Give Renault F1 Team a severe punishment

The Renault F1 Team needs to receive a severe punishment for being in possession of confidential McLaren data since September 2006. And it has been revealed that at least 15 members of the Renault team, some very highly ranked, not only studied the data but possibly also used it to develop their own cars. And what makes the crime even worse is that they were in possession of the data for over a year. One insider even said: "The amount and depth of the information (found at Renault) makes 'Stepneygate' look like a walk in the park."

A statement issued by the FIA said: "Representatives of the Renault F1 Team have been requested to appear before a hearing of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Monaco on Thursday, December 6, 2007."

"The team representatives have been called to answer a charge that between September 2006 and October 2007, in breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, the Renault F1 Team had unauthorised possession of documents and confidential information belonging to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, including, but not limited to the layout and critical dimensions of the McLaren F1 car, together with details of the McLaren fuelling system, gear assembly, oil cooling system, hydraulic control system and a novel suspension component used by the 2006 and 2007 McLaren F1 cars."

The FIA and the WMSC need to start having some consistency in their decisions and the Renault team cannot escape a serious punishment. A fair punishment would mean that Renault and their drivers are stripped from points in the last four races of the 2006 Formula One Championship (the time they were in possession of confidential data) and are completely excluded from the 2007 Formula One Championship. A large fine up to 100 million dollars is also expected. This would of course mean that the Renault F1 Team would lose both of their 2006 Championships (promoting Michael Schumacher and Ferrari to the first position), however they can only blame themselves for such a punishment.

Not only is this a very serious breach of rules, but the Renault team has also managed to bring Formula One as a sport into even more disrepute. But this kind of punishment is fair and hopefully it will ensure that no team will ever allow anything like this to happen again.

Back in August, with McLaren under investigation for breaching the same sporting code, Renault team boss Flavio Briatore was clear on his view of the rules. "Here is a team that acquired an advantage illegally. Just read the regulations: for intellectual property theft the punishment is exclusion," he said. Sounds like Briatore knows exactly what the punishment will be.