Crashgate Scandal, a Black Mark on Formula 1 History

This race is not just about tires meeting the asphalt, but also of Formula 1 It also shed light on a dark point. It was remembered as a race in which a team trying to gain an advantage on the track tarnished the short career of a young pilot.

Although the incident was initially dismissed as “just an accident”, it was actually much more than an accident. Questioning the ethics and competition principles of Formula 1 Not to mention that it brings about a debate.

Formula 1 would hold its first night race in Singapore.

Things were not going well for Renault until the race on 28 September 2008. The team didn’t have much of a budget. Fernando Alonso, who won the championship for two consecutive years in the team, moved to McLaren the previous year and became teammates with Hamilton, who spent his rookie season. The duo lost the championship to Raikkonen by 1 point that season. For Hamilton it was a success but it was a flop for the champion of the last two years.

McLaren team, When Hamilton saw the light, Alonso was back at Renault. With Alonso’s return, the team started to attract sponsors again.

Ferrari, Behind teams like McLaren and Sauber He was performing poorly. How did this race in Singapore turn into a scandal unusual in sports history?

The Singapore GP was the 4th race from the end of the season.

Alonso had collected just 28 points up to that point in the season. Nelson Piquet Jr. He could only score points 3 times. So it was very important for them to have a successful result in Singapore.

However, things did not go as they expected. Piquet Jr. was eliminated in the first part of qualifying, and then Alonso suffered a mechanical failure in the second session before being able to lap. This means that the duo will start the race from the 15th and 16th positions. It meant.

In 2008, unlike today Vehicles could also refuel during pit stops and fuel strategies were of great importance. Vehicles lagging behind would try to gain an advantage by filling their tanks to the brim and making one less pit stop than their competitors.

Who will start the race from 15th place Alonso had little fuel in his gas tank and soft tires on his rims. This situation confused everyone. Alonso had a fuel load and tire advantage at the start of the race. They witnessed that it progressed rapidly and placed itself in the first ranks. However, during his pit stop on the 10th lap, he switched to hard tires and took on a heavy fuel load.

This situation caught the attention of Formula 1 commentator James Allen at the time, and he said that Renault was trying to rise by trying different strategies.

Soon, after 3 rounds, the real picture emerged. Renault’s strategy was quite strange. While the cameras were showing Sebastian Bourdais returning to the track from the escape area on the 14th lap, the image suddenly shifted to another place. Piquet Jr. was standing against the wall and looking away from the track.

This accident was severe enough to require the safety car to come out. Moreover, the fact that there was no escape route where the wreckage was located made the situation even more serious. For this reason The safety car was activated immediately.

According to the rules at that time, It was forbidden to pit during the first lap of the safety car in races. and pilots who did not comply with this rule received a 10-second stop-go penalty.

After the accident, Piquet claimed that it was an accident caused by the car’s hard tyres.

This accident occurred during the pit time of the vehicles and these vehicles did not have fuel to go one more lap. For this reason, the pilots had to pit their vehicles at the risk of receiving a penalty. Most of the pilots who pitted were able to return to the track, but the one who was fighting for the championship and was leading the race at that moment. Felipe Massa, He got stuck at the end of pit road while trying to exit the pits with the fuel pump. Massa lost the championship to Hamilton by 1 point at the end of the season.

Even though Ferrari mechanics removed the fuel pump Massa had to drop to last place and had to continue the race with the penalty he received for passing through the pits.

After these events, Alonso ranked 5th, just behind the 4 pilots who pitted to stay in the race.

With the natural flow of the race, Alonso rose to first place and maintained his position in the remaining race. It gave Renault its first win in two years. This victory is considered the most important victory of Alonso’s career, and whenever asked, he describes this race as his best victory.

A week later, after the victory in Singapore in the 2008 season, Alonso and Renault Another victory at Suzuka and they finished the season in 5th place with 61 points. This was literally the unexpected surprise of a bad season.

All points earned by the team, It was achieved by car number 7 and its driver Fernando Alonso.

Nelson Piquet Jr. He could not finish any race in the top 10.

This unsuccessful performance, after 10 races It has reached a point that Flavio Briatore and Renault cannot tolerate and they kicked Piquet Jr. out of the team after the Hungarian GP. However, his replacement, Romain Grosjean, was not perfect either.

The best finish in the remaining 7 races is 13th. Grosjean’s poor performancecaused him to be left off the grid in 2010. However, the real big problem for Renault had not yet emerged.

It all started with an allegation made on August 30, 2009. Piquet Jr., who was sent from the team, started to explain the events one by one. In his statement, He said Briatore and Symonds told Piquet Jr. where and how to make the accident. In contrast, Renault also bought Piquet Jr. He announced that he would file a countersuit against him, alleging “defamation” and “blackmail”.

Renault’s intra-team radio conversations were published in the Times Newspaper.

Every detail of Renault, from where the accident would occur to how it would happen, was explained to Piquet Jr. Following the publication of this evidence, Symonds and Briatore left the team. On 21 September 2009, the FIA ​​suspended Renault from F1 for two years. Symonds was banned from F1 for 5 years and Briatore was banned for life.

After all these events Renault also lost the sponsorship of its chief sponsor, ING Bank. and announced that he sold his F1 team to Lotus at the end of the 2010 season.

Pat SymondsAfter the 5-year ban imposed by the FIA ​​ended, he returned to Formula 1 with Williams at the end of the 2013 season. He played a key role in the development of successful vehicles in 2014 and 2015. He currently serves as F1’s chief technical advisor.

From these events The most profitable name was Fernando Alonso. Because no decision was made regarding him and it was accepted that he had no connection with the incident.

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