Ban Alonso from F1

So, Renault finally came clean on Crashgate. They've now admitted Nelson Piquet was ordered to crash just after Fernando Alonso's pit stop in last year's Singapore Grand Prix, securing a win for Alonso. Team principal Flavio Briatore and head engineer Pat Symonds have both resigned, and on Monday, the FIA will be doling out penalties.

To start with, Flavio Briatore needs nothing less than a lifetime ban from the sport. Not only is this far from the first time he's been on the shadier side of things, but his behaviour when the allegations came to light was appalling. He denies everything and basically calls his driver a queer in the world media, only to admit everything and resign a week later. I'm sorry, what? Last week they were all lies, and besides, that guy with the long hair is a faggot.

My two cents' worth: ban Alonso from F1 for good. As far as Crashgate is concerned, there's no way Alonso didn't know exactly what was being planned. He not only went along with it, but kept his mouth shut and celebrated his win. He's Renault's anointed number one driver; it would be beyond ridiculous to suggest that he had no idea what was being planned, and happily went into the race with a deliberately weak strategy without so much as a nudge and a wink from someone.

Remember, this is the same guy who was proven to have cheerfully collaborated in Spygate. He and Pedro de la Rosa quite happily trafficked in information stolen from Ferrari, and Alonso only came forward with it to get back at Ron Dennis. Dennis has since left F1, at least in an active role; now it looks like Alonso's sunk Briatore as well.

Okay, maybe it's a coincidence that one driver benefited from and was deeply personally involved in two of the biggest F1 scandals of the past decade. Or maybe it isn't.

In my humble opinion, Alonso has demonstrated a continuing total disregard for rules, sportsmanship and basic honesty. It was scandalous enough that he, de la Rosa and Hamilton got away scot free from Spygate, despite overwhelming evidence that the lot of them were involved with the stolen Ferrari data at every stage, the first two especially so. It beggars belief to imagine him getting away with Crashgate. However, if there's something the FIA is capable of, it's a monstrous travesty of justice.

In entertainment news, the head of the Spanish wing of FIA said Alonso is innocent and his win at Singapore is beyond dispute. He has a seat on the world council. In related news, he's insane.

I just hope Alonso doesn't end up with Ferrari. The way things have been going so far, whoever Alonso signs with next is in for a session with the FIA World Motorsport Council. I don't know what it'll be for, but his last two team chiefs have ended up in front of the World Council and retired in disgrace. Why would the next one be any different?

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In other F1 news, it's been downright bizarre to follow our Finnish drivers' contract situations. In my opinion, no driver could have scored more points with a Ferrari car this season than Kimi Räikkönen, especially over the last few races. His driving has been phenomenal. After last year's no-show, he's reminded us all of why he won the world title.

On the other hand, Heikki Kovalainen is making a very strong case for being the complete logical opposite of former Finnish F1 driver Jyrki Järvilehto. JJ was always rubbish at qualifying, but drove well in the race. This year, Heikki seems to be settling into a comfortable method of surpassing himself in qualifying and then throwing it all away by being completely rubbish in the race. Monza was a perfect example of Kovalainen in action. He had a brilliant qualifying: his car weighed some 20 tons more than Hamilton's, but he was still ridiculously close to Hamilton's time throughout qualifying. Then the wrong tire strategy, combined with an unbelievably bad first lap, destroyed his race.

Given all this, it was stupefying to hear the news from Monza. McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh assured Finnish television that Heikki was very close to a contract extension with McLaren, while Ferrari point-blank refused to confirm that Räikkönen would be driving for Ferrari next year. I'm sorry, you seem to have gotten them mixed up.

For what it's worth, I consider the rumors that Räikkönen won't drive for Ferrari next year ludicrous. The amount of money it would take to buy out his contract is just silly, and I don't see any way it could be worth it. Of course, that doesn't mean they won't do it, but it still doesn't make any sense. If anyone really thinks that Alonso, or Massa for that matter, would have had a stronger season than Räikkönen did this year in the same car, they're grossly underestimating Kimi and overestimating Alonso.

Still, who knows? If there's one thing I know about F1 it's that anything can happen, whether it makes sense or not. So never say never.