Briatore Wins Lifetime Ban Appeal

Former Renault F1 team boss Flavio Briatore has won his appeal to have his lifetime ban from motorsport overturned after a court ruled that the sanction was illegal.

The Italian was banned by the sport’s governing body, the FIA, for his part in Nelson Piquet Jr’s deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

The French High Court overturned the ban and awarded Briatore £13,500 in compensation but the FIA are believed to be set to launch an appeal against the decision.

Briatore had also been seeking €1m in compensation but was awarded a far smaller amount, while Renault’s former director of engineering, Pat Symonds, was given €5,000.

The new FIA president, Jean Todt, has also talked about setting up a new disciplinary process to deal with similar incidents.

A statement pointed out that the court did not exonerate Briatore or Symonds of conspiring to cause the crash.

‘The court has rejected the claims for damages made by Mr Briatore and Mr Symonds and their claim for an annulment of the FIA’s decision,’ the FIA statement read.

‘In particular, the court did not examine the facts and has not reversed the FIA’s finding that both Briatore and Symonds conspired to cause an intentional crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

‘The FIA’s ability to exclude those who intentionally put others’ lives at risk has never before been put into doubt and the FIA is carefully considering its appeal options on this point.

‘The court’s decision is not enforceable until the FIA’s appeal options have been exhausted. Until then, the World Motor Sport Council’s decision continues to apply.’

‘I would like to express my great joy with the decision handed down by the Tribunal de Grande Instance,’ said Briatore.

‘I believe it important for the FIA to play the active role it deserves in automobile competition.

‘As a sports person and one passionately involved in car racing for more than 20 years, the decision to apply to the civil courts to contest a decision of the FIA was a difficult one for me to take.

‘The fact the World Motor Sport Council had been utilised to deal with a personal agenda aimed at pushing me out of the world of competition left me no other choice.

‘The decision handed down today restores to me the dignity and freedom certain people had arbitrarily attempted to deprive me of. I believe justice has been done today.’

Briatore’s lawyers had argued at the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris that procedures adopted during the investigation were against the FIA’s international sporting code.

Both Briatore and Symonds left Renault in the wake of the ‘crash-gate’ scandal which shocked F1 last summer.

Following Piquet Jr’s dismissal by the team, the Brazilian revealed he had been asked to deliberately crash to help his team-mate Fernando Alonso win the race.

Renault were subsequently given a two-year suspended ban for their role in the race-fixing scandal at an FIA hearing in September, while Briatore and Symonds were handed longer punishments.

Briatore launched his legal case in October, claiming his right to a free and fair defence to the charges was flouted.