The fate of Flavio Briatore was yesterday sealed on the evidence of a secret whistleblower within Renault, codenamed ‘Witness X’. Briatore was effectively handed a lifetime ban from motorsport for his role in the conspiracy that saw Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crash his Renault in last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, it was made clear the FIA will not sanction any event involving Briatore, nor will any driver he manages be granted a Superlicence in future should they continue to work with him.
Briatore was invited to attend the meeting in Paris where Renault were handed a permanent ban, suspended for two years, but declined to do so, instead arguing in a letter from his lawyer that he was not a licence holder and not accountable to the FIA.
The 59-year-old’s decision not to fight his corner was understandable given the weight of evidence against him, in particular from the mysterious Witness X.
In releasing detailed findings into one of the most explosive cases in sporting history, the FIA has confirmed another member of the Renault team came forward during the manufacturer’s own internal investigations.
However, the FIA were not made aware of the whistleblower until just five days ago, when Renault provided additional documents.
In their judgment, the FIA noted: “In those additional submissions, Renault F1 referred to the existence of another member of the Renault F1 team (Witness X) who, although not a conspirator himself, knew of the conspiracy at the time of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
“Renault F1 stated in its submissions of 17 September 2009 that Witness X had confirmed that Mr Briatore had known of the deliberate crash plan before it had been put into effect.”
Following the revelation, and after being granted the right of anonymity to protect his identity — only FIA president Max Mosley and the body’s legal advisors are aware of his real name — Witness X was then interviewed by a member of the FIA’s external counsel.
Determining his evidence was factual, Renault made a third and final set of written submissions on Saturday which was the final nail in Briatore’s coffin.
In their statement, they wrote: “Renault F1 has concluded that the following had knowledge of the conspiracy to cause a safety car: Nelson Piquet Jr, Pat Symonds, Flavio Briatore and Witness X.
“Witness X was told of the idea suggested by Nelson Piquet Jr by Mr Symonds, whilst in the presence of Mr Briatore. Witness X objected to the idea. He did not know the plan was to be carried into effect until the crash happened.
“As a result of the evidence, including Mr Piquet’s admission, Mr Symonds’ responses and Witness X’s evidence, Renault F1 concluded that they and Mr Briatore must have known about the conspiracy.”
The Council determined “that the evidence indicates that this was a secret conspiracy, kept from the remainder of the team and executed by three individuals who were acting far outside their authority and, arguably, contrary to the interests of Renault F1”.
It continued: “No other member of the team was involved in the conspiracy or (with the exception of Witness X) had any knowledge of it.”
The evidence laid the blame squarely at Briatore’s door, and with the Italian choosing not to defend himself, the Council hammered him with a sanction today described as “excessive” by Carlos Gracia, the head of Spain’s motorsport body.