FIA considering team manager licensing

Formula 1 governing body the FIA is pondering the thought of introducing licenses for team bosses in the aftermath of the 'Crashgate' race-fixing scandal of last year. The proposed plan would prevent situations such as the one which saw ex Renault Team Manager Flavio Briatore's ban from the sport lifted by a French court. Although Briatore was found guilty of race-fixing in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, the Italian's barring from all FIA motorsport championships was overturned by Paris' Tribunal de Grande Instance, which ruled against the manner in which the federation had proscribed the 61-year-old.

"Proof? There were facts so obvious that someone has actually apologized," FIA President Jean Todt explained to Gazzetta dello Sport, "and there was only one vote against the penalty applied by the World Council.

"I will put forward the idea that team managers should also have to hold licenses." The idea, if agreed by the teams, will prevent such situations as courts being able to intervene in F1 cases, as team managers would then be following standard sporting rules in the same manner as entrants and drivers. GPUpdate.net