Renault Handed Two-year Suspended Ban From Fia

After being accused of fixing last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, Renault has been banned from F1 for two years by the FIA, with former team boss Flavio Briatore suspended from the sport for an unlimited time.

The team had been charged, but not fined, for fixing the race, having asked driver Nelson Piquet Jr to crash so that teammate Fernando Alonso win.

Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds left Renault last week, just as the French car company said it would not contest the FIA charges. Symonds was sentenced to a five-year ban, while the former team principal has been banned indefinitely.

Shortly after Briatore parted ways with the team, Piquet launched a scathing attack on the former boss, accusing him of driving him to the ‘lowest point of his life’ and claiming that he had no choice but to agree to the crash.

Piquet, who originally brought the scandal to light, was let go by Renault after last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

The FIA has agreed not to pursue further action against Piquet in exchange for his cooperation in discovering the details of the case.

The World Motor Sport Council ruled that Renault was guilty of breaking its sporting code, finding ‘breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity.’

On the ruling, FIA president Max Mosley said: ‘The blame has been placed where it should be placed and it’s the right decision. The penalty that we’ve imposed is the harshest one we can but because Renault have demonstrated that they have no moral responsibility for what took place, it would be wrong in the circumstances to impose an immediate penalty.’

Renault, which will now have to pay the cost of the FIA investigation, humbly accepted its sentence. A team statement read: ‘We are very sad to find ourselves in front of the World Motor Sport Council. We apologise unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour.’

With two major car manufactures – Honda and BMW – having pulled out of F1 in the last nine months, there have long been rumours that Renault could be next, especially after its main sponsor, IMG, recently announced its withdrawal of support at the end of the season.