The Renault Formula One team was on Monday handed a suspended ban from the sport by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) for ordering Nelson Piquet Jnr to crash in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
The FIA have told the French team that the threat of a permanent ban from the sport will hang over them until the end of the 2011 season and will only be activated during that time if they are found guilty of a similar charge.
The verdict was handed down by the FIA after a one-and-a half-hour hearing at their Paris headquarters on Monday.
Renault were in the dock for conspiring with Piquet Jnr to cause a deliberate crash to help the Brazilian’s teammate, Fernando Alonso, win the race.
The team, which won two drivers’ titles in the 1990s, was facing permanent exclusion from the sport over ”crashgate”, as the affair became known, but escaped that ultimate sanction after owning up to the conspiracy and with the departure from the team of Piquet, team boss Flavio Briatore and chief engineer Pat Symonds.
Briatore himself was handed an ”unlimited” ban from the sport while Symonds was suspended for five years.
Explaining its decision not to kick Renault out of the sport for life, the FIA said in a statement: ”The council considers Renault F1’s breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity.
”They not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jnr himself.
”The WMSC [World Motor Sport Council] considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One world championship.
”However, in light of the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1’s disqualification until the end of the 2011 season.”
The affair dates back almost a year to the Singapore Grand Prix of September 28 when Piquet and Alonso were the two Renault drivers.
Alonso began the race in 15th position, but after making a very early pit stop to refuel, Piquet crashed into a wall, prompting the deployment of the safety car.
As Alonso’s rivals then gradually disappeared into the pits to refuel, the Spaniard catapulted himself up into the virtual lead to go on and win his first race in a year.
Piquet subsequently fell out with Briatore and was dismissed from the team.
It was after this that he and his father, three-time world champion Nelson Piquet Snr, claimed that Renault’s Briatore and Symonds had conspired to fix the outcome of the race.
In response to the allegations Renault accused Piquet of blackmail and announced they were launching criminal proceedings against him and his father.
Briatore denied all the accusations against him — notably conspiring with team management and Piquet to cause a deliberate accident — saying they were ”outrageous lies”.
But last week Renault sensationally announced they would not be contesting the charges against them, and announced the departures of Briatore and Symonds.
Alonso was exonerated of any involvement at the hearing.
”Mr Alonso was not in any way involved in Renault F1’s breach of the regulations,” the FIA said. Piquet Jnr had been granted immunity by the FIA before the hearing. — AFP, Reuters