Flavio Briatore – Auto News

During the course of the 2009 Formula 1 season, a driver for the Renault team, Nelson Piquet, Jr, who had recently been released by the team, accused Renault team princpal Flavio Briatore of race fixing. Specifically, the dismissed Brazilian driver alleged the Briatore, and Renault engineering chier Pat Symonds, had coerced Piquet into deliberately crashing his car in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, in order to bring out a safety car. As a result of the safety car deployment, owing to the team’s pit stop strategy, Renault’s lead driver, two-time world champ Fernando Alonso, was able to vault to the race lead. Alonso eventually won the race.

Both Briatore and Symmonds initially denied the allegations, although Pat Symmonds at the …

Renault’s 2005 car, the R25, will be unveiled on 1 February in Monaco. Renault is the sixth team to announce the launch date of their car. Up to now, they are only the second to choose a non-testing venue. The Sauber team has chosen Kuala Lumpur to launch their new car.

The Renault team has launched new cars outside France lately because of the stringent anti-tobacco advertising legislation, as the team is sponsored by the Japanese cigarette brand Mild Seven. The launching took place in Palermo, Sicily in 2004.

The Drivers

The 2005 Renault drivers will be Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso. Fisichella returns to the team after a three-year absence. He feels that the team is even more motivated …