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Tuesday October 20, 2009

Briatore files legal action against F1 life ban

PARIS: Former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore has filed legal action in a Paris court seeking to overturn his life ban from Formula One, a court spokesman said yesterday.

Briatore was handed a life ban by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) in September for his role in a race-fixing scandal at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.

The Italian has said he would argue that his right to a free and fair defence against the charges was flouted.

Pleas will be entered today, the court spokesman said.

Briatore had said in a statement on Sunday that the decision to ban him for life was a “legal absurdity“.

According to the statement, Briatore would also say the ban was not imposed by an impartial judge, as the head of the FIA tribunal that made the decision was FIA President Max Mosley.

“In this case, the FIA has been used as a tool to exact vengeance on behalf of one man,” Briatore said in the statement, which added that he would seek damages over the decision.

Brazilian Nelson Piquet blew the lid off one of Formula One’s biggest scandals after being dropped by Renault in July when he told the FIA that he had been ordered to crash deliberately at last year’s race in Singapore.

He said he had done so to bring out the safety car and help his Spanish team-mate Fernando Alonso win the race.

Former champions Renault were handed a suspended permanent ban while engineering head Pat Symonds was banned for five years. — Reuters

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