As the latest scandal rocks Formula 1; Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds leave the Renault F1 team after the French manufacturer said it would not dispute the allegations of race fixing hanging over it’s head! Renault F1 will still have to face the FIA inquiry to apportion blame. But it is thought to be unlikely that Renault will be punished heavily as the main perpetrators of the crash-gate saga have already left the team, whether that was voluntarily or forcibly I don’t know. Regardless of whether or not Renault knew about the actions prior to the accusations being made is irrelevant as McLaren were heavily punished in the spygate row despite the perpetrator of the crime being dismissed from the McLaren group as soon as it came to light. Ignorance should not be an excuse in this situation as I consider race-fixing to be worse than spying on a fellow team. I have a feeling that Renault will get off lightly in an effort to keep the French manufacturer in the sport!
Liverpool got off to a winning start in Europe beating Debrecen by a solitary goal deep into first half added time. Dirk Kuyt was in the right place at the right time to capitalise on Debrecen keeper Vukasin Poleksic not being able to hold onto Fernando Torres’ shot. Liverpool hardly looked convincing against the Hungarian side at Anfield but at least it was a winning start. As I have said many times before, a win is a win no matter how it comes, three points is all that counts. The three other English sides also got off to a winning start; with Arsenal beating Standard Liege 3 – 2 , Manchester United beating Besiktas 1 – 0, and Chelsea beating FC Porto 1 -0.