Flavio Briatore says lifetime ban decision was taken at 'sham' FIA hearing
The former Renault team principal Flavio Briatore has accused Formula One's governing body (FIA) of secret negotiations before a "sham hearing" at which he was banned for life from the sport.
The Italian was barred in September for his role in a plot to rig last year's Singapore grand prix by having the Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet Jr crash deliberately so that his team-mate, Fernando Alonso, could win the race.
The Guardian reported on Thursday that Briatore would be seeking at least €1m (£900,000) in damages at an appeal hearing in Paris on 24 November as well as demanding the punishment be overturned. The FIA condemned the "selective leaking" of extracts from Briatore's case to the court but the Italian dismissed its objections.
An FIA spokesman said it had already stated it would make no further comment until after the court proceedings were completed.
In a statement issued on his behalf today, Briatore said his action was a public one, there was nothing confidential in the documents and he had nothing to hide.
He also rejected the FIA's position that the life ban was agreed by an "overwhelming" majority of World Motor Sport Council members attending the hearing. The former champions Renault were also given a suspended permanent ban at that hearing.
"The FIA neglects to mention that, according to declarations by one of its own vice-presidents to the media, the world council's decision was rather the outcome of secret negotiations on the eve of the sham hearing," Briatore's statement said.
It gave no further details but the FIA vice-president Mohammed Ben Sulayem was quoted in Abu Dhabi's National newspaper after the September hearing as saying: "We are not here to hang teams, we did our negotiations before and everybody is happy with the result."