Singapore took center stage last year by introducing first ever night race in Formula 1’s History. The Formula One race has its history going back to 1920’s. It is a prestigious racing event. Now it has race tracks in 17 different countries. Sports reporter Lin Xin Yi covered the story. In her September 28 2008 article she wrote Formula One Management supremo Bernie Ecclestone has given the island an emphatic thumbs-up. However, there was a twist of events. In the recent spotlight, Renault is facing charges over an incident that occurred in the scandalized night race last year.
The speculation was, "The team representatives have been called to answer charges, including a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, that the team conspired with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso." This helped Alonso won the Singapore GP in 2008 when Piquet crashed two laps after the Spaniard had come in for a routine pit stop.
Right after the crash, the reports from Renault portrayed it was purely an accident. They celebrated Alonso’s champion with a bash. The media focused on the win even though gossips flew around about the “accident crash”. Just when the media drew a closure to the news, Nelson Piquet Jr let the cat from the sack in August 2009. At the time, Piquet attributed the crash to a simple error, but he was dropped by Renault after July's Hungarian Grand Prix and has since been outspoken in his criticism of Renault team boss Flavio Briatore.
This tainted the image of F1 race, which focused largely on integrity.
Nelson Piquet Jr. is the son of the famous Brazilian race driver Nelson Piquet, a well known F1 driver. Owen Gibson from the Guardian wrote in his article printed on 18 September 2009, that Piquet Sr, who first blew the whistle on the saga to the FIA, said: "At a certain point people like Flavio have so much power they believe they can walk on water. He obviously thought, even though there was lots of proof, no one could catch him." Flavio's power exceed and became greedy. He may think highly of himself and would gladly sacrifice pawns to secure great control over others.
After being sacked from Renault and going to the FIA with his claims in July, Piquet Jr last month issued a statement. "I always believed that having a manager was being a part of a team and having a partner," he said. "A manager is supposed to encourage you, support you and provide you with opportunities. In my case it was the opposite. Flavio Briatore was my executioner."
Next, Nelson Piquet Jr’s quote showed the communication between the manager and driver is very important. Flavio Briatore’s command determined their choice. One wrong word could lead to drastic action. In this judgment, Piquet Jr sacrificed his position. Only to face stronger consequences, this made him turned around lash back on his former manager. Now the exchanged words are harsh and cold.
In addition, in an AP - Thursday, September 19 news article; Renault managing director Flavio Briatore and engineering executive director Pat Symonds left the Formula One team, which said it will not contest a charge that Nelson Piquet Jr. was ordered to crash in a race. The departure of Briatore and Symonds appears to be a move aimed at reducing the expected penalty.
From their decision, their planned resignation script signaled strongly of their involvement of the crash that occurred in Singapore GP in 2008. They took immediate response to leave the organization, hoping to lighten their punishment. Nelson Piquet versus Renault’s lime light on going case would one day come to rest.
In a week time, these fabulous cars would roar down Singapore’s street. Ooh & ahh looking at the cars. Not forgetting the gorgeous hot hunk drivers. Who would take home Singapore 2009 Grand Prix Champion? Jenson Button is a hot favorite.
Reference:
BBC Sports News
AP News: Renault Probe
Guardian News: Legal Threats
S'pore F1 The Straits Times News Article
Credits Photos:
Nelson Piquet Official Site
Singtel Ad
Photobucket
Scripts are important tools in our life. This allows us to anticipate how others will react to what we say. This makes us more comfortable andnot throw us off guard and say the wrong thing. The simplest script is the 'Hi, how are you' script. It allows one to come across as polite. Without it, we might be probably be labelled as rude.
ReplyDeleteBut looking at Biratore's resignation script, I guess he should be anticipating to collect ticket stubs at the gates instead.
Shawn,
ReplyDeleteScripts are accepted by the social norm. Thus, if we "follow" accordingly, it's regarded safe.Like what you had mentioned.
Biratore probably had some swiss bank account stashed away for safe keeping.
The whole crash incident (when looking back at it) was obviously planned. I think the driver got off easily though it was with a price of shame for his entire career - no one wants him in their team because he betrayed himself and backstabbed his team.
ReplyDeleteI was fortunate to watch the practice rounds of the F1 here and the last race of the year (which is next week I think?) is really pointless now that Jenson Button is guaranteed to be World Champ (YAY!)
And agreedm scipts are important as part of social norms.
Their resignation is more like a saving grace for them to move away from shame. Whether it is a form of non verbal cue is questionable. Correlation does not mean causation. Coming back, the fall out between Piquet Jr and Briatore is a combination of miscommunication from both verbal and non verbal cues. The manager didn’t know what his player wanted; the player didn’t understand his manager intentions. Needless to say, the result is for all to see. Perhaps this is a very good example of miscommunication.
ReplyDeleteHeyo Nina!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's super awesome that Jenson Button won. =P How was the f1 practice match? Was it fun?
wow!! =D
Hello lalalalla!
ReplyDeleteThe sentence passed out was certainly very light to cover everyone's mistakes. Everything was done in a hush hush way. Nevertheless, the news had died down. Everyone is back to their normal daily lives.