Today is the 21st September 2009 and this is F1Minute.

The hearing we’ve all been waiting for took place in Paris today, as the FIA decided the punishment for Renault, for the Singapore 2008 Piquet crash. The team had already said they weren’t arguing against the charges, so it was a short meeting, and the result was: a two year suspended ban for the team, with Briatore and anyone associated with him banned from motorsport indefinitely and Pat Symonds banned for at least five years.

In other news, and presumably to distract us from the politics, the FIA also announced the 2010 calendar today, with some interesting things to note. Bahrain starts the season, with Brazil ending it, and it’s a long season finishing on the 14th November. Canada has returned to the calendar, pending agreements with Bernie, and Korea has also been added in October. That makes a 19 race calendar, with four back to backs.

That’s all for now, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1Minute.