ROME (AFP) - Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso has again come under the spotlight for his role in the 'crash-gate' scandal which led to the sackings of top officials with the Renault team.
On the orders of Renault, Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed at the Singapore Grand Prix last year, opening the door for team-mate Alonso's remarkable win after he had started at the back of the grid.
The scandal led to the downfall of team principal Flavio Briatore and chief engineer Pat Symonds, but as the "whistle-blower", Piquet, who was sacked by Renault in July, was given immunity from official sanction.
Alonso has so far avoided fallout from the affair, but a day after Brazilian Felipe Massa claimed Alonso knew of the team's plans Piquet Jr's father, former racing driver Nelson Piquet, told Gazzetta dello Sport that everyone in the team was aware.
"Briatore convinced Nelsinho (Piquet Jr.) to provoke the accident, and Alonso knew about it. Everyone knew, do you think that Alonso would start from 15th on the grid and stop shortly afterwards to refuel (if he had not been aware of the plan)?" Piquet said.
Piquet Jr. has always claimed he acted on the orders of Briatore and Symonds, however documents published by the FIA appear to suggest that Piquet Jr. suggested the scheme to the team.
Ferrari driver Massa reignited the controversy over the affair on Thursday when he said Ferrari-bound Alonso must have been involved in the Renault plot.
Speaking at a meeting late Wednesday with reporters ahead of this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, Massa said: "He knew. (It's an) absolute certainty."
The 27-year-old Brazilian driver's comments caused uproar and prompted Ferrari to issue a statement on the team's website stressing that he was talking only about his own feelings, rather than any factual evidence.
In his Ferrari-vetted official statement, Massa added: "What I've said is the outcome of a hunch I've had and is not based on any concrete evidence.
Alonso rejected the allegations on Thursday, saying: "I made it clear to the World Council I had nothing to do with what happened in Singapore last year.
"I was not involved in anything, I didn't know anything, so there were no doubts."
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Who first came up with the idea is somewhat academic....
The Singapore race was "won" because of a pre-planned move by Renault.
How Alonso cannot see that the trophy is worthless...is beyond me.
He could easily give the trophy back under his own volition..and people would respect him a little more.
Let us not forget his involvement in "Spygate"..that should tell us his mindset in his approach to F1 racing.
It seems to me that these scandals keep happening around Alonso, too often for him to be squeaky clean, and I think Massa will whoop his @#$% next year, although Hamilton will win his second WDC in 2010
What happens when you were behind slow traffic on a street course like Monaco that is very difficult to pass? You would pit early and hope that you can make up time on the track without having to follow the slow traffic and beat them when they pitted. We have seen that many many times by many many drivers/teams. Why is it so difficult for some people to understand that strategy of pitting early in order to pass slower traffic in front of you?
Even if Alonso was aware of the early stop strategy does not make him guilty. He still have to follow the team's order or run out of gas. The other drivers could also beat him to the finish line so the win is not guaranteed by Piquet's action. Any way, Massa screwed up and lost the race and the WDC and should shut the @#$% up.
John, thank the lord there is someone here with a bit of sense and his eyes open.
I'm more concerned with the facts than conjecture. The most important fact to establish, for me, is who came up with the idea in the first place. Everything else rests on that. If the idea was originated by the management and Piquet went along with it, it was correct to punish them and let NP off with a lighter punishment - though not scot free as happened.
More important than that is the proposal that Piquet originated the idea - presumably to curry favour with Briatore and thus keep his seat. This would fit in with the statement made by Pat Symonds.
It seems to me that if the idea was originated by the management, Alonso would have had to be in possession of that information. If it was originated by Piquet, there is a good chance Alonso did not know. Could the management be sure how he would react if he was told?
My hunch is that it was Piquet's idea, as I have said before; it was to curry favour with Briatore and keep his seat. The only reason he was treated so lightly was that Briatore was already targeted, having upset too many people - especially MM. I don't think Alonso would have been happy to win, knowing that someone like Piquet had gifted it to him in that way.
Of course, I could be wrong but ...
he must know something
that thing not only one or two people can do it
if he say he dont know could any one belive it
If Alonso could come up with a genuine and believable reason for why he would agree to start in 15th with a ridiculously low fuel load on a track where overtaking was certain to be near impossible, then perhaps people will be believe he knew nothing about it.
In the meantime, it is fair to question either of two things:
1. His integrity - he knew and thats why he agreed to a strategy that needed a hell of a lot of luck at just the right moment (if the safety car came out just 2 laps earlier it wouldn't have worked out for him, and just 4 or 5 laps later and again it would have failed. Hoping for a safety car to occur in just the right 10% of the race is madness).
2. His capabilities - if he's as good as fans believe he is then why, with all that experience, skill and knowledge, would he agree to starting in 15th with a strategy that is only realistic if you are on the front row (or possibly two)?
If Alonso could come up with a genuine and believable reason for why he would agree to start in 15th with a ridiculously low fuel load on a track where overtaking was certain to be near impossible, then perhaps people will be believe he knew nothing about it.
In the meantime, it is fair to question either of two things:
1. His integrity - he knew and thats why he agreed to a strategy that needed a hell of a lot of luck at just the right moment (if the safety car came out just 2 laps earlier it wouldn't have worked out for him, and just 4 or 5 laps later and again it would have failed. Hoping for a safety car to occur in just the right 10% of the race is madness).
2. His capabilities - if he's as good as fans believe he is then why, with all that experience, skill and knowledge, would he agree to starting in 15th with a strategy that is only realistic if you are on the front row (or possibly two)?
Massa wins this week's award for stating the obvious. Of course Alonso knew about this, but he's too valuable to be sacrificed in the crash-gate saga. Piquet was the Patsy and Briatore went down as someone up high had to take the rap.
mmm interesting!
pull the other one Alfonso
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