Virgin delighted to have ‘Crashgate’ instigator in camp

The English technical wizard was at the centre of the ‘Crashgate’ storm at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008.

Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jnr claimed Symonds asked him to deliberately crash in Singapore to help team-mate Fernando Alonso during the race.

In a saga that rumbled on for nearly a year, Symonds lost his job as executive director of engineering at a team he had been with since their Benetton days and was banned from Formula 1 for five years. However, that was overturned at a French tribunal in January, 2010 and he and Flavio Briatore later reached an out-of-court settlement with the FIA permitting him to return to Formula 1 in 2013. Part of that agreement entitled him to hold a consultancy role to a current team in the meantime.

That team happens to be Yorkshire’s Virgin, who have overlooked any moral dilemma to tap into one of the most renowned minds in motor sport.

Symonds was Michael Schumacher’s race engineer when he twice won the world title in the mid 1990s and he has spent the last few weeks commencing the design process on Virgin’s car for next year.

Virgin team principal John Booth said: “Pat’s very highly regarded and every arrangement we have made with Pat has been in full consultation with the FIA and Jean Todt, just to make sure.

“You have to remember it is an agreement between the two parties, rather than a ban.

“Pat’s very keen, we all are, to toe the FIA line on this.”

Symonds has begun the process of designing a car for the Yorkshire team’s third year in the fast lane, when their fortunes will be significantly improved by a new partnership with McLaren.

With the agreement allowing Symonds to work as a team consultant he could have been snapped up by any of Virgin’s rivals, and Booth knows it was important that the Dinnington marque were the ones who got him. “We’re lucky to have Pat as a very close adviser,” said Booth. “Pat’s been carrying out a review, the whole management team has, and that’s led us to the deal with McLaren and the changes we’ve made of late.

“Pat brings experience and knowledge of how to structure a Formula 1 design team.

“We would have no idea how to structure the design team without him, so he’s proving to be pretty productive already.

“Within his agreement with the FIA he can’t come to races until 2013.

“So he’s just been a consultant adviser with us and he’s already made a start on the design of our 2012 car.”

Silverstone are anticipating a record crowd for this weekend’s British Grand Prix after announcing that race day is a sell-out.

Although tickets are still available for the two practice sessions tomorrow and qualifying on Saturday, it appears likely sales will top the 310,000 mark over the course of the three days.

“We expect this year’s British Grand Prix to attract one of the biggest three-day crowds in the event’s history,” said Silverstone managing director Richard Phillips.

Taking pride of place at the circuit this year is the new pit and paddock complex, a 390m-long building that cost £27m, known as the Silverstone Wing.