Briatore Strikes Back! Briatore Suing Over Lifetime Ban...Meanwhile: Briatore and Ecclestone Back to Normal!

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AFP - Briatore takes FIA to court over life ban
- PARIS — Former Renault chief Flavio Briatore announced on Sunday he was taking legal action challenging the life ban he received from the FIA for his role in the Nelson Piquet junior crashgate affair.
- In a statement Briatore described last month's punishment as "a legal absurdity" and expressed confidence that the High Court in Paris would find in his favour and quash the FIA's ruling.
- The flamboyant Italian stood down as Renault team principal in mid-September, days before motorsport's governing body kicked him out of Formula One for his role in ordering Piquet junior to crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help fix the race for teammate Fernando Alonso.
- Confirming a report that had appeared in a French Sunday newspaper Briatore said he was starting legal proceedings in the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance (High Court) on Monday.
- Spelling out the main grounds for his action Briatore listed the FIA's "deliberate breach of rights of the defence, a breach of the rules of natural justice and the FIA's manifest excess and abuse of power".
- Briatore plans to challenge what he claimed was the FIA's lack of impartiality and the disproportionate and illegal nature of an indefinite boycott.
- He added: "In this case the FIA has been used as a tool to exact vengeance on behalf of one man.
- "This decision is a legal absurdity and I have every confidence that the French courts will resolve the matter justly and impartially."
- Briatore, who is also seeking damages estimated in the French press at between 500,000 and one million euros, felt the full brunt of the FIA's disciplinary might in the September 21 hearing.
- The inquiry also handed out a five year suspension to Renault chief engineer Pay Symonds while the team itself received a two-year suspended ban from the sport.
- Alonso was cleared of any wrongdoing.
- Briatore's ban for conspiring to fix the Singapore race was described at the time as excessive by F1 rights holder Bernie Ecclestone but was defended by FIA president Max Mosley.
- Mosley, speaking after the Renault hearing, commented: "Briatore's problems were that he denied and continued to deny it even when it had become clear that he was implicated."
- "He can no longer be associated with a team, with a championship. He can no longer get into the paddock of a FIA event. He can no longer be a driver's manager," added Mosley of Briatore who had management contracts with Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen, Mark Webber, Romain Grosjean and Piquet Jnr.
- "It's sad to see a career end like that, but what else could we do?" added Mosley after the hearing. AFP


Crashnet - F1 » Briatore to challenge FIA lifetime ban
-Official: Flavio Briatore to commence proceedings against the FIA, F1's governing body.
Flavio Briatore will start legal proceedings in Paris Tribunal de Grande
Instance tomorrow as he bids to get the decision announced by the FIA World Motor Sport Council on September 21 thrown out.
- Briatore was handed a lifetime ban and outlawed from having any involvement in any FIA-sanctioned form of motorsport for an indefinite period, including driver-management, for his part in 'Singapore-gate', in which Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crashed so that his team-mate Fernando Alonso could take the win.
- A statement put out by the former Renault F1 managing director today also added that he is seeking damages.
- “In this case, the FIA has been used as a tool to exact vengeance on behalf of one man,” Briatore continued.
- “This decision is a legal absurdity and I have every confidence that the French courts will resolve the matter justly and impartially”.

The full Briatore statement read:
- Flavio Briatore has confirmed that tomorrow he will commence proceedings in the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance (High Court) challenging the decision announced by the FIA World Motor Sport Council on 21st September 2009.
The principal grounds for this action are:
The FIA's deliberate breach of the rights of the defence FIA including
- the delay in the issue of the summons;
- the failure to state the charges in advance;
- the lack of access provided to prosecution documents and to the key witness;
Breach of the rules of natural justice including
- the lack of impartiality of the body passing judgment;
- the secret negotiation of the decision content before the hearing; and
- the granting of selective immunities in order to build the prosecution's case;
The FIA's manifest excess and abuse of power including
- the penalty imposed on a non-licensee of the FIA;
- the disproportionate and illegal nature of an indefinite boycott decision; and
- the threat to refuse to renew the FIA licence in breach of the Federation's regulations and of the International Sporting Code.
Flavio Briatore intends to obtain an Order from the Court quashing the FIA's decision insofar as it relates to him, together with an Order, subject to a penalty for non-compliance, requiring the Federation to withdraw any penalty imposed on him.
He is also seeking damages and official publication of the court's decision.
Crashnet


GrandPrix. com - Briatore says he will sue FIA
- Flavio Briatore says that tomorrow he will commence proceedings in the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance (High Court) challenging the decision announced by the FIA World Motor Sport Council on 21st September 2009.
- The principal grounds for this action are:
- The FIA’s deliberate breach of the rights of the defence FIA including
· the delay in the issue of the summons;
· the failure to state the charges in advance;
· the lack of access provided to prosecution documents and to the key witness;
Breach of the rules of natural justice including
· the lack of impartiality of the body passing judgment;
· the secret negotiation of the decision content before the hearing; and
· the granting of selective immunities in order to build the prosecution’s case;
The FIA’s manifest excess and abuse of power including
· the penalty imposed on a non-licensee of the FIA;
· the disproportionate and illegal nature of an indefinite boycott decision; and
· the threat to refuse to renew the FIA licence in breach of the Federation’s regulations and of the International Sporting Code.
- Flavio Briatore intends to obtain an Order from the Court quashing the FIA’s decision insofar as it relates to him, together with an Order, subject to a penalty for non-compliance, requiring the Federation to withdraw any penalty imposed on him. He is also seeking damages and official publication of the court’s decision.
- Flavio Briatore commented that “In this case, the FIA has been used as a tool to exact vengeance on behalf of one man. This decision is a legal absurdity and I have every confidence that the French courts will resolve the matter justly and impartially”.
- It will be interesting to see the FIA's reaction. A complaint to the police in Singapore alleging fraud might be a suitable response, but it remains to be seen what the FIA will do." Grand Prix.com


Autosport.com - Ecclestone and Briatore friends again
By Michele Lostia and Jonathan Noble Sunday, October 18th 2009,
- Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone says his relationship with Flavio Briatore is now back to normal - despite claiming the former Renault boss was 'stupid' and 'naive' to get involved in the race-fix controversy.
- Ecclestone has said several times already that he believes Briatore's lifetime ban from F1 was too harsh and, after meeting him last week, says that things between the pair are now good.
- "It was me giving him a call, we met, and we went to lunch together a couple of times last week. He wasn't so cheerful," Ecclestone told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Our relationship today is fine, perfect, normal."
- Ecclestone still considers Briatore did wrong for telling Nelson Piquet to deliberately crash in last year's Singapore Grand Prix - but reckoned a multi-year ban would have been a much better punishment than a lifetime exclusion from FIA-sanctioned events.
- "There were other people from the world council harsher than [FIA president Max] Mosley, talking about a ban from our sport," he said. "Another person objected to it.
- "But in general there wasn't much solidarity towards him. He had caused great damage to motor racing. I say that three years could have been enough. What I didn't like was using the term 'lifetime ban', which isn't even used for murderers."
- When asked about Briatore's claims that he is innocent, Briatore said: "Everyone, deep inside, believes what he wants to believe. He doesn't want to believe it because he's involved in it.
- "If the issue was about other people, then he would have spoken differently. I think that Briatore had to be punished for having been stupid, naive."
- He added: "I don't consider him in a different way than before. But in the end after everything that happened, the problem was that Flavio wasn't against the FIA but against Max."
- With Briatore launching legal action against the FIA in Paris tomorrow to try and overturn his lifetime ban, Ecclestone said he could not make a prediction on whether the case would be successful or not.
- "I don't know. He simply wants to challenge the way that verdict was found. He maintains that the FIA couldn't do that."
- And interestingly, Ecclestone has said that he would be happy to employ Nelson Piquet Jr if he owned an F1 team.
- "Among the drivers on the market, he is one with decent experience and the ability to be quick if put in the right conditions," Ecclestone said.
- "He can do better, Flavio too was left frustrated by the fact that he didn't manage to. If I had a team I'd be happy to hire Nelsinho." Autosport


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