Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula 1

Streiff apologises to FIA over comments

Former F1 driver Philippe Streiff has apologised after admitting he “made insulting and defamatory comments about Jean Todt, Gerard Saillant and the FIA”.

The FIA threatened legal action against Streiff for comments made during a radio interview regarding the investigation in to Jules Bianchi’s crash in the Japanese Grand Prix last year. Streiff – who has been a quadriplegic since a pre-season testing crash in 1989 – issued a statement through the FIA to retract his “unfounded” accusations and apologised to Todt and Saillant.

"I let myself get carried away in front of the camera," Streiff said. "The interview took a long time, too long, and I am aware that I made insulting and defamatory comments about Jean Todt, Gerard Saillant and the FIA which I sincerely regret.

"I ask Jean Todt and Gerard Saillant, who are well aware of my health problems, to excuse me. I regret having said things about them that are totally out of line with the consideration they both deserve."

Bianch remains in hospital in Nice following the accident at Suzuka last year.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.