Controversial Symonds to help Virgin

CONTROVERSIAL Pat Symonds has returned to the fringes of Formula One despite being banned from the sport - as a consultant with Virgin Racing.

Symonds, the former Engineering Director with Renault, was at the centre of the ‘Crashgate’ storm three years ago when driver Nelson Piquet Jr claimed he was asked to deliberately crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix in order to help team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Fifty-seven-year-old Symonds was subsequently suspended from F1 events for five years after expressing his “eternal regret and shame” to the FIA World Motor Sport Council.

Renault team principal Flavio Briatore was also given a lifetime ban for his part in events.

The bans were subsequently overturned by the French Tribunal de Grande Instance a year ago while Symonds and Briatore also reached an out-of-court settlement with the FIA, only allowing a return to the sport at the end of 2012.

But he was given permission to act as consultant and Virgin have now stepped in to hand him a non-operational role, tapping into his wealth of knowledge and enabling him to work with the Dinnington team through his company Neutrino Dynamics.

Said Virgin Racing’s President Graeme Lowdon: “Pat is working as an independent consultant, and he’s advising us."