Renault ruling makes you wonder about that $100 million fine

Renault sure got off easy today in Paris when the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council issued its ruling on "Crashgate," especially as compared to McLaren, which was fined $100 million for its role in the "Stepneygate" affair two years ago.

(As you may recall, in "Stepneygate" McLaren was caught with 750 pages of Ferrari technical data.)

Renault, for all intents and purposes, didn’t even get a slap on the wrist. A two-year suspended ban from the sport for compromising the integrity of F1 and endangering lives? Naughty, naughty.

There was no fine (okay, Renault agreed to make a "significant contribution" to the FIA’s automobile safety programs) and no condemnation in the form of a tongue-lashing (the FIA’s language in its press release is almost serene). In fact, it looks to be pretty much business as usual.

French hero Alain Prost will undoubtedly be named to succeed the disgraced Flavio Briatore (who took the full rap here; he’s suspended for life from having anything whatsoever to do with FIA-sanctioned motorsport) and everything should be back to normal by the time the circus arrives at the scene of the crime, Singapore, this weekend.

I don’t suggest for a moment that the FIA should have made life so difficult for Renault that the company would have been forced from the sport.

But when comparing the two cases, it makes you wonder just how personal the McLaren ruling was. There is no doubt that FIA president Max Mosley and ex-McLaren head Ron Dennis hated (and hate) each other. And it’s obvious there is no such level of animosity between the FIA and Renault.

But a $100 million fine for industrial espionage as compared to officially zero for endangering lives? Hmmm.

The FIA also has some other ‘splainin’ to do.

For instance, Nelson Piquet Sr. insists that he told Grand Prix race director Charlie Whiting about the deliberate accident after it happened last September and Whiting didn’t do anything. How come?

And why – at the last minute – was two-time world champion Fernando Alonso summoned to appear in Paris today, only to be thanked for his cooperation (presumably for showing up)?

Was there some sort of a veiled warning there?

Alonso has been a thread in these last two F1 scandals – he was driving for McLaren when that scandal broke and he was the recipient of Nelson Piquet Jr.’s largesse in this incident.

He insists that he knew nothing in either case. Maybe Perry Mason should be called in to do the cross-examination.

Having said all this, Renault apparently did everything it should have when it discovered skullduggery in its midst. According to its sworn statement today, as soon as it became aware of Piquet Jr.’s allegations, it conducted its own investigation and acted swiftly and accordingly by terminating Briatore and chief engineer Pat Symonds (who was banned for five years today) and throwing itself on the mercy of the court.

McLaren’s Dennis, as we all know, decided to tough it out and deny all knowledge of anything and everything. The penalty for that obstinance? $100 million.

There’s something else lingering here.

Did the FIA miss an opportunity today? To say, in its statement, that it is officially tired of this nonsense and, from now on, anything that even comes close to failing the smell test will be subject to immediate investigation?

Yes, I think so. Which is a shame.

Comments

[Gizzy]

Hi Norris,

Outrageous. A most serious breach of conduct and breaking the ethics of sporting conduct results in a "Suspended" !!!!!! sentence, whereas Mclaren gets an unprecedented fine for having intellectual property offered by a competitors employee, with no proof that it made a damn bit of difference to their competitiveness. Un-F'n`Believable. The only good thing is getting rid of Briatore and effectively neutering his driver management business. Other than that, it just sets a really bad precedence of minimal punishment for corrupting the integrity of a race. Sickening.

[Edward Palys]

I think the penalty is quite appropriate given that it looks like Biatore and Symonds were the two conspirators and not the entire team. Comparing this one to McLaren's situation is like comparing apples to oranges. McLaren has been keeping secrets and denying involvement in subtle shenanigans all along and is notorious for developing frictions within its team and drivers. That last second snatch of the world championship by Hamilton leaves a lot of suspicions, what with Dennis paying a fine of a hundred million without blinking an eye. What's another few million to take the driver's championship from rival Ferrari? No wonder he left after achieving his goal, before another investigation would be made.

[john lyons]

Hi Norris;

I agree that intentionally causing a crash puts innocent people at risk and should result in a life-time ban from this great sport.

But why was there no life-time ban when Schumacher intentionally crashed into Villenuve? Or when he intentionally crashed into Damon Hill? (he also used the same crash-to-win tactic to win a Formula 3 weekend at Macau when he was coming up).

A cheater like Schumacher also deserves a life-time ban.

[Chris Morales]

I was disappointed last year when MacLaren got a fine (a large one) for cheating. I am disgusted with what Briatore et al did last year. After a lifetime of enthusiastically following Formula One, I have decided to check out. This race is over for me. And yes, I hope my blog followers and friends on facebook do the same.