Briatore Seeks Overrule Of F1 Ban

Ex-Renault F1 team chief executive Flavio Briatore has requested a French court overturn his lifetime ban from motor racing.

Briatore was banned by motorsport’s governing body, the FIA, for his part in ordering Nelson Piquet to crash in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Brazilian Piquet was asked to deliberately crash to help team-mate Fernando Alonso to win the race.

As well as requesting that the courts overturn the ban, Briatore has also demanded the FIA pay him £901,540 in damages. A decision is expected on 5th January.

Former Renault chief engineer Pat Symonds also asked the Paris court to quash his five-year suspension from the sport.

Neither Symonds or Briatore attended the hearing at the Tribunal de Grande Instance, France’s high court, but their representatives argued that procedures adopted during the original investigation were against the FIA’s international sporting code.

It was also claimed that the enquiry contravened the laws of France, where the FIA has its headquarters.

Briatore’s lawyer Philippe Ouakrat said: ‘When he decided to leave Renault, he took moral responsibility for the mistake, but he doesn’t want to be penalised for something he is not responsible for.’

FIA lawyer Jean-Francois Prat responded that it was the governing body’s responsibility to guarantee the security and safety of its events.

‘We hadn’t seen something as unethical in a sports competition before. Many people’s lives were endangered.’

Should he be unsuccessful in having his punishment overturned, Briatore will be banned indefinitely from attending FIA events and forbidden from managing drivers.