“'I was just trying to save the team. It's my duty. That's the reason I'm finished,” Briatore allegedly told British newspaper The Mirror yesterday afternoon, insisting that he sacrificed himself so the team won't suffer too much as a result of the race-fixing scandal.
If the FIA's World Motor Sport Council finds Briatore guilty as charged – with conspiracy to fix the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix – there is a high chance the Italian will also be forced out of the English football also. The 59-year old manager is currently co-owning London football club Queens Park Rangers alongside Bernie Ecclestone, but the FA rules clearly state that a person who has been expelled from another sport cannot be a club director in the Football League.
If found guilty by the FIA, Briatore will undoubtedly be kicked out of Formula One forever. As for Renault, on the other hand, the French manufacturer will most likely plead guilty as charged in an effort to ask the ruling body for clemency.
Prior to the yesterday statement, it was believed Renault will risk total expulsion from the sport if found guilty of race-fixing charges. However, as some sources close to the FIA told the media, such a decision is unlikely now that Renault have come clean about the whole thing.
Nevertheless, Max Mosley admitted the charges are much more sever in the crash-gate than in the famous spy-gate two years ago, therefore Renault risks a higher-than-£50million fine, as handed to McLaren in 2007.
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