Former Renault Boss To Sue F1
Former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore has reportedly begun legal proceedings to sue motorsport’s governing body the FIA over his indefinite ban from the sport.
Briatore was the most harshly penalised of all those involved in Renault’s attempt to fix last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, after he asked driver Nelson Piquet Jr to deliberately crash.
The Italian is now banned from FIA events and forbidden to manage drivers.
In a statement, Briatore described the penalty against him as a ‘legal absurdity’, and has confidence that the French courts will judge the matter fairly.
The former boss claims that the FIA had wrongly pinned all the blame on only one man, after the governing body did not immediately punish Renault for the act.
The team did give Renault a ban from F1, but it has been suspended for two years. Along with punishing Briatore, FIA handed engineering director Pat Symonds a five-year ban.
Briatore’s statement claims that he ‘intends to obtain an order from the court quashing the FIA’s decision insofar as it relates to him, together with an order, subject to a penalty for non-compliance, requiring the Federation to withdraw any penalty imposed on him.
‘He is also seeking damages and official publication of the court’s decision.’
