Ex-Renault boss Flavio Briatore has Formula 1 ban lifted

[4me2]

Ex-Renault boss Flavio Briatore has Formula 1 ban lifted


Briatore (left) and Renault dropped Piquet Jr as a driver in August

Former Renault Formula 1 team boss Flavio Briatore has had his lifetime ban from motorsport overturned. 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. The judge said: "The court ruled the sanction was illegal."
BBC Sport understands the FIA will launch an appeal against the decision.
The new FIA president, Jean Todt, has also talked about setting up a new disciplinary process to deal with similar incidents.
Briatore says he will enjoy a "moment of happiness" before deciding whether he will return to Formula 1.
However, his previous role at Renault has now been filled by Eric Boullier, as announced earlier on Tuesday.
"I would like to express my great joy with the decision handed down by the Tribunal de Grande Instance," said Briatore, 59.
"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.
"We have the feeling that some justice has been reinstated," Briatore's lawyer Philippe Ouakrat said after the verdict.
"I'm certain that the court was quite shocked by the way that the decision was made against Mr Briatore.
"The reputation of Flavio was tarnished but now he can recover his dignity."
Renault's former director of engineering, Pat Symonds, also had his five-year suspension quashed by the French court.
Renault's former head of engineering Symonds also saw his ban overturned

Both Briatore and Symonds left Renault in the wake of the "crash-gate" scandal which shocked Formula 1 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.
In his statement following the tribunal's decision, he claimed the FIA agreed with him that the FIA had:
- rendered a decision it was not competent to pronounce
- infringed its own articles of association
- totally failed to respect my right to a fair defence
- finally, entrusted the tasks of investigation, prosecution and judgment to a principle player known by all to be hostile to me
The Italian had also been seeking 1m euros in compensation but was awarded damages of 20,000 euros (£13,500) with Symonds given 5,000 euros (£4,500).
The court's decision also benefits Briatore as a co-owner of QPR Football Club as he is no longer in danger of breaching the Football League's fit and proper person test.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8440675.stm

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Court overturns Briatore's F1 ban

By Jonathan NobleTuesday, January 5th 2010, 14:22 GMT

Former Renault boss Flavio Briatore has won his court action in France against the FIA over his indefinite ban from involvement in motor racing.
The Italian was told on Tuesday by the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris that his case had been successful.
French media quoted the decision as saying that the FIA's decision on 21 September had been "irregular".
"The court ruled the sanction was illegal," the judge told the Paris court.
Briatore was awarded 15,000 euros in compensation. He was banned from Formula 1 for life after being found guilty of race-fixing charges.
The Italian said before he started legal action that he had been the victim of a personal vendetta.
"In this case, the FIA has been used as a tool to exact vengeance on behalf of one man," he said.
"This decision is a legal absurdity and I have every confidence that the French courts will resolve the matter justly and impartially."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80743

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FIA must announce Briatore ban lift

By Pablo ElizaldeTuesday, January 5th 2010, 16:28 GMT

The FIA has been ordered to tell the public and teams that the bans from motor sport imposed on Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds for their part in Formula 1's race-fix scandal have been lifted.
A French court ruled on Tuesday that the decision to ban the two Renault men had been "irregular" and overturned the FIA's decision, meaning both Briatore and Symonds can now return to work in Formula 1.
The court found that the FIA did not have the power to decree such a penalty - as neither men held any licences to compete.
"The FIA ... can sanction licence holders, leaders, members of the ASNs [national sporting authorities], but it cannot with respect to third parties, take measures equivalent to a sanction - in contravention of article 28 of its statutes," the verdict read.
"The World Council, by forbidding FIA members and licences to work with Messrs Briatore and Symonds, on the one hand added a negative condition – to not work with them – which is not provided for within the FIA statutes."
The verdict also suggested there was a conflict of interest in the ban, as former FIA president Max Mosley was already in dispute with Briatore – and he played a part in both the investigation of the matter and the handing down of the penalty.
The court judgement added: "The decision of the World Council was presided over by the FIA president, who was well known to be in conflict with Briatore, with Mr. Mosley having played a leading role in launching the enquiry and its investigation in violation of the principle of separation of the power of the bodies.
"The decision [of the FIA World Motor Sport Council] is not annulled but declared irregular, and rendered without effect in its provisions against Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds."
The court added that the FIA will be now forced to notify F1 teams and the public, through adverts in French newspapers, that both Briatore and Symonds's bans have been lifted.
"The FIA is consequently obliged to notify within two weeks it is lifting the provisions to its members and licence holders, particularly the 13 teams entered into the FIA Formula 1 world championship 2010," it added.
"This must be published in the French newspapers, of the choice of Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds – at the FIA's cost, up to a limited cost of 15,000 and 5,000 respectively."
The FIA is considering appealing the French court's ruling.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80744

[4me2]

Briatore in no rush for F1 return

By Jonathan NobleTuesday, January 5th 2010, 18:09 GMT

Flavio Briatore will hold fire on making a decision about whether he will return to Formula 1, despite overturning his ban from the sport.
Briatore successfully won a court case against the FIA regarding the indefinite ban from motor racing he was handed down for his involvement in F1's race fix scandal.
But despite the success, which means he can effectively return to employment in F1, Briatore says he will not rush into making a decision about his future plans.
"Let me take a little time to enjoy this moment of happiness after this difficult period," the former Renault boss said on Tuesday.
"As concerns my possible return to F1, there is plenty of time to talk about this. I would like first of all to thank the people who remained faithful to me during these difficult moments and who showed me their trust and friendship.
Briatore welcomed the decision of the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris to rule in his favour against the decision made by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council in September.
"I would like to express my great joy with the decision handed down by the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance (Regional Court)," he explained.
"I believe it important for 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 that the World Automobile Sport Council had been utilized 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 that certain people had arbitrarily attempted to deprive me of."
He added: "The Court recognized that all the criticisms I had formulated against the decision of the World Council were founded, by finding that the FIA had:
- rendered a decision that it was not competent to pronounce
- infringed its own articles of association
- totally failed to respect my right to a fair defense
- finally, entrusted the tasks of investigation, prosecution and judgment to a principle player known by all to be hostile to me.
"I believe that justice has been done today.
The FIA is considering appealing against the decision of the French court, which also lifted the multi-year ban handed down on Pat Symonds.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80745

[beerman]

all well and good having their bans lifted but who in their right mind will employ them now. Sponsers don't like having their name associated with cheats

[GTI]

From Piquet's testimony, you have to question just how competent Briatore really was as a manager. He said the Italian had little understanding of mechanics and a lot of what he barked down the team radio was bollocks. I think he's more of a Shmoozer to get the sponsors in, but in terms of technical understanding he's certainly no Ross Brawn.