Headline courtesy of reader Tham Chen Munn
The Renault cars this weekend will race without the ING logos. (Photo © Van/Red Sports file photo)
The F1 Renault team got off lightly earlier this week when they were handed a two-year suspended sentence, a non-punishing punishment.
However, they suffered the real punishment yesterday when both their title sponsors pulled out with immediate effect. Their car will be looking quite naked this weekend without the ING logos.
The F1 Renault team cheated when Nelson Piquet Jr crashed on purpose to bring out the safety car. That vaulted teammate Fernando Alonso from 15th in the grid to fourth and he went on to win the race. The race leader at that time, Felipe Massa of Ferrari, went on to have a calamitous pit stop as a result of the crash and finished the Singapore GP pointless. Massa eventually lost the F1 drivers’ championship to Lewis Hamilton and the Singapore GP debacle cost him the championship.
The Dutch banking giant ING were planning to pull out at the end of the year but probably decided they had enough of seeing their logo associated with the words “fix”, “rig” and “cheat” in article after article in every single major newspaper and television channel in the world.
Spanish insurance firm Mutua Madrilena is the other title sponsor that pulled out.
Former Renault team principal Flavio Briatore was given a lifetime ban while team engineering director Pat Symonds was given a five-year ban for fixing the race while driver Nelson Piquet Jr was given immunity for telling the truth.
“ING is deeply disappointed at this turn of events, especially in the context of an otherwise successful sponsorship,” said the Dutch banking giant in a statement. “As announced on Feb 16 of this year, ING decided not to renew the three-year sponsorship contract with Renault F1 and to end its presence in Formula One after the 2009 season.”
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Hi both.
This is not technically correct. ING was never Barings. What happened was ING bought the remainder of Barings for £1 after Leeson’s trading scandal brought down the bank. The Barings name has since disappeared after rebranding and mergers, so I really don’t think any at ING was thinking about Leeson and the Singapore connection.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barings#Aftermath)
Also, ING had always wanted to withdraw from sponsorship in 2010, because they took bail out money from the Dutch government. I think they exploited this situation very well by exiting earlier and perhaps they can sue Renault for breach of contract.
Good spotting, Gary!
Though I do believe that ‘curses’ do exist! Ironically, I titled my F1 story last year ‘Alonso ends hoodoo in sundown Singapore’, looks like I should rename it ‘Alonso continues Barings hoodoo in sundown Singapore’ : )
After Nick Leeson, now Renault. Formerly known as the now-defunct Barings, the last thing this bank needs is another cheating scandal from another field in Singapore. Probably pure speculation on my part, but it cannot be just mere coincidence about deja vu where cheating in Singapore is concerned.