multi21

With the 2nd of the two long summer breaks finally over, the question is will Renault be banned from the next race -- A home race for Fernando Alonso no less?

I can't see it happening, especially given that Schumacher is not going to race this week.

Crunch time for Renault
17 August 2009


The Renault team will present its side of the argument to the FIA court of appeal in Paris on Monday with a hope of racing at the European Grand Prix this weekend. The French squad is currently out of the Valencia event after a post-Hungarian Grand Prix investigation resulted in a one-race suspension.





The outcome of the Renault appeal will be made public by the FIA on Tuesday
With Fernando Alonso's loose wheel having resulted in the loss of the Spaniard's right-front during the race at the Hungaroring, F1 governing body the FIA elected to ban the team from entering the European Grand Prix for causing what it described as a dangerous and avoidable situation after claiming that evidence - such as pit-to-car radio traffic - proved that the team was aware of the post-pit-stop problem despite releasing the former double World Champion from his pit box.

Key members of the team will explain its side of events to the FIA on Monday; in the event of Renault losing its appeal and the ban therefore being confirmed, both Alonso and team-mate Nelsinho Piquet will be thrown out of this weekend's race and ticket sales at the Spanish venue would very likely plummet due to the absence of the country's leading native driver.

The verdict from Monday's hearing will be released on Tuesday.

multi21

Please note that the comment in the article from www.f1racing.net cites that Pinquet would be excluded, Pinquet is in fact officially off the team and a replacement is ready in the event Renault is allowed to compete.

A.Wayne

Piquet ........ my little friend ... Piquet !!!

Renault's heavy handed penalty over nutting is a little retribution for evils committed as far back as Melbourne .... RD has already been dealt his , this one is for Flavor Flav ...




This was posted back in the Australian GP thread :

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...24093202.shtml


At least two team bosses threatened to boycott this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, it has emerged.

London's the Times newspaper reports that Flavio Briatore of Renault, and McLaren's Ron Dennis, recently told Bernie Ecclestone they would not send their cars and equipment to Melbourne due to a dispute over unpaid income.

The Melbourne newspaper Herald Sun, meanwhile, said Ferrari may also have been involved in a boycott threat, so angry was the team and chief rival McLaren about the FIA's latest rule changes.

Ultimately, all the cars did land in Melbourne, but race promoter Ron Walker admitted he is aware of the feuding.

"It's very serious at the moment, but I think good sense will prevail by Sunday," he said.

"A clear understanding will be made between the teams and the FIA. (And) Bernie is the master deal-maker. He's been in it for years."

Australia's FIA representative Garry Connelly also played down the rumours. "That (a boycott) would be suicide for them," he said.

"They have sponsorship agreements in place. What are they going to do - throw away a large percentage of their television coverage just because they're upset?”

"They'd be in breach of contract with their sponsors, I'd suggest," he added.

The boycott ultimatum by Briatore and Dennis - also on behalf of other FOTA teams - was revealed by Ecclestone as the F1 Chief Executive this week met with a few select British reporters.


The 78-year-old said Toyota's John Howett was also present when the boycott threat was issued, reportedly over money Ecclestone promised to pay the teams if they sign a new Concorde agreement. The new commercial agreement has not yet been signed.

"Poor John was sitting there a bit confused about life in general. Flavio started it (the threat)," Ecclestone revealed, "aided and abetted by Ron Dennis. They were saying all the FOTA-schmota are not going (to Australia) - nobody's going to go.”

"So I said what I'd better do is cancel the aircraft obviously. It costs a fortune to charter those things and almost as much to cancel them," he added.

While all the cars did travel to and land this week in Melbourne, it is believed the teams have not yet been paid by Ecclestone.

The billionaire said he doesn't mind hard business tactics, but detests when the threats are empty.

"If they come in here with a gun and hold it to my head, they had better be sure they can ****ing pull the trigger. And they should make sure it's got bullets in it because, if they miss, they better look out," Ecclestone warned.


Now is Renault going to get a ban ... Hmmmm .....................



Can yuh believe dis chit, deh ramboni from Bernie , over a likkle jokey.......

TwentySix

The ban has been overturned, instead they'll get a $50k fine......

A.Wayne

Ahhh saved by a stiff neck, Spanish fans and Cash ....................

DanR

lol.... how true, how true. That said I do think it was harsh, in racing things can happen, it is not like they did it intentionally

ew928

So they didn't intentionally with-hold vital information to Alonso to slow the hell down and crawl back into the pits and just let him storm out on to the track with a defective vehicle?

Kurt R

They need the car count. Nothing to gain in banning a driver or a team. Fine them and move on.

Flying Finn

Surprise of the century...

Was there really anyone who thought they were not gonna let Alonso to race in Valencia in front of his home crown where ticket sales have been really slow (even when Schumi was faking his return)?

Romain Grosjean IS the replacement, Badoer has already driven with F60 (promo shoot)...

And Massa will be back this season, hopefully in Japan, if not, in Brazil.

gums

I can't stand it, the stupidity. It seems to me that being eliminated from a race for losing a wheel is the penalty, it's self-imposed. Same goes for crashing out for trying to overtake. Why do they even need penalties, to ruin the racing even further?

multi21

Well Finn, if you look at the poll results, 3 people did and if you read A. Wayne's post, he thought they would too because of (according to his fiction) something that happened before Austrialian GP. How he compares Ron Dennis to Renault is beyond me.

In the end the FIA did the right thing. Did Renault F up? Yes. Were they wrong in not telling Alonso he had a loose wheel nut? Yes. But to ban the whole team is silly. Who is being hurt by that decision if it went through? Only the fans. The real penalty should have been that the Renault garage should have been subject to constant monitoring for the next race weekend by A. Wayne with full access. That would show them!

Carry on. Can't wait until this weekend's race. Four weeks is too long...