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The fate of Flavio Briatore was on Monday sealed on the evidence of a secret whistleblower within Renault, codenamed ‘Witness X’.
Briatore was effectively handed a lifetime ban from motorsport for his role in the conspiracy that saw Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crash his Renault in last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
In their judgment, the FIA noted: “In those additional submissions, Renault F1 referred to the existence of another member of the Renault F1 team (Witness X) who, although not a conspirator himself, knew of the conspiracy at the time of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.”
The FIA added: “Renault F1 stated in its submissions of 17 September 2009 that Witness X had confirmed that Mr Briatore had known of the deliberate crash plan before it had been put into effect.”
Following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, it was made clear the FIA will not sanction any event involving Briatore, nor will any driver he manages be granted a Superlicence in future should they continue to work with him.
Briatore was invited to attend the meeting in Paris where Renault were handed a permanent ban, suspended for two years, but declined to do so, instead arguing in a letter from his lawyer that he was not a licence holder and not accountable to the FIA.
The 59-year-old’s decision not to fight his corner was understandable given the weight of evidence against him, in particular from the mysterious Witness X.
In releasing detailed findings into one of the most explosive cases in sporting history, the FIA has confirmed another member of the Renault team came forward during the manufacturer’s own internal investigations.
However, the FIA were not made aware of the whistleblower until just five days ago, when Renault provided additional documents.
Following the revelation, and after being granted the right of anonymity to protect his identity - only FIA president Max Mosley and the body’s legal advisors are aware of his real name - Witness X was then interviewed by a member of the FIA’s external counsel.
I Wonder who the witness was?
Briatore was effectively handed a lifetime ban from motorsport for his role in the conspiracy that saw Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crash his Renault in last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
In their judgment, the FIA noted: “In those additional submissions, Renault F1 referred to the existence of another member of the Renault F1 team (Witness X) who, although not a conspirator himself, knew of the conspiracy at the time of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.”
The FIA added: “Renault F1 stated in its submissions of 17 September 2009 that Witness X had confirmed that Mr Briatore had known of the deliberate crash plan before it had been put into effect.”
Following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, it was made clear the FIA will not sanction any event involving Briatore, nor will any driver he manages be granted a Superlicence in future should they continue to work with him.
Briatore was invited to attend the meeting in Paris where Renault were handed a permanent ban, suspended for two years, but declined to do so, instead arguing in a letter from his lawyer that he was not a licence holder and not accountable to the FIA.
The 59-year-old’s decision not to fight his corner was understandable given the weight of evidence against him, in particular from the mysterious Witness X.
In releasing detailed findings into one of the most explosive cases in sporting history, the FIA has confirmed another member of the Renault team came forward during the manufacturer’s own internal investigations.
However, the FIA were not made aware of the whistleblower until just five days ago, when Renault provided additional documents.
Following the revelation, and after being granted the right of anonymity to protect his identity - only FIA president Max Mosley and the body’s legal advisors are aware of his real name - Witness X was then interviewed by a member of the FIA’s external counsel.
I Wonder who the witness was?
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