Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[BREAKING: Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds leave Renault F1]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/16/breaking-flavio-briatore-and-pat-symonds-leave-renault-f1/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/16/breaking-flavio-briatore-and-pat-symonds-leave-renault-f1/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/16/breaking-flavio-briatore-and-pat-symonds-leave-renault-f1/#commentsFiled under: ,



Flavio Briatore might have wished that he had been a little kinder to client and former Renault F1 driver Nelson Piquet. After Piquet was sacked for non-performance following the Hungarian Grand Prix this year, he sought revenge by saying that Briatore and team engineering director Pat Symonds instructed him to crash during last year's Singapore GP. The crash, done correctly, would cause the safety car to come out, and that would give teammate Fernando Alonso the best chance of winning the race.

Piquet crashed, the safety car came out, and Alonso won the race. It's been reported that at least one driver thought the crash was suspect, and Williams' Patrick Head said Piquet confessed to a journalist after the race that he crashed on purpose. Piquet's motivation was to keep his Renault seat for 2009. Not having done that, he's got little left to lose... well, other than his career or the chance that any other team will hire him...

Based on evidence gathered, the FIA called Renault to account for its actions during the Singapore GP to the World Motorsport Council. The team hadn't been found guilty, but leaks indicated that the affair was looking suspect. Perhaps hoping to save the team from suffering over the actions of just two men, Briatore and Symonds have departed in what looks remarkably like a Ron Dennis move after McLaren's Australian GP debacle. Renault's only statement on the matter, before Monday's WSMC meeting, said that "The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix." For all kinds of reasons, happy and tragic, on the track and off, this has been the most intriguing F1 season in years.

[Source: F1 Live | Image Source: Mark Thompson/Getty]

BREAKING: Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds leave Renault F1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nelsinho Piquet at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix

The FIA is always sticking its nose around, sniffing around for some trouble. So, when the motorsport governing body opened a new investigation into the Renault F1 team, frankly we weren't all that surprised or interested. The probe centered around claims that the team instructed its since-departed driver Nelson Piquet, Jr. to crash on purpose at the Singapore Grand Prix last year in order to help his wing-man Fernando Alonso win the race.

Now, however, the probe appears to be deepening as the FIA claims to have discovered "other issues above and beyond Singapore" during their investigation into Renault's alleged wrongdoing. In a recurrence of the "Stepney-gate" investigations held during his brief but highly controversial tenure at McLaren, Alonso was reportedly questioned at length by the FIA's lawyers, along with technical chief Pat Symonds and team principal Flavio Briatore, to name just a few of the most prominent team figures implicated.

The team is naturally denying any wrongdoing, and tellingly, several individuals who've since left the team, including former engine chief Denis Chevrier and former test driver Franck Montagny, have expressed serious doubt that Renault was up to any underhanded business. For our part, we have a feeling this isn't the last we've heard over what we'll tentatively refer to as "Renault-gate."

[Source: F1-Live]

FIA digging for dirt in Renault F1 investigation originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From left to right: Fernando Alonso, Flavio Briatore, Romain Grosjean and Nelsinho Piquet launch the 2009 Renault R29
Click above for high-res image gallery

Typically, most of the drivers who start a Fomula One season are the ones who carry it through to the end. But this has turned out to be anything but a normal season, with erstwhile backmarkers winning races and a big game of musical chairs ensuing. Toro Rosso has already switched out Sebastien Bourdais for Jaime Alguersuari, Ferrari was set to bring Michael Schumacher back from retirement but ended up having to deputize test driver Luca Badoer instead, and now Renault has followed suit by axing Nelson Piquet, Jr. and replacing him with its test driver, Romain Grosjean.

The move started last week when Renault announced Piquet's departure. The son of three-time world champion Nelson Piquet, Sr., Nelsinho (as he's known) moved up to F1 after two seasons in the GP2 feeder series also run by Renault team principal Flavio Briatore. Aside from a solitary, though impressive, second-place finish in Germany, the young Brazilian failed to finish nine races last year, and had yet to score a single point this season. Piquet's termination prompted him to launch a series of tirades against Briatore, whom he characterized as an ignorant executioner.

Piquet's replacement, Romain Grosjean, won both the Formula Three Euroseries and the GP2 Asia championships before moving up to the main GP2 series, where he placed fourth last year and is currently runner-up in the standings, in addition to his role as Renault's official test driver. Renault is waiting to see if he and teammate Fernando Alonso will start the upcoming European Grand Prix, pending their appeal of a penalty given at the last race in Hungary for an improperly secured wheel. Confirmation of Grosjean's promotion pends a successful appeal.


Gallery: 2009 Renault R29 F1


[Source: Autosport]

More Musical Chairs: Renault F1 replaces Piquet with Grosjean pending FIA penalty appeal originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Click above for the video of Nelson Piquet Jr. putting F1 on ice

Nelson Piquet Jr., Renault's other driver, recently took a Renault R28 F1 car out for a spin in the snows of Ski Dubai. We're not sure if it's the same chassis that Ben Sulayem crashed at another event in Dubai, but if it is the Renault mechanics earned their money. One thing is certain, though: Ben Sulayem is a very good driver, but the fact that he crashed the car on a dry track while Nelsinho keeps it under control doing donuts in the snow shows you just good the average F1 driver is. Follow the jump to watch the vid.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading VIDEO: Piquet Jr. does donuts in his Renault F1 car... at Ski Dubai

VIDEO: Piquet Jr. does donuts in his Renault F1 car... at Ski Dubai originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Click on either image to view the new Renault R29 in high resolution

Wow. After seeing a few of this year's Formula One cars unveiled already, we really didn't think that the cars could get much uglier. We were wrong. Enter Renault with its latest R29, decked out in yellow and orange. And white. And red. And blue. Throw in some green and we'd be back at the Benetton team that preceded it.

Of course, it could hardly matter less what the car looks like, so long as it keeps the pace with its field-leading rivals. And in the last half of this past season, Renault showed that it could. But with all the new regulations in place, it's a whole new ballgame, and who's to know if the French team - returning to the grid with Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet, Jr. - will be able to ride back up the field to the championship-contending potential it demonstrated just a few years ago with back-to-back titles. We'll just have to wait and see.

Gallery: 2009 Renault R29 F1


[Source: Renault F1]

Congeniality Award? Renault launches new R29 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>fernando alonsoFernandoAlonsonelsinho piquetNelsinhoPiquetnelson piquetNelsonPiquetrenaultrenault f1renault r29renault sportRenaultF1RenaultR29RenaultSportTue, 20 Jan 2009 19:01:00 EST<![CDATA[F1 champ Nelson Piquet loses drivers license]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2007/08/02/f1-champ-nelson-piquet-loses-drivers-license/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/08/02/f1-champ-nelson-piquet-loses-drivers-license/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/08/02/f1-champ-nelson-piquet-loses-drivers-license/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The question of the day is, "If you're tasked with teaching a three-time Formula One champ to drive, what's the curriculum?" Some instructor in Brazil will be forced to answer that very query when he gets Nelson Piquet behind the wheel for a refresher on the rules of the road.

Piquet, who's racked up quite a collection of speeding offenses and parking tickets, is being forced by a Brazilian judge to go back to school for 30 hours over the course of eight days, after which he'll be required to re-take the driving test.

The 54-year old F1 wiz seemed rather jovial when asked to comment on the matter, simply saying that, "I think we have to pay for our mistakes." We're more than interested to see how it turns out, and we'd expect his instructor to come away with a host of intriguing stories and maybe a few new skills of his own.

[Source: Yahoo! News]

F1 champ Nelson Piquet loses drivers license originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Aug 2007 07:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>driver educationdriver trainingDriverEducationDriverTrainingf1formula 1formula oneFormula1FormulaOnenelson piquetNelsonPiquetparkingspeedingticketsThu, 02 Aug 2007 07:34:00 EST<![CDATA[Piquet name returns to Formula 1]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/08/21/piquet-name-returns-to-formula-1/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/08/21/piquet-name-returns-to-formula-1/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/08/21/piquet-name-returns-to-formula-1/#commentsFiled under: ,

Rumor has it that Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr. has signed with Renault F1 to be the team's third driver in 2007. Together with McLaren protege Lewis Hamilton, Piquet Jr. has dominated this year's GP2 championship, and a move to Formula 1 has been expected since 2005, when he tested for Williams F1.

"Nelsinho" is the son of three-time world champion Nelson Piquet, who retired from Formula 1 in 1991. Interestingly, Piquet Sr.'s first world championship came with the Brabham team, then managed by none other than Bernie Ecclestone.

The rumor suggests that current third driver Heikki Kovaleinen will be promoted to race alongside Giancarlo Fisichella in 2007, after the departure of world champion Fernando Alonso for more lucrative pastures at McLaren. And this in turn suggests that Kimi Raikkonen will either stay at McLaren to race alongside Alonso, or move to Ferrari, possibly partnering with Michael Schumacher.

[Source: Le Blog Auto]

Piquet name returns to Formula 1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Aug 2006 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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