Formula One News — September 2009

Singapore GP - Thursday Press Conference

Renault has appointed Bob Bell - the team's technical director - as team principal for the remainder of the 2009 season, following the removal of Flavio Briatore for his role in the Singapore race-fix scandal.

There are two important questions about the Singapore Grand Prix this year. The first is whether the track modifications are sufficient to have made overtaking possible as it was very clear that last year no-one was able to do much.

The FIA has issued documents and recordings of the World Motor Sport Council hearing and it reveals that there was a second witness to confirm Nelson Piquet's claims, known only as WItness X.

The German Grand Prix is included on the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, despite financial problems at the Hockenheimring.

At an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council held in Paris today, the Renault F1 team admitted that the team had conspired with its driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, in breach of the International Sporting Code and F1 Sporting Regulations.

The FIA World Council has confirmed a calendar for 2010. The 19 dates are as follows:

Renault issued the following statement.

The FIA headquarters in the Place de la Concorde in Paris witnessed another media scrum this morning as the leading players in the Singapore Scandal arrived for the World Motor Sport Council meeting which will decide the future of the team.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council meets today in extraordinary session to decide what should be done about Renault F1's race-fixing at last year's Singapore Grand Prix. The team has declined to contest the charges laid by the FIA, which amounts to a nice way of admitting them.

A year ago Formula 1 had six engine manufacturers involved. Ferrari provided engines for six cars; Renault and Toyota for four cars each and Mercedes, BMW and Honda were supplying two cars each.

The Korean National Assembly has passed the F1 Supporting Act, which will provide government support for the Korean Grand Prix and is seen as a critical milestone for the development of automobile culture in South Korea.

The ING Renault F1 Team says that it will not dispute the "recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix". The FIA said that the team had "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".

Life does not stand still in Formula 1 and although the Renault team is yet to be judged on what happened in Singapore last year, the F1 paddock is already hypothesizing about who could be called in to run the team if Flavio Briatore is forced to depart.

BMW has announced that "Qadbak Investments Ltd" has agreed to purchase the BMW Sauber F1 team. The company will be represented in the team by a Swiss person called Lionel Fischer.

Officials in Montreal have confirmed that they have successfully negotiated a new Formula 1 contract to return the Canadian GP to the FIA calendar. The race is an important foothold in the Americas and F1 teams hope that it will help as the sport tries to do a deal with an American promoter.

The FIA has announced that a 13th slot has been awarded to the Malaysian-backed Lotus F1 Team. The BMW entry remains undecided, which means that Lotus will have to build its cars in England.

The problems that have descended on Renault F1 in recent weeks are very serious and if the team is found guilty of race-fixing by the FIA World Council on September 21, the big question is not how the individuals involved are punished, but whether the team should be made to suffer as well.

It will be announced later today that the Malaysian government will be funding a Formula 1 team in 2010 and that the entry has been granted. It is believed to be a joint venture between the government and Tony Fernandes, the owner of the no-frills Malaysian airline AirAsia, which has been a Williams sponsor in recent years.

Italian GP - Race Report

Italian GP - Race Notes

Italian GP - Sunday Photos

Italian GP - Sunday Press Conference

Italian GP - Sunday Team Quotes

Italian GP - Race Results