Flavio Briatore’s indefinite ban from motorsport has been overturned by the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris.
The court reversed the decision of the World Motor Sports Council (WMSC), which hit Briatore with the ban for his part in conspiring to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. Briatore was also awarded €15,000 (US$21,600) compensation, although that figure was short of the €1 million (US$1.44m) he was seeking. The French court gave the FIA 15 days to pay or face a €10,000 per day fine.
The FIA’s lawyer Jean-Francois Prat told Associated Press that the governing body would likely launch an appeal, preventing Briatore from returning to the sport until the appeals process had run its course. However, if the judgement stands Briatore’s lawyer Philippe Ouakrat said: “We are in a situation in which Mr Briatore is reinstated in all his capacities to act in Formula One or motorsport.”
Ouakrat argued that the FIA had exceeded its authority by imposing the sanction and that Briatore was targeted because of his tense relationship with ex-FIA president Max Mosley.
“We have the feeling that some justice has been reinstated,” Ouakrat said. “I’m certain that the court was quite shocked by the way that the decision was made against Mr Briatore.”
The judge told the court that the FIA’s evidence was weak, and that lawyers were unable to question witnesses because their identity was withheld.
Ex-Renault director of engineering, Pat Symonds, also had his five-year ban overturned for his part in the scandal. He was awarded US$7,200 compensation, again well short of the US$722,000 he had sought.
Renault got off relatively lightly from the original WMSC hearing, with a two-year suspended ban, and decided not to appeal. Driver Nelson Piquet Jnr was given immunity in exchange for evidence.
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