Sep.11 (GMM) F1's governing body has described as "serious" the fact that official evidence related to the Renault crash-gate scandal was leaked to the media.
As well as Nelson Piquet's statement to the FIA, other evidence believed part of the dossier for World Motor Sport Council members, including telemetry traces - showing Piquet accelerated hard during his spin - and a stewards finding that the Brazilian's claims are "in large part true", found their way into the hands of the press on Thursday.It has been claimed the leaks may be an attempt to derail the outcome of the September 21 hearing, which could result in Renault being ousted from the sport."The FIA will investigate it (the leaks) thoroughly. It is a very serious matter," a FIA spokesman is quoted as saying by the Mirror newspaper."Members of the World Council must be able to consider the evidence in the round and speak to those involved and then take an objective decision, not one based on hearsay or leaks," he added.The FIA has denied being the source of the leaks but it is believed the evidence dossier to WMSC members was distributed this week.Regarding the signed Piquet statement, a spokesman in the Brazilian driver's camp told the Guardian: "We don't have any information about this. We didn't release this and we don't know what it is."I saw the supposed document on the internet but I know as much as you do about it," he added.As the scandal swept the Monza paddock on Thursday, a notable absence was Flavio Briatore, who was reportedly in Paris meeting with the Renault board and CEO Carlos Ghosn.Referring to Piquet's claims about the deliberate crash, and despite engineering boss Pat Symonds' admission about a conversation with the 23-year-old, the team boss is quoted by the Sun as saying: "Nothing like that was ever talked about."
