Briatore and Symonds leave Renault F1

[derby]

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/152337/1/immunity_for_symonds_puts_briatore_in_f1_firing_line.html

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/152363/1/briatore_and_symonds_leave_renault_f1.html

wow... just, wow...

brundle weighs in on piquet:

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/152368/1/nelson_piquet_is_unemployable_in_f1_now__brundle.html

[EvilSteve]

Pretty messed up. I'm of the belief that anything that happens in F1 has happened before, I doubt this is the first time something like this has gone down.

If Renault is penalized the Piquet Jr. should be too.

[Dannyboy]

http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3213_5562506,00.html

The link above is part of the radio transmissions from the race.  Not that he couldn't be faking it but Briatore sounds genuinely surprised by the crash.  Not to mention disgusted.  

So basically, this little jackass just snitched/lied his way out of Formula 1 (unless Daddy buys a team) and could very well cause Renault to pull out of the sport.  Way to go, asshole.

Edit:  I wanted to add that, if Jr. was telling the truth, then Briatore and Symonds should be banned from Formula 1 for a good long while. 

[derby]

If Renault is penalized the Piquet Jr. should be too.

he'll quite possibly be penalized by nobody wanting to hire him again.

brundle's opinion is spot on.

[EvilSteve]

brundle's opinion is spot on.

Agreed

[superjohn]

Agreed

+1. No one is going to want to hire this kid. He's an underperformer who's shown that either he's willing to lie and blackmail his employers, or he's spineless and complicit in doing something he knew was wrong from the start.

[Holden]

It's not like anyone was going to hire him again anyway.

Knew he was a lousy character ever since he refused to be called Jr.

[superjohn]

It's not like anyone was going to hire him again anyway.

Knew he was a lousy character ever since he refused to be called Jr.

Given how big of an ass his dad is, I wouldn't want to be called Jr. either, but he's got some issues as well.

Did anyone read the thing about hims shacking up with a 50 yo man in Oxford? He's got some daddy issues for sure.

[Greg]

 

Wow - what a show!!

I feel sorry for Renault as I am sure they were not aware of what was going on. I hope their F1 team survives as it was a good crew and I was fortunate to know a couple of people there and even got invited to one of their testing sessions a couple of years ago at Silverstone.

[EvilSteve]

I like Virgin for this stance: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78880

[Speeddog]

I like Virgin for this stance: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78880

"However, what I can say, is that as a director of the main board of Virgin, I can assure you that we would never have anybody in a team sponsored by us who has been 'convicted' of cheating."

Fixed it for him....

Renault is saying they will stay, but with major sponsors ING and Mutua pulling out... who's gonna show 'em the money?

[EvilSteve]

You have a good point. I hope they stay but may not given that Alonso is still rumored to be off to Ferrari. Hopefully with the new cost structure, they can stay without the same level of investment they've had in the past but I doubt they'll stay unless they keep Alonso or get someone else who's actually capable of developing the car and winning.

[superjohn]

Just saw Dave Richards may buy into the team.

[EvilSteve]

Not the ProDrive douche... 

[superjohn]

Not the ProDrive douche... 

Yep, but then again, I've also heard about 50 drivers linked to Ferrari, so silly season is even sillier.