59 replies to this topic

[eronrules]

Ex-F1 driver Philippe Streiff sued by Todt and Saillant after comments who is this Philippe streiff you ask???

 

 

Streiff drove in 52 Grands Prix between 1984 and 1988 for Renault, Ligier, Tyrrell and AGS, finishing as high as third in Australia in 1985. He was seriously injured in an F1 testing accident in Rio in 1989, and has been in a wheelchair ever since.

 

why ... ? cause Streiff have made some comment regarding the FIA accident panel's report on Bianchi's accident and the circumstances leading up to it.

 

 

here's what he said ... 

 

 

French media reports quote Streiff as having told Radio Free: "Shame on Jean Todt, who ordered and organised at the last World Motor Sport Council in Doha, Qatar, the report about the accident of Jules Bianchi.

"It was a document prepared by a group of ten friends, including Professor Gerard Saillant, to clear the errors of the FIA," he charged.

 

so ... what does FIA says on this??

 

 

 

 

FIA Statement

“These remarks having been published by certain media, the FIA, Jean Todt and Gérard Saillant categorically state that Philippe Streiff’s insulting and defamatory comments are utterly unfounded and demonstrate malicious intent.

“In view of the seriousness of this deliberate attack on their reputations, they have had to ask their lawyers to lodge a complaint for public defamation and insult so that the circulation of Philippe Streiff’s statements is stopped immediately and sanctioned in an appropriate manner.

“They find it regrettable that this incident only serves to add to the suffering of Jules Bianchi’s family, for whom they would like to reiterate their support.”

 

 

a short summary of FIA panel's report on crash ... which pretty much blames bianchi and defends charlie's decision for not deploying SC during sutil's car recovery

 

http://www.f1fanatic...eport-findings/

 

 

[Myrvold]

I guess we now know why Gary Hartstein was visited by that same Mr.Saillant. But it seems like they didn't go the suing route there (yet)

[baddog]

If he made a direct accusation that a report was an organised coverup then that is pretty much always going to get you sued unless you have something to back it up no?

[Petroltorque]

Streiff gave an honest opinion. Is that enough to be sued nowadays. Todt is not only a pretty feckless President he has now shown himself to be politically ambitious. He appears to be  lining himself up for another high office. Ambition is the last vestige of failure!

 Ooops just received a writ from Todt and his cronies.

Edited by Petroltorque, 23 January 2015 - 06:22.

[eronrules]

If he made a direct accusation that a report was an organised coverup then that is pretty much always going to get you sued unless you have something to back it up no?

 

but ... the question is, why does Todt even bothers with this, just sweep it under the carpet, who even cares?? surely he has other 'important' things to do, like making

super-licensee process even more complicated, making funeral pyres for more midfield F1 teams, start another feeder series that no-ones care or other FIA things. 

[ardbeg]

It was wrong not to deploy the SC. There is no way around that.

[hittheapex]

Merits of deploying the SC or not, I actually can't see anything wrong in him being sued. The Hartstein thing did smell of intimidation, but Streiff can't make such serious accusations and not be prepared to back them up with evidence.

[August]

Merits of deploying the SC or not, I actually can't see anything wrong in him being sued. The Hartstein thing did smell of intimidation, but Streiff can't make such serious accusations and not be prepared to back them up with evidence.

There was a blog text by Hartstein where he wondered if investigation panel members had conflicts of interest. Maybe the difference is Streiff saying more directly FIA only wanted to wash their hands.

Edited by August, 23 January 2015 - 07:33.

[LuckyStrike1]

What's wrong with F1 .... 

[baddog]

but ... the question is, why does Todt even bothers with this, just sweep it under the carpet, who even cares?? 

 

Prominent people cannot ignore direct accusations of corruption. At the very least letters from lawyers are needed.

[FredrikB]

If he acts this way against people outside of the FIA, imagine the culture he has created inside the FIA...

[taran]

While Todt might have felt he had to respond to these allegations, I wonder if it won't backfire on him?

If it goes to court, the FIA will have to answer some painful questions about the accident, questions its own little investigation team could safely ignore.

[dau]

Streiff? Wasn't that the guy who repeatedly told all this insider information on Schumacher to the media, prompting Kehm to explain that he was neither the "close friend" to the Schumacher family he claimed to be nor visited him in the hospital or even spoke to Schumacher's doctor, a certain Gerard Saillant? Well he certainly knows how to stay on the headlines.

[Andy Davies]

It nothing else then perhaps the rest of the crash report might have to be lodged as evidence in court - bet it makes interesting reading!

[tifosiMac]

I think there is a little more to this rather than the comments above. Plenty of publications criticise the FIA on occasion and don't get sued so I wonder what history he has with Todt? Streiff is a close personal friend of the Schumachers from what I understand too. I think we had better be careful what we say here because if somebody is being sued over a lightly critical comment, there may be no hope for us lol.  

[pacificquay]

Suing a paralysed man is pretty low in itself.

[midgrid]

Suing a paralysed man is pretty low in itself.

I'm pretty sure that the disabled are subject to the same laws, including those against slander, as everyone else.

[pacificquay]

Indeed they are, but it's how things look.

Further, the FIA doing this means far more people now know about the original comments than before.

[P123]

Bianchi's own mother expressed some irritation over how things were being handled after the crash (  "I can't say anything more, apart from about the criticisms. You know, some people say things to shirk their responsibilities." ), so whilst Todt and his cronies may be entitled to hit back you have to wonder if there is much wisdom behind their chosen course of action.

[hittheapex]

There was a blog text by Hartstein where he wondered if investigation panel members had conflicts of interest. Maybe the difference is Streiff saying more directly FIA only wanted to wash their hands.

Yes, I think that is an important difference.

[Nonesuch]

Streiff gave an honest opinion. Is that enough to be sued nowadays.

An opinion would be: "I would have preferred the panel to be made up of a wider variety of people".

 

What he said is something entirely different, and it is no surprise that the FIA is exploring legal action.

[Brother Fox]

Suing a paralysed man is pretty low in itself.

Paralysed people can be crunts too

[Spillage]

Not particularly bothered about this. It's one thing to criticise the FIA or even to dispute the findings of the investigation. It's quite another to make apparently unfounded accusations of a cover-up. If you're going to make accusations like that without any evidence to back it up you can expect to get sued. 

[RekF1]

The problem the FIA have here is if they lose the case, and a Court of law says the comments weren't defamatory, that'll add a lot more weight to Streiff's comments. 

[Elba]

Not particularly bothered about this. It's one thing to criticise the FIA or even to dispute the findings of the investigation. It's quite another to make apparently unfounded accusations of a cover-up. If you're going to make accusations like that without any evidence to back it up you can expect to get sued. 

Exactly!! 

Sure Streiff is entitled to his opinion however daft and uninformed it may be but if you start slinging mud you better expect to get dirty yourself.

Storm in a teacup me thinks, this will blow over pretty soon and hopefully Streiff will think twice in future before opening his mouth.

[taran]

Exactly!! 

Sure Streiff is entitled to his opinion however daft and uninformed it may be but if you start slinging mud you better expect to get dirty yourself.

Storm in a teacup me thinks, this will blow over pretty soon and hopefully Streiff will think twice in future before opening his mouth.

 

Maybe Streiff did this in the hope Todt would react. This way, the report will be examined in court in detail and the FIA doesn't have a good reputation for criticising itself (=cover up). So I for one expect Streiff to be cleared rather than the FIA.

[Elba]

Maybe Streiff did this in the hope Todt would react. This way, the report will be examined in court in detail and the FIA doesn't have a good reputation for criticising itself (=cover up). So I for one expect Streiff to be cleared rather than the FIA.

I doubt this matter will ever see a courtroom, once Streiff realizes he'll have to put his money where his mouth is it will all quietly go away.

I don't expect Philippe to receive many invitations for FIA fonctions in the years to come though   

[Imateria]

It nothing else then perhaps the rest of the crash report might have to be lodged as evidence in court - bet it makes interesting reading!

This was my first thought as well, maybe we'll get to see the full report at last. Certainly the FIA's summary said that the report found that provedures were followed correctly, no mention was ever made on whether those procedures were correct in the first place or not, a pretty major omission I felt.

[Fastcake]

Prominent people cannot ignore direct accusations of corruption. At the very least letters from lawyers are needed.

Yes they can, particularly if acting over them smacks of trying to silence any criticism.

The FIA has a low enough reputation as it is.

[xflow7]

Yes they can, particularly if acting over them smacks of trying to silence any criticism.

The FIA has a low enough reputation as it is.

 

Exactly.

 

No one comes out of this smelling good.

 

As irresponsible as Streiff's comments may have been, he's enough of a fringe player that the very fact that they are unsubstantiated would have ensured they would never get any real traction.

 

As it is, at best the FIA has merely guaranteed that the accusation gets broader coverage and they get some small settlement if vindicated.  At worst they have ensured a whole bunch more scrutiny of the accident, the response, and the investigation itself looking for skeletons.

 

Dave

[Atreiu]

If only Todt could use this bravado for something actually constructive.

[ANF]

(Je suis Philippe.)

[Gilles4Ever]

Streiff has apologised.

Edit: Autosport story http://www.autosport...t.php/id/117450

[Elba]

LOL this went even quicker than I imagined.  

Mission accomplished!

[rmpugh]

Suing a man disabled as a result of F1. Well done Todt. 

 

Could F1 actually stoop any lower?

[Spillage]

Suing a man disabled as a result of F1. Well done Todt. 

 

Could F1 actually stoop any lower?

His disability doesn't come into it. I'm not at all a fan of the way the FIA operates, but I don't think there's much wrong with suing a man who makes unsubstantiated accusations of serious corruption against you.

[Juan Kerr]

Streiff gave an honest opinion. Is that enough to be sued nowadays. Todt is not only a pretty feckless President he has now shown himself to be politically ambitious. He appears to be  lining himself up for another high office. Ambition is the last vestige of failure!

 Ooops just received a writ from Todt and his cronies.

What do you expect from him after the poor examples set by Max Hardcore :/

[Elba]

His disability doesn't come into it. I'm not at all a fan of the way the FIA operates, but I don't think there's much wrong with suing a man who makes unsubstantiated accusations of serious corruption against you.

You are right but it seems FIA can't win with the prejudiced some. 

The man apologised for his accusations and has asked the press to rectify.

 

Todt and Saillant were right all along obviously, foot in mouth is all that is left for some 

[Risil]

His disability doesn't come into it. I'm not at all a fan of the way the FIA operates, but I don't think there's much wrong with suing a man who makes unsubstantiated accusations of serious corruption against you.

 

Completely agree. However it takes rare skill to turn a response to said unsubstantiated allegation into a PR own goal. Mind you this is the man behind Austria 2002 and Indy 2005.

[Nonesuch]

 Well that didn't take long. Who writes these things? It couldn't sound more constructed.

 

... and Indy 2005.

 

 

Same country, different guy.

Edited by Nonesuch, 24 January 2015 - 01:03.

[Myrvold]

Todt and Saillant were right all along obviously, foot in mouth is all that is left for some 

Maybe or maybe not.

[HoldenRT]

Indeed they are, but it's how things look.

Further, the FIA doing this means far more people now know about the original comments than before.

 

True, I never knew about them til now.

[eronrules]

french cartoonists take on all this ... 

 

 

can someone translate please??? 

[MaxCrazyEddieCayer]

" In spite of strong critics, the FIA continue to use tractors to evacuate cars after crashes "

[Petroltorque]

Let's see how Todt gets on now the EU commission come calling.

[prty]

" In spite of strong critics, the FIA continue to use tractors to evacuate cars after crashes "

More like "to evacuate those who go out of the route".

[Ferrari_F1_fan_2001]

Todt is becoming a Joe Pesci (minus revolver) type of figure.

[Otaku]

What's wrong with F1 .... 

 

What's NOT wrong?

[MaxCrazyEddieCayer]

More like "to evacuate those who go out of the route".

All right, whatever. Same thing, different words.
But hey, Thanks for your 2 cents, Kent Brockman.

[prty]

All right, whatever. Same thing, different words.
But hey, Thanks for your 2 cents, Kent Brockman.

If you translate it like crashed cars, apart from not being what it's written, it loses the whole point of the pun.
It'd be better to focus on realising that instead of trying to put an attitude