F1: Renault To Sue Piquet Family

Formula 1

F1: Renault To Sue Piquet Family

As we predicted yesterday Renault and Flavio Briatore have issued legal proceedings against Nelson Piquet Jr. and his father...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted September 11, 2009 Monza (ITA)

Renault and Flavio Briatore have issued legal proceedings against Nelson Piquet Jr. (Right) and his father (Left). (Photo: LAT Photographic)

As we predicted yesterday Renault and Flavio Briatore have issued legal proceedings against Nelson Piquet Jr and his father.

The news comes after our revelation that Briatore met Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn in Paris yesterday and seemingly convinced him that the allegations brought by Piquet Jr. are not true.

Briatore’s strategy is clearly to insist that Piquet Jr is an unreliable witness and that nothing he says in relation to the matter can be believed.

The fact that the action has commenced before the World Motor Sport Council due on September 21 hearing will clearly have some impact on how the latter unfolds.

In a statement issued at Monza the team said: "The FIA has announced that it is to hold an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council ('WMSC') on 21 September 2009. The ING Renault F1 Team is to attend that meeting and answer allegations that members of the team conspired with Nelson Piquet Jr to cause a deliberate accident at the 2008 Singapore GP, so that Fernando Alonso might benefit from the resulting safety car. The ING Renault F1 Team had not commented publicly during the FIA's initial investigation into this matter.

"However, today the ING Renault F1 Team and its Managing Director Flavio Briatore personally, wish to state that they have commenced criminal proceedings against Nelson Piquet Junior and Nelson Piquet Senior in France concerning the making of false allegations and a related attempt to blackmail the team into allowing Mr. Piquet Jr to drive for the remainder of the 2009 season. The matter will also be referred to the Police in the UK. “

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