Post by Macmoish on Dec 8, 2010 8:49:59 GMT
Not see that Flavio himself is involved in any payment
AP
Renault pays Piquet Jr. for crash allegation
LONDON (AP) — Renault agreed to pay what it calls "substantial" damages to former driver Nelson Piquet Jr. and his father over allegations they lied when they accused the Formula One team of orchestrating a crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
After it dropped Piquet last year, Renault claimed the pair made up the story of a deliberate crash to blackmail the British-based team into keeping the driver.
The allegations surrounding the crash that allowed Fernando Alonso to win the race turned out to be true, with Renault managing director Flavio Briatore and executive director of engineering Pat Symonds banned from F1.
Piquet Jr. and his father, three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet, had to pursue a libel case through Britain's High Court to get an apology.
"These serious allegations contained in the press release were wholly untrue and unfounded, and we withdraw them unequivocally," Renault said in a statement. "We would like to apologize unreservedly to Mr. Piquet Jr. and his father for the distress and embarrassment caused as a result.
"As a mark of the sincerity of our apology and regret, we have agreed to pay them a substantial amount of damages for libel as well as their costs, and have undertaken not to repeat these allegations at any time in the future."
FIA banned Briatore from motor sports in September 2009 for allegedly ordering Piquet Jr. to crash his car to help his teammate.
In a deposition given to FIA investigators in exchange for his immunity, Piquet Jr. said Briatore and Symonds ordered him to crash where it would take the most time to clear the damaged car and result in the longest possible delay.
The deployment of the safety car caused the field to bunch, wiping out the leaders' advantage over Alonso, who went on to win.
Renault escaped severe punishment from FIA, receiving only a suspended ban from F1. The F1 governing body is appealing this year's ruling by a French court to overturn Briatore's lifetime suspension.
Unable to secure a F1 car after the controversy, Piquet Jr. switched to the NASCAR-Camping World Truck Series. He finished No. 46 on the money list this year with $62,600.
www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jghdVJPchQfyrTO5zXdw0FckRuKg?docId=4646a31adccb4d428c9b2b307a201b99
GUARDIAN/OWen Gibson
Renault apologise to Nelson Piquet and son over 'Crashgate' claims
• Formula One team also pay six figures in costs and damages
• Lawyer says father and son were 'treated appallingly'
The Renault Formula One team today apologised in the high court to Nelson Piquet and his son, Nelson Jr, over unfounded claims, made at the height of the "Crashgate" affair, that the pair had made up allegations against the team. Renault also paid a six-figure sum in costs and libel damages.
Today, the lawyer acting for the Piquet family accused Renault of treating them "appallingly" and said Piquet Jr had been "abused terribly" during his short career in Formula One.
The World Motor Sport Council of the FIA last year found Renault, the team principal Flavio Briatore and the director of engineering Pat Symonds guilty of ordering Piquet Jr to drive into a wall on lap 14 of the 2008 Singapore grand prix. In a press release issued in September 2009, and widely reported at the time, Renault accused Nelson Jr and his father of concocting the allegation that the driver had caused a deliberate accident in order to benefit his team-mate, Fernando Alonso.
Today, the Piquets' counsel, David Sherborne, told Mr Justice Eady: "The defendant's press release also suggested that the claimants had not only lied in making these allegations but that they had deliberately invented them in order to blackmail the defendant into allowing Mr Piquet Jr to drive for the team for the remainder of the 2009 season, and they were therefore guilty of a serious criminal offence."
Renault accepted that the allegations "were wholly untrue and unfounded" and withdrew them "unequivocally".
Following the reading of the apology in open court, Dominic Crossley of Collyer Bristow LLP, acting for the Piquets, said it marked "the start rather than the end of the long journey they are both taking to correct many of the wrongs that took place during last year's Crashgate scandal".
He added: "They were both treated appallingly by Renault F1 when they dared to reveal the scandal to the governing body and Nelsinho was abused terribly throughout his absurdly short career in F1. It is to the immense credit of both of my clients that they refused to be deterred from righting the wrongs despite the ferocity of the attacks and the size of the opponents they have had to confront."
After the FIA ruling in September 2009 that effectively banned Briatore from the sport for life, which was later overturned by a French court, Piquet accused the Italian of having "driven me to the lowest point I had ever reached in my life".
Meanwhile, iIt emerged today that the Formula One commercial rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone, has appointed David Campbell, the chief executive of AEG Europe who oversaw the transformation of the Millennium Dome into the hugely successfully O2 Arena, to run the sponsorship and commercial operations arm of Formula One.
It was reported that Campbell would become managing director of Allsport Management, the commercial subsidiary of the Formula One Holdings empire that is owned by venture capital firm CVC and run by Ecclestone. Campbell is expected to take up the position in the first quarter of next year, making him a strong contender to succeed Ecclestone in controlling the sport.
Campbell has overseen AEG's joint bid with Tottenham Hotspur to take control of the Olympic Stadium in Stratford after the 2012 Games. Their controversial plan would involve ripping out the track and providing an athletics legacy elsewhere, arguing that it would be the only way to deliver a commercially sustainable stadium.
The Olympic Park Legacy Company will decide between the bid from AEG and Tottenham and a proposal from West Ham United and Newham Council.
freeproxyserver.net/index.php?q=aHR0cDovL3d3dy53ZWFyZXRoZXJhbmdlcnNib3lzLmNvbS9mb3J1bS9mb3J1bWRpc3BsYXkucGhwP2Y9MTQ%3D
TELEGRAPH/Tom Cary
Renault F1 to pay Nelson Piquet huge compensation for libel after 'Crashgate' scandal
Nelson Piquet Junior and his father have won “substantial damages” and court costs from Renault F1 following libellous comments relating to the race fix scandal surrounding the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
In the summer of 2009, Piquet Jnr told Formula One’s governing body that he had been asked to crash deliberately to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win the race. Renault F1 and then team principal Flavio Briatore vehemently denied the allegations, issuing a statement to that effect and suggesting that the Piquets were trying to blackmail team chiefs.
Briatore and director of engineering Pat Symonds were subsequently found guilty of race fixing by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council, although the Italian had his lifetime ban (and the Englishman his five-year ban) overturned by a Paris court who found there had been “irregularities” in the decision-making process.
Following a hearing in the High Court, Renault has now accepted that its comments were incorrect – and it agreed to cover costs, pay substantial compensation to the Piquets and make sure its remarks are never repeated.
A statement issued by Piquet's lawyer Dominic Crossley, the same one who acted for former FIA president Max Mosley in his high profile case against the News of the World, said: "Today the Renault Formula 1 Team apologised in the High Court for defaming my two clients, the motor racing father and son Nelson and Nelsinho Piquet.
"This marks the start rather than the end of the long journey they are both taking to correct many of the wrongs that took place during last year's "crashgate" scandal. They were both treated appallingly by Renault F1 when they dared to reveal the scandal to the governing body; and Nelsinho was abused terribly throughout his absurdly short career in F1.
"It is to the immense credit of both my clients that they have refused to be deterred from righting the wrongs despite the ferocity of the attacks and the size of the opponents they have had to confront.
"Nelson Piquet dominated F1 during the early 80s and his reputation as a motorsport legend should remain untarnished by this saga. F1 has been deprived of the best of Nelsinho and it is to its detriment that his talent is now being demonstrated elsewhere.
"Whilst neither of them should ever have had to prove Renault F1's allegations false they are both delighted with the successful conclusion of the case."
Renault issued an official apology in court for what it had said. "On 11th September 2009, Renault F1 Team Limited ("the Team") issued a Press Release, which was repeated on our website, in which we suggested that Nelson Piquet Junior and his father had lied by making false allegations that members of the Team and Nelson Piquet Junior caused a deliberate accident at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix," said Renault.
"We also suggested that these lies were invented in order to blackmail the Defendant into allowing Mr Piquet Junior to drive for the Team for the remainder of the 2009 season, and he and his father were therefore guilty of a serious criminal offence.
"The Team accepts – as it did before the World Motor Sport Council ("WMSC") of the FIA and as found by the WMSC in its decision of 21 September 2009 – that the allegations made by Nelson Piquet Junior were not false. It also accepts that Mr Piquet Junior and his father did not invent these allegations in order to blackmail the Team.
"As a result, these serious allegations contained in the Press Release were wholly untrue and unfounded, and we withdraw them unequivocally. We would like to apologise unreservedly to Mr Piquet Junior and his father for the distress and embarrassment caused as a result.
"As a mark of the sincerity of our apology and regret, we have agreed to pay them a substantial amount of damages for libel as well as their costs, and have undertaken not to repeat these allegations at any time in the future."
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/renault/8186825/Renault-F1-to-pay-Nelson-Piquet-huge-compensation-for-libel-after-Crashgate-scandal.html
AP
Renault pays Piquet Jr. for crash allegation
LONDON (AP) — Renault agreed to pay what it calls "substantial" damages to former driver Nelson Piquet Jr. and his father over allegations they lied when they accused the Formula One team of orchestrating a crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
After it dropped Piquet last year, Renault claimed the pair made up the story of a deliberate crash to blackmail the British-based team into keeping the driver.
The allegations surrounding the crash that allowed Fernando Alonso to win the race turned out to be true, with Renault managing director Flavio Briatore and executive director of engineering Pat Symonds banned from F1.
Piquet Jr. and his father, three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet, had to pursue a libel case through Britain's High Court to get an apology.
"These serious allegations contained in the press release were wholly untrue and unfounded, and we withdraw them unequivocally," Renault said in a statement. "We would like to apologize unreservedly to Mr. Piquet Jr. and his father for the distress and embarrassment caused as a result.
"As a mark of the sincerity of our apology and regret, we have agreed to pay them a substantial amount of damages for libel as well as their costs, and have undertaken not to repeat these allegations at any time in the future."
FIA banned Briatore from motor sports in September 2009 for allegedly ordering Piquet Jr. to crash his car to help his teammate.
In a deposition given to FIA investigators in exchange for his immunity, Piquet Jr. said Briatore and Symonds ordered him to crash where it would take the most time to clear the damaged car and result in the longest possible delay.
The deployment of the safety car caused the field to bunch, wiping out the leaders' advantage over Alonso, who went on to win.
Renault escaped severe punishment from FIA, receiving only a suspended ban from F1. The F1 governing body is appealing this year's ruling by a French court to overturn Briatore's lifetime suspension.
Unable to secure a F1 car after the controversy, Piquet Jr. switched to the NASCAR-Camping World Truck Series. He finished No. 46 on the money list this year with $62,600.
www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jghdVJPchQfyrTO5zXdw0FckRuKg?docId=4646a31adccb4d428c9b2b307a201b99
GUARDIAN/OWen Gibson
Renault apologise to Nelson Piquet and son over 'Crashgate' claims
• Formula One team also pay six figures in costs and damages
• Lawyer says father and son were 'treated appallingly'
The Renault Formula One team today apologised in the high court to Nelson Piquet and his son, Nelson Jr, over unfounded claims, made at the height of the "Crashgate" affair, that the pair had made up allegations against the team. Renault also paid a six-figure sum in costs and libel damages.
Today, the lawyer acting for the Piquet family accused Renault of treating them "appallingly" and said Piquet Jr had been "abused terribly" during his short career in Formula One.
The World Motor Sport Council of the FIA last year found Renault, the team principal Flavio Briatore and the director of engineering Pat Symonds guilty of ordering Piquet Jr to drive into a wall on lap 14 of the 2008 Singapore grand prix. In a press release issued in September 2009, and widely reported at the time, Renault accused Nelson Jr and his father of concocting the allegation that the driver had caused a deliberate accident in order to benefit his team-mate, Fernando Alonso.
Today, the Piquets' counsel, David Sherborne, told Mr Justice Eady: "The defendant's press release also suggested that the claimants had not only lied in making these allegations but that they had deliberately invented them in order to blackmail the defendant into allowing Mr Piquet Jr to drive for the team for the remainder of the 2009 season, and they were therefore guilty of a serious criminal offence."
Renault accepted that the allegations "were wholly untrue and unfounded" and withdrew them "unequivocally".
Following the reading of the apology in open court, Dominic Crossley of Collyer Bristow LLP, acting for the Piquets, said it marked "the start rather than the end of the long journey they are both taking to correct many of the wrongs that took place during last year's Crashgate scandal".
He added: "They were both treated appallingly by Renault F1 when they dared to reveal the scandal to the governing body and Nelsinho was abused terribly throughout his absurdly short career in F1. It is to the immense credit of both of my clients that they refused to be deterred from righting the wrongs despite the ferocity of the attacks and the size of the opponents they have had to confront."
After the FIA ruling in September 2009 that effectively banned Briatore from the sport for life, which was later overturned by a French court, Piquet accused the Italian of having "driven me to the lowest point I had ever reached in my life".
Meanwhile, iIt emerged today that the Formula One commercial rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone, has appointed David Campbell, the chief executive of AEG Europe who oversaw the transformation of the Millennium Dome into the hugely successfully O2 Arena, to run the sponsorship and commercial operations arm of Formula One.
It was reported that Campbell would become managing director of Allsport Management, the commercial subsidiary of the Formula One Holdings empire that is owned by venture capital firm CVC and run by Ecclestone. Campbell is expected to take up the position in the first quarter of next year, making him a strong contender to succeed Ecclestone in controlling the sport.
Campbell has overseen AEG's joint bid with Tottenham Hotspur to take control of the Olympic Stadium in Stratford after the 2012 Games. Their controversial plan would involve ripping out the track and providing an athletics legacy elsewhere, arguing that it would be the only way to deliver a commercially sustainable stadium.
The Olympic Park Legacy Company will decide between the bid from AEG and Tottenham and a proposal from West Ham United and Newham Council.
freeproxyserver.net/index.php?q=aHR0cDovL3d3dy53ZWFyZXRoZXJhbmdlcnNib3lzLmNvbS9mb3J1bS9mb3J1bWRpc3BsYXkucGhwP2Y9MTQ%3D
TELEGRAPH/Tom Cary
Renault F1 to pay Nelson Piquet huge compensation for libel after 'Crashgate' scandal
Nelson Piquet Junior and his father have won “substantial damages” and court costs from Renault F1 following libellous comments relating to the race fix scandal surrounding the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
In the summer of 2009, Piquet Jnr told Formula One’s governing body that he had been asked to crash deliberately to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win the race. Renault F1 and then team principal Flavio Briatore vehemently denied the allegations, issuing a statement to that effect and suggesting that the Piquets were trying to blackmail team chiefs.
Briatore and director of engineering Pat Symonds were subsequently found guilty of race fixing by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council, although the Italian had his lifetime ban (and the Englishman his five-year ban) overturned by a Paris court who found there had been “irregularities” in the decision-making process.
Following a hearing in the High Court, Renault has now accepted that its comments were incorrect – and it agreed to cover costs, pay substantial compensation to the Piquets and make sure its remarks are never repeated.
A statement issued by Piquet's lawyer Dominic Crossley, the same one who acted for former FIA president Max Mosley in his high profile case against the News of the World, said: "Today the Renault Formula 1 Team apologised in the High Court for defaming my two clients, the motor racing father and son Nelson and Nelsinho Piquet.
"This marks the start rather than the end of the long journey they are both taking to correct many of the wrongs that took place during last year's "crashgate" scandal. They were both treated appallingly by Renault F1 when they dared to reveal the scandal to the governing body; and Nelsinho was abused terribly throughout his absurdly short career in F1.
"It is to the immense credit of both my clients that they have refused to be deterred from righting the wrongs despite the ferocity of the attacks and the size of the opponents they have had to confront.
"Nelson Piquet dominated F1 during the early 80s and his reputation as a motorsport legend should remain untarnished by this saga. F1 has been deprived of the best of Nelsinho and it is to its detriment that his talent is now being demonstrated elsewhere.
"Whilst neither of them should ever have had to prove Renault F1's allegations false they are both delighted with the successful conclusion of the case."
Renault issued an official apology in court for what it had said. "On 11th September 2009, Renault F1 Team Limited ("the Team") issued a Press Release, which was repeated on our website, in which we suggested that Nelson Piquet Junior and his father had lied by making false allegations that members of the Team and Nelson Piquet Junior caused a deliberate accident at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix," said Renault.
"We also suggested that these lies were invented in order to blackmail the Defendant into allowing Mr Piquet Junior to drive for the Team for the remainder of the 2009 season, and he and his father were therefore guilty of a serious criminal offence.
"The Team accepts – as it did before the World Motor Sport Council ("WMSC") of the FIA and as found by the WMSC in its decision of 21 September 2009 – that the allegations made by Nelson Piquet Junior were not false. It also accepts that Mr Piquet Junior and his father did not invent these allegations in order to blackmail the Team.
"As a result, these serious allegations contained in the Press Release were wholly untrue and unfounded, and we withdraw them unequivocally. We would like to apologise unreservedly to Mr Piquet Junior and his father for the distress and embarrassment caused as a result.
"As a mark of the sincerity of our apology and regret, we have agreed to pay them a substantial amount of damages for libel as well as their costs, and have undertaken not to repeat these allegations at any time in the future."
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/renault/8186825/Renault-F1-to-pay-Nelson-Piquet-huge-compensation-for-libel-after-Crashgate-scandal.html
