The most important sports newspaper in the Italian peninsula Gazzetta dello Sport pointed the finger at Renault, as the French manufacturer chose to abandon their long-time manager in that difficult situation. The 59-year old Italian is Renault's most efficient manager to date in Formula One.
“Renault did not hesitate to throw away the man who gave the team four world championship titles, only in the hope of getting off with a mild sanction,” said the reporters from the Italian news daily yesterday.
All the other media basically echoed the Gazzetta's comments, arguing that Briatore was sacrificed for the good of the team, while Nelson Piquet – the main person responsible for what happened in from the Italian media's standpoint – is walking around happy for avenging his failure at Renault.
“The (FIA) judgement stinks; that was revenge. In order to save Renault, he took the responsibility for this whole affair. Nelson Piquet escapes with his dirty work accomplished and his revenge achieved,” wrote Corriere dello Sport.
“Briatore pays for everything, Renault saves itself,” added La Repubblica, while Tuttosport states “in the Piquet case, only Briatore pays. He is the victim of a conspiracy. The latest black chapter in F1's history has the flavor of revenge against Briatore.”
The only newspaper actually accusing someone of conspiracy towards Renault and especially Flavio Briatore was the Milan-based daily Corriere della Sera, whose reporters stated that “Mosley got his revenge at the Place de la Concorde, where during the French revolution the guillotine stood.”
Google News