Crashgate
I’ve avoided making any comment on the scandal surrounding Nelson Piquet Jnr’s deliberate crash at the Singapore 08 Grand Prix. Despite believing it’s NOT all over, I thought I would give an insider’s view
I have worked with Pat Symonds for over 12 years, so immediately I heard of Piquet’s allegations, I dismissed them as the ramblings of a bitter ex-employee. My trust in Pat was unequivocal, based on my experience of how he operates. Ever since the fire that engulfed Jos Verstappen’s car in the 1994 German GP, I believe Pat has done everything he can to ensure we operate within the technical regulations. I remember a race where we placed 6th and the 5 cars in front of us had illegal planks at the end of the race, Pat explained in his debrief that he had deliberately run our cars higher, despite the performance loss, to ensure we did not contravene the rules (I was furious the other 5 got away with it). Other than the double championship wins of 2005 and 2006, I was most proud of witnessing Pat collecting his life time achievement award at the 2005 Autosport awards (BTW what a travesty it was for the MP4-20 to get car of the year, the R25 was clearly a superior car!!!)
Through it all, despite the very real risk that I and my 500 colleagues would lose our jobs, it is Pat that I most feel sorry for (and am most disappointed in)
As for our former team principle, I never knew the man, have no idea what he is capable of, and as he continues to protest his innocence, I’ll wait until a suitable future occasion to comment further
As for our former driver who displayed a real lack of talent and a real lack of morals and scruples, I hope never to see him in an F1 car again (despite rumours that at least 1 of the new teams is going to sign him for the 2010 season)
So what was like to be on the inside as your team is accused of one of the most serious incidents of cheating in Formula 1’s history? It was a nightmare!! We were instructed not to comment publically (or privately) in order to give the team the best chance of defending themselves at the WMSC hearing of the 21st September. Whilst the result is a boost to the team’s chance of surviving (permanent exclusion from F1 suspended for 2 seasons), the blanket ban on communication seems to have hurt our relationship with some of our sponsors, and destabilised the workforce. The media had a field day with all the leaked information (I was incredulous at the overreaction in Simon Barnes article in The Times on the 17th September where he accused us of “The worst act of cheating in the history of sport” and he’s a journalist usually worth reading!) Edward Gorman, The Times Motor Racing Correspondent agreed in an article the following day, although Matthew Syed, The Times Sports Journalist of the Year, gave me some comfort and a bit of balance to the debate. Once again F1 (and my team specifically) were in the press for all the wrong reasons. How do we put this behind us and restore our credibility? I honestly don’t know – what I do know is that we do not have a culture within the team which encourages or allows cheating, and the actions of the individuals concerned should be put behind us and we move on to a new era.
I have worked with Pat Symonds for over 12 years, so immediately I heard of Piquet’s allegations, I dismissed them as the ramblings of a bitter ex-employee. My trust in Pat was unequivocal, based on my experience of how he operates. Ever since the fire that engulfed Jos Verstappen’s car in the 1994 German GP, I believe Pat has done everything he can to ensure we operate within the technical regulations. I remember a race where we placed 6th and the 5 cars in front of us had illegal planks at the end of the race, Pat explained in his debrief that he had deliberately run our cars higher, despite the performance loss, to ensure we did not contravene the rules (I was furious the other 5 got away with it). Other than the double championship wins of 2005 and 2006, I was most proud of witnessing Pat collecting his life time achievement award at the 2005 Autosport awards (BTW what a travesty it was for the MP4-20 to get car of the year, the R25 was clearly a superior car!!!)
Through it all, despite the very real risk that I and my 500 colleagues would lose our jobs, it is Pat that I most feel sorry for (and am most disappointed in)
As for our former team principle, I never knew the man, have no idea what he is capable of, and as he continues to protest his innocence, I’ll wait until a suitable future occasion to comment further
As for our former driver who displayed a real lack of talent and a real lack of morals and scruples, I hope never to see him in an F1 car again (despite rumours that at least 1 of the new teams is going to sign him for the 2010 season)
So what was like to be on the inside as your team is accused of one of the most serious incidents of cheating in Formula 1’s history? It was a nightmare!! We were instructed not to comment publically (or privately) in order to give the team the best chance of defending themselves at the WMSC hearing of the 21st September. Whilst the result is a boost to the team’s chance of surviving (permanent exclusion from F1 suspended for 2 seasons), the blanket ban on communication seems to have hurt our relationship with some of our sponsors, and destabilised the workforce. The media had a field day with all the leaked information (I was incredulous at the overreaction in Simon Barnes article in The Times on the 17th September where he accused us of “The worst act of cheating in the history of sport” and he’s a journalist usually worth reading!) Edward Gorman, The Times Motor Racing Correspondent agreed in an article the following day, although Matthew Syed, The Times Sports Journalist of the Year, gave me some comfort and a bit of balance to the debate. Once again F1 (and my team specifically) were in the press for all the wrong reasons. How do we put this behind us and restore our credibility? I honestly don’t know – what I do know is that we do not have a culture within the team which encourages or allows cheating, and the actions of the individuals concerned should be put behind us and we move on to a new era.
posted by Graeme | 11:46 PM
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