****** FORMULA 1 THREAD ******

[VC]

So schumi is no longer racing this month, old motorbike neck injury has caused Ferrari to put his health first and the race 2nd

[prepree]

Gutted, i was really looking forward to this but i guess its in his best interest.

Lewis and schumi would have had great battles

[RedRobin]

....

A great shame - Schumi's participation would have been very good for the sport. However, he's no fool and would not have come to this decision lightly.

So, anyone else stepping in until Felipe is fully recovered?

[prepree]

^^^^ one of the long term test drivers is filling the boots of two legends now, Badoer - he has been there over a decade.

The final 6/7 races should be good with out schumi but would have added extra spice for sure!

[Hedge]

Gutted, i was really looking forward to this but i guess its in his best interest.

Lewis and schumi would have had great battles

With The Cobblers track record he would have probably punted either Lewis or Jenson off.

No I'm not a fan. He is the reason I stopped watching F1 and his retirement was the reason I started watching again.

I accept he was a prodigious talent, the results speak for themselves, however he punted Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve off the track and that to me makes him ein Arschloch.

[Poppa Dom]

Guess he is not sticking his neck out then 

[hammyhammer]

i'm gutted would have been excellent to see him back.

Would have been fun to see kemi, lewis & Fernando battle it out.  without the championship at stake for either they would have gone hammer and tongs at each other

[RedRobin]

....

1 - Barrichello (very emotional!)
2 - Hamilton (3 secs behind)
3 - Raikkonen (dark horse)

7 - Button

Victory a tribute to Felipe!

[vRStu]

Interesting news emerging about Renault this morning.  Sounds like since sacking Piquet some new evidence has come to light that doesn't make things look too good for Renault, I wonder how that would affect the Massa/Hammy World Champ situation -

Renault is understood to be under investigation by Formula 1's governing body the FIA for 'alleged incidents' at a previous race – believed to be the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

According to Reuters, the FIA has revealed that 'an investigation is underway regarding alleged incidents at a previous Formula One world championship event', and whilst no further details were given, it is widely held that the event in question was the inaugural race held around the Marina Bay street circuit in the Far-Eastern city-state just under a year ago.

The floodlit grand prix was won by double F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso, but the Oviedo native was lucky to benefit from a timely safety car period after qualifying woes had left him down in 15th on the starting grid. The safety car emerged on lap 14, just after Alonso had made his first pit-stop, and the ensuing flurry of pit visits from his rivals promoted the 28-year-old into the lead, from where he would never look back.

The safety car intervention was caused by an accident for the Spaniard's then Renault team-mate Nelsinho Piquet, and at the weekend Brazilian TV station Globo reported that Piquet had been ordered to crash into the wall by his team, in order to vault Alonso up the pecking order.

At the time, Piquet refuted suggestions that he had crashed deliberately, insisting that he had merely been pushing too hard, but it is understood that fresh evidence has since come to light.

Piquet was sacked mid-season by the French outfit ahead of the European Grand Prix in Valencia earlier this month, prompting a vitriolic war of words in the media between the Brazilian and Renault F1 managing director Flavio Briatore. The former accused the Italian of being his 'executioner' and a man 'with no friends' who 'thinks only about money' and 'doesn't understand s**t about F1' [see separate story – click here], describing his stint at Renault as 'the worst period of my career'.

Briatore subsequently hit back in stringently denying his former driver's contention that he was never treated equally within the team and arguing: “When a driver lacks results, he opens the book of excuses and begins. The fault is the weather, a spectator's sunglasses, a spin on the straight, this and that...”

It is not the first time Renault has fallen foul of the FIA in 2009, following Alonso's wheel-shedding incident in Hungary.

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/151683/1/renault_under_investigation_for_singapore_gp_fix.html

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12433_5525965,00.html

[RedRobin]

....

Instructing any driver to 'crash' simply doesn't sound at all credible to me. Risk of personal injury? Cost of car damage? - Nah!

[hammyhammer]

where F1 is concerned nothing surprises me......hopefully is piquet making mischief or just some headline grabbing for the upcoming event

[RedRobin]

^^^^
Sounds like Piquet Junior throwing his toys out the pram. My guess is that given his family background he's probably a tad spoilt.

[wigit]

Just seen this on the BBC website

Flavio Briatore has left his position as boss of the Renault team after they decided not to contest charges of fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Executive director of engineering Pat Symonds has also left the team.

Renault were summoned by governing body, the FIA, after Nelson Piquet Jr claimed he had been asked to crash to help team-mate Fernando Alonso's race.

It is not known if Renault must still face the World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Monday to answer the charges

Renault had been called to answer charges that they "conspired with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso."

Piquet crashed two laps after the Spaniard had come in for a routine pit stop.

That meant that when race officials sent out the safety car to clear up the debris from Piquet's car, Alonso was alone among the front-runners in not having to stop for fuel and tyres.

Renault's double world champion went on to take the chequered flag at Formula 1's inaugural night race and claim his first victory in two years.

[The wheel man]

After everyone slagging of Piquet Jnr, he was telling the truth?? 

[JPC]

heard this on the radio today also