FIA Releases Full Renault Dossier in Crash-Gate

The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) has today unveiled the full dossier of Renault regarding the race-fixing scandal related to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. As we have reported to you earlier this morning, the big news about the case comes from one mysterious “Witness X” (from within the Enstone based organization), who came forward with some huge unveiling about the crash-gate only days before the Paris meeting in Paris.

While that seems to have sealed Briatore's fate and convinced the members of the council that the 59-year old Italian deserves the ultimate ban from the sport, there are some other evidence that shows there was something incredibly wrong going on during last year's Singapore Grand Prix.

First of all, the documents show that Pat Symonds's interview with the FIA stewards on the 27th and 28th of August led the members of the FIA to believe that the race-fixing allegations were indeed true. It seems Symonds admitted, during that meeting, that Briatore called him and Piquet Jr. in his office prior to the Singapore GP to discuss the possibility of a deliberate crash by the Brazilian driver during the race, in order to benefit Fernando Alonso.

In addition, when being asked to analyze the telemetry from Nelson Piquet's car in comparison with Fernando Alonso's, “Mr Symonds agreed with the FIA Technical Department's assessment that the telemetry data relating to NPJ (Nelson Piquet Jr's) crash was unusual.” In addition, Symonds admitted that Piquet's putting his foot full to the throttle when he's in a deep spin was “counter-intuitive”.

As far as Briatore is concerned, the Italian denied that Piquet's “favor” by deliberately crashing into the wall during the Singapore GP triggered a one-year extension to his contract. Briatore argued that Piquet's 2009 deal was less advantageous than the one in 2008 – less money, Renault's option to terminate his deal at any time – which would be illogical if the Brazilian had really played his part in the crash-gate.

In addition, Briatore insisted that he knew nothing about a plan to fix the race and that the meeting in his office prior to the race was solely to advise Piquet to keep his head on the race and not think of contract negotiations for the next season. Also, he said he meant the “Thank You” to Piquet after the race as a joke.

In addition to the Witness X unveilings, this is basically what caused the WMSC verdict on Monday, together (of course) with telemetry data and other technical information showing that Piquet acted totally against the rules of decent racing when approaching Turn 17 during Lap 13 of the race.

 For a more complete info on the matter, feel free to read the full Renault dossier.