Say what you will about NASCAR, at least we don't have our drivers and teams fixing races. (Well, except for [names redacted to avoid lawsuits], but everybody knows that.) Matters aren't so rosy over in F1, however, where Renault has been slammed with a two-year suspended ban from the Formula One world championships following admission of race-fixing.
As our across-the-pond mates at Yahoo! UK -- they're just like us, 'cept they talk funny -- inform us, an FIA World Motor Sport Council handed down the penalty after the team announced it wouldn't contest the charges against it. Said charges included the allegation that the team ordered Nelson Piquet Jr. -- that's him there at right -- to put himself into a wall at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix in order to allow Fernando Alonso to win. (For those of you wondering if Kyle Busch would take out somebody to help Denny Hamlin win the Cup, well, here's another alternative.)
"The World Motor Sport Council considers Renault F1's breach relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity," the FIA said in a statement. "Renault F1's breaches not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr himself." Even filtering through the usual stiff-upper-lip tweediness of those Europeans, this is pretty damning stuff.
In addition to the suspended ban, former Renault chief Flavio Briatore was booted from the sport entirely, and head of engineering Pat Symonds was banned for five years from FIA events. Alonso, meanwhile, was cleared of any suspicion of wrongdoing.
I gotta tell you, friends, much as I love NASCAR, they've got much better storylines over there in F1. Crew chiefs and driver spats are nothing compared to throwing whole races. Come on, NASCAR! Step up your game!
Renault handed supsended ban [Yahoo! Sport UK]
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