I suppose we must start with "Crashgate". All will be thoroughly familiar with this but when our reporter Ed Brown said in his Singapore GP report last year "As yet, I have seen no suggestion that Piquet's off could have been down to team orders, but it's a thought!" no-one dreamt it actually could be true!

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore received an unlimited ban from being involved in any FIA sanctioned activity - including driver management. So, the man who was a key part of the proposed FOTA breakaway series (remember that?) is now barred from the "sport", including driver management.

He has (had) several charges, Mark Webber and both current Renault team drivers Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean, former Renault driver Heikki Kovalainen and course, Piquet was too. Four Renault drivers whilst being team boss at the same time! As I've said before, wage negotiations must have been interesting. I wonder how tough he was with himself and whether he switched from one side of the desk to the other? Probably wore two hats as well....

I must admit to feeling more than a touch of schadenfreude after seeing the current Mrs Flav showing off their lovely home to "Hello" magazine just the week before The Fall. It looks like the "Curse of Hello" applies to motor racing as well as marriages. However, I cannot believe we've heard the last of this colourful character. Bernie has already said his punishment is too severe, but I bet Max is having a smile.

Renault technical boss Pat Symonds received a five year ban. He has expressed his "eternal regret" at taking part in this sorry episode and, like Dave Ryan, one has to have a degree of sympathy for a well-respected F1 veteran whose career has ended in disgrace. It's certain that dodgy things happened in the past, but technology, in the form of current car safety, made this particular scenario possible, although it also makes such nefarious activities harder to hide. Data showed that Piquet booted it and kept his foot in until he hit the wall.

A whistle-blower in Renault was said to be key to the case and it was interesting how much was leaked and appeared on the web in short order, making it impossible to hush-up. Despite the gravity of the offence Renault escaped very lightly with just a two year suspended ban, this especially so when compared with McLaren's $100m fine for technical espionage. There seems little doubt that Renault would have pulled out of Formula 1 if a harsher penalty had been applied and that would have hurt the show and the money. As I've said many times before, FIA judgments seem all to be about the show rather than justice. Two of Renault's sponsors have pulled out with immediate effect, saying that by cheating Renault were in breach of contract. As for Piquet Jnr.'s racing future, I'm sure a few quid of his Dad's money would soon overcome any reluctance for someone to give him a drive. All-in-all the whole sordid affair leaves a very bad smell behind it.

BMW were one manufacturer who have quit F1 but the team is reported to have attracted a buyer, Qadbak Investments, and secured a supply of Ferrari engines for next season. The trouble was that the final spot on the grid had been given to Lotus. I'm not sure how much this latest attempted reincarnation of the iconic name has to do with the Litespeed "Team Lotus" bid rejected earlier in the year. Certain elements are the same, in particular that it will be based in Norfolk and Mike Gascoyne will be the technical director. The latest bid is backed by Malaysian government money, so it looks like it stands a good chance of happening. Of course, Proton own Group Lotus, but it's not clear to me if they are involved. In any case, must dig out my JPS rally jacket and stick it on eBay. The "Sauber" team has been given 14th slot, first reserve unless they can persuade everyone to allow 28 cars but I'm sure this saga is a long way from being over.

Italian Grand Prix, Monza - 13 September

Finally back on track, Italy was another interesting rather than exciting race. I find these OK if watched "live" to see the strategies unfold, much like the stagger in a 400m running race, but if recorded and watched after a day in the fresh air, dinner and a glass of wine - then zzzzz.

Monza is another low (ish) downforce circuit, so it was going to be interesting to see if Force India's astonishing form would continue. We would also see how their hero from Spa, Giancarlo Fisichella, would do on his transfer to Ferrari. Force India did brilliantly, but Fisi had a "difficult" debut for Ferrari. He crashed in Saturday morning practice and the mechanics only just got the car ready for qualifying, where he finished 14th.

Apparently, an F60 is much harder to drive than a VJM02, with lots of switches to twiddle that are not with the Force, including moveable front wing flaps. From what I can gather, these are used to trim the car to suit various corners, rather than to increase downforce when in another car's slipstream in order to facilitate overtaking, as was the original intention. However, the biggest difference was said to be the performance and feel in braking between a KERS and non-KERS car. He did OK (ish) to finish ninth.

Raikkonen qualified third and two-stopped his way to fourth, using his KERS to just stay ahead of Adrian Sutil's Force India. Fourth became third when Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the place on the very last lap. It seems that he had a bit of KERS left and was trying hard to close on Jenson Button, just in case he could possibly use it to squirt past. No-one criticised him as this is precisely what is wanted in a driver, to give it everything all the time, unless strategy dictates otherwise.

It's the lack of this sort of thing that caused first we Tifosi and later Ferrari to become disenchanted with Raikkonen. It was noticeable that Ferrari gradually stopped defending or praising him, then more or less mentioning him. Luca said recently that he was sure that one day Alonso would be a Ferrari driver and this looks to be next year with Raikkonen returning to McLaren. Ferrari should have listened to us and not signed Raikkonen in the first place.

It looks like McLaren have have learned that not having two top drivers is more comfortable, but that's not how you win the Constructor's title which they have only managed once since four consecutive wins in the late '80s/early '90s Honda era. This will not have gone unnoticed by part-owner Me recedes-Benz, neither will the fact that both championships seem certain to be powered by Mercedes-Benz badged engines this year. This has led to talk that Mercedes will buy into Brawn GP to increase their representation and chances of success. "Spiegate" and "Liegate" can't have helped and Merc are also said to be less than amused by Ron making a road car, which conceivably could be thought a rival to theirs, though I would have thought the new Macca was more in 458 Italia rather than HGV territory. I wonder if it will only be available in grey?

Brawn returned to form big time in Italy. Rubens Q'd fifth and Button sixth, but heavier than all in front bar Kovalainen. With this and KERS, Kovy really should have won. The fact that he didn't, he could manage only sixth, has probably sealed his departure. As the staggers unwound the Brawns took the lead from Hamilton and (briefly) Raikkonen after the second stops, with Rubens taking his second win of the year and Button coming home second. The Brawns' title chases were helped by Red Bull reverting to Dead Bull. Webber's race ended on lap 1 after a crash with Kubica and Vettel struggled along in ninth, finally inheriting the last point when Hamilton retired.

Talking of fizzy drink racing, what a difference a year makes! Last year Vettel took a brilliant victory for Toro Rosso, this year they were slowest. Buemi was 13th and Alguersuari retired.

So, with Barrichello, Button, Raikkonen and Sutil in the first four places, Kovalainen sixth and Vettel eighth, the other points-scorers were Alonso (fifth) and Heidfeld (seventh).

Click here for FIA lap chart.

NCP Car Parks Grand Prix, Singapore - 27 September

Well of course it isn't, but it might as well be. Could there be a greater gap between the vision and the reality? A night-time race, through the streets of an exotic Far-Eastern city vs. a high-downforce procession through a flat, featureless wasteland of concrete, catch fencing and painted lines, all in the harsh glare of spot lights. Talk about all that glisters. When the camera lifts above the track, you can can a glimpse of the vision, but down in the real world, the amount of crap thrown up as the cars crossed the line says it all.

Nonetheless, the race counts and had an extremely important impact on the Drivers' world championship. Things started off well for Brawn, topping first practice on Friday, with Barrichello ahead of Brawn. Vettel had the honours in P2, but it was Hamilton on Saturday with the first Brawn down in seventh and Button in 14th. This trend carried over to qualifying with Hamilton on pole with Vettel second and Rosberg third for Williams. Rubens was fifth, but Jenson was way down in 12th and things did not look good for the championship leader.

Raikkonen was 13th for Ferrari and Fisi was 18th, but at least he could take comfort from the fact that Raikkonen was rubbish too. Stefano Domenicali said that many of their competitors have continued to develop their cars, while Ferrari stopped doing so several weeks ago so things will get ever more difficult.

When the lights went out Hamilton took an early lead, which he did not even lose during his first pit stop, only doing so for a couple or so laps during his second. It was a majestic performance. Nico Rosberg did Vettel off the start line and ran in a strong second place for the first stint. His race was ruined when he ran over the pitlane exit line and was penalised with a drive-through. Doubly unfortunately for him, Sutil spun, tried to carry on and clipped Heidfeld , which brought out the Safety Car. Rosberg had to wait to serve his penalty and ended up dead last. The Mickey Mouse nature of the track meant his race was over, he came home 11th.

Vettel then ran second but he was penalised too, for speeding in the pit lane. He finished fourth. Webber crashed out, thus neither Red Bull scored many points. Glock was second for Toyota and Alonso was third for the disgraced Renault team after a typically feisty race. He dedicated his podium to Briatore, which was loyal if perhaps unwise. Still, passion is what we Tifosi want. Early on Webber passed Alonso but slipped off the outside of the circuit. Glock passed Alonso during the move, so poor ol' Webber had to let them both through! It looks like his luck's back to the old days.

Crucially, Jenson Button was fifth. He did Nakajima off the start (11th), got up to seventh after the first pit stop and sixth through Vettel's penalty. When Rubens pitted early, fearing a Safety Car after Webber crashed out with fading brakes, Jenson showed some champion's form again at long last and went quickly, so that when he pitted he emerged ahead of his team mate and championship rival. Fifth, four points, extending his championship lead to 15 with three races to go. In the end, both Brawn's brakes were shot. Ross told Jenson to cruise home, but when Rubens was told, he immediately asked if he could catch Jens! Sadly, it looks like he will be replaced by Rosberg next year, as Mercedes want a German in the team, but at least he has enjoyed an Indian Summer, as did Fisi at Spa. Kovalainen was seventh for McLaren and Kubica eighth for Sauber.

Oh, Ferrari? Raikkonen 10th, Fisichella 13th.

A friend reckoned that Alonso was blanked by the other two podium finishers. Maybe they thought he was complicit in "Crashgate" and had got off scot-free.

On next to a proper track, Suzuka.

Click here for FIA lap chart.