bring this matter up, especially at a time when the championship is drawing to a climax, only does the world of Formula One an injustice, something that when he was involved, Briatore fought very hard to avoid.
“In this case, the FIA has been used as a tool to exact vengeance on behalf of one man”.
Well, there is certainly no argument on that score.
Good luck JERK
Er, Ted, that’s a little too strong because of the following reason: it is a direct name-calling of someone without any form or attempt of justification.
From the Comment Policy page:
While calling someone a jerk isn’t the worse thing that can be said, it is a strong comment aimed at one person only.
If you think Flavio is a jerk, maybe just suggest his behaviour is that of a jerk, rather than making such a blatant statement. I only say this (publicly) because if it is allowed now, then the line of what is and what isn’t acceptable on BlogF1 gets blurred. I’d rather keep it as straight-forward as possible. It saves headaches in the long-run. 😀
All are welcome to comment on BlogF1, but let’s not allow the comments to descend into hatred towards one or many people.
On that note, Flavio’s insistence on not letting this issue go is childish and as you alluded to, Flavio is behaving like a jerk with all this legal nonsense. Instead of just accepting his punishment for the crime, he is dragging the whole debacle on and on and on, which does the sport no good whatsoever. For someone who has surely spent the best part of his life involved with motor sport and has made a good deal of coin from Formula One, you’d think he would just apologise and find something else to do, quietly.
Sorry to BlogF1 and anyone who mave have been offended by my comment.
Your response pretty much hits the nail on the head and Flavio is exactly how I described him.
One word sums it all up.
🙂
OK. I’m going to try and find something good to say about Briatore.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….His sun glasses are all right?
To be honest I think some of us saw this coming. And I can see what’s going to happen.
Flavio will appeal and it’ll be the ‘Steve Brookstein-appeal-no-one-will-remember’ (Steve Brookstein was the 1st winner of the X Factor) (Just thought I’d say-supporting John and Edward).
I think he should just give up be happy and realise that at least he ain’t living in Shottingham (Nottingham) where you’re scared to go near the chuch because someone got stabbed right outside.
LIFE IS FOR LIVING FLAVIO! DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH APPEALS! GO AND KEEP YOUR INSANITY LEVELS HIGH BY SINGING RANDOMLY IN THE STREET, PLAYIGN WITH FLOATS IN THE SWIMMING POOL AND BEING DETERMIND TO MAKE TROUBLE IN W H SMITHS (I FAIL EVERY TIME)
[…] and Pat Symonds (the two men charged over Nelson Piquet Jr’s ‘accident’) are currently in the process of overturning their bans. By holding a license it would mean that the bosses can essentially have these taken away if they […]
[…] motor sport for five years, while Briatore received a life time ban. The Italian businessman then set about overruling this, citing the fact he isn’t a license holder of the FIA, unlike the drivers. Briatore was […]