Former Renault chief Flavio Briatore announced on Sunday he was taking legal action challenging the life ban he received from the FIA for his role in the Nelson Piquet junior crashgate affair.
In a statement Briatore described last month’s punishment as ”a legal absurdity” and expressed confidence that the High Court in Paris would find in his favour and quash the FIA’s ruling.
The flamboyant Italian stood down as Renault team principal in mid-September, days before motorsport’s governing body kicked him out of Formula One for his role in ordering Piquet junior to crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help teammate Fernando Alonso win the race.
Confirming a report that had appeared in a French Sunday newspaper Briatore said he was starting legal proceedings in the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance (High Court) on Monday.
Spelling out the main grounds for his action Briatore listed the FIA’s ”deliberate breach of rights of the defence, a breach of the rules of natural justice and the FIA’s manifest excess and abuse of power”.
He added: ”In this case the FIA has been used as a tool to exact vengeance on behalf of one man.
”This decision is a legal absurdity and I have every confidence that the French courts will resolve the matter justly and impartially.” — Sapa-AFP