Pardon, what’s Renault people in France had to do with this whole thing? Renault staff at Enstone are great guys who work hard (had the pleasure to meet a few people personally). Should they be penalized for something that a couple of greedy blokes did? I sense Joe Saward influence there: McLaren and Williams are the most honest teams while others are not on the level.

Who said anything about France? The team is the entrant and the team should be punished. McLaren were fined $100 million for having possession of Ferrari data but Renault were allowed to walk free when they were found with McLaren data. Then we have the Singapore crash and again the team goes free. Under the rules of the sport the entrant is responsible for the conduct of any of its employees therefore it is unreasonable for the employees to be punished and the entrant not. The people in the Renault main board were well aware of the dubious reputation of the team in the Benetton days. Then they were caught with McLaren data so it is not unreasonable to have expected them to take action to correct the behaviour. Since they allowed Briatore to continue unhindered they were in no position to complain if the team had been hammered.

You are wrong about me being influenced by Joe because he believes it was right that the team was not punished and Briatore and Symonds were so our positions are very different.

Steven Roy :I think this was clearly one of Max’s grudge penalties like the obscene McLaren fine. I think Briatore’s punishment was over the top when the team was allowed to go free. It is a long standing rule of motor sport that the entrant is responsible for the conduct of its people. Besides Renault was not exactly squeaky clean. They were caught bang to rights with a load of McLaren data and allowed to go free so you would think a second huge offence would result in some kind of serious penalty.
I would have no problem with all involved being given life bans but the idea that Flavio should be penalised in the way he has while Renault is allowed to carry on unimpeded is not only wrong but against the rules of the sport.

Pardon, what’s Renault people in France had to do with this whole thing? Renault staff at Enstone are great guys who work hard (had the pleasure to meet a few people personally). Should they be penalized for something that a couple of greedy blokes did? I sense Joe Saward influence there: McLaren and Williams are the most honest teams while others are not on the level.

I don’t feel sorry for the man; you play with matches, you get burned. I just hope this Lopez bloke doesn’t put someone like Flav in charge at Renault, Bob Bell is a great guy.

I would have no problem with all involved being given life bans but the idea that Flavio should be penalised in the way he has while Renault is allowed to carry on unimpeded is not only wrong but against the rules of the sport.

The French courts, on the other hand…