Briatore 'never spoke' with Piquet about crashgate

Jun.4 (GMM) Flavio Briatore has reiterated his innocence some decade and a half after Formula 1’s infamous “crashgate” scandal.

The 75-year-old recently credited F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali for allowing him to return to the paddock as Alpine’s executive advisor, having been banned for life in 2009 for ordering Nelson Piquet to crash on purpose during the 2008 Singapore GP.

Felipe Massa, who narrowly lost the 2008 title to Lewis Hamilton, is currently in the midst of legal action, insisting the deliberate crash cost him points that would otherwise have crowned him champion.

Briatore, however, now suggests to Corriere della Sera that he, in fact, is the real victim of the crashgate conspiracy.

When asked by the newspaper if he ever speaks with former Renault driver Piquet jr, the Italian responded: “No, I don’t care.

“I didn’t even hear from him when he was driving for me.”

Piquet jr, now 39, brought the crashgate affair to light by claiming his then bosses Briatore and Pat Symonds asked him to crash on purpose to trigger a safety car that enabled Fernando Alonso to win the Singapore GP.

“He and I never spoke,” Briatore insists, “and in fact the French court annulled the ban ordered by the FIA and asked for a symbolic refund for me.

“Coincidentally, the president who banned me, (Max) Mosley, is the same one who had banned (Michael) Schumacher.”

Briatore insists he was happy to walk away from F1 in the wake of the scandal.

“When I left I was tired,” he said. “I had won everything, discovered drivers, and it was no longer a business in which to put my heart. It was a job like any other.

“And my son Falco was about to arrive and I wanted to be close to my wife.”

As for those who argue that Briatore should still be banned from Formula 1, Briatore replied: “I’m like a rubber wall.

“I always think that whoever criticises me is worse off than I am. Money gives you great freedom, and not everyone has it.”