Renault admit race-fixing as Flavio Briatore resigns

Renault says managing director Flavio Briatore and engineering chief executive Pat Symonds are leaving the Formula One team, and that it will not dispute charges that Nelson Piquet Jr. was ordered to crash in a race.

Renault poised to pull out of F1

• Renault will not dispute race-fixing allegations at hearing• Bernie Ecclestone 'sorry and surprised' by friend's exit Renault could be poised to withdraw from Formula One at the end of this season after effectively admitting its guilt in a race-fixing scam and confirming the departure of the two senior figures at the centre of the allegations, including the managing director, Flavio Briatore.The team said it would not contest accusations that its management encouraged Nelson Piquet Jr to crash deliberately in last year's Singapore grand prix. Having last Friday launched legal action against its former driver, the U-turn came as a surprise even in a Formula One season that is losing its power to shock. Piquet Jr was alleged to have been ordered to crash on a specific lap in order to help his team leader, Fernando Alonso, win, thanks to the appearance of the safety car.Senior executives at Renault Group had said they would not rush to any hasty conclusions about the team's future, but its presence in next year's championship has already been called into question by the departure of its main sponsor, ING, and the likely departure of its main driver, Alonso, for Ferrari.Briatore, the Renault team's managing director and a colourful figure in the sport for more than two decades, and Pat Symonds, the executive director of engineering, left their posts with immediate effect ahead of next Monday's meeting of the FIA's world motor sport council."The Renault team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore grand prix," it said in a statement.  "It also wishes to state that its managing director Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering Pat Symonds have left the team."Monday's extraordinary meeting will proceed in Paris as planned to decide what penalty should be imposed on the French car maker for its part in the latest of a seemingly endless string of scandals which have embroiled the sport for the past decade or more.Leaked documents detailing interviews with Symonds and Briatore and transcripts of the team's radio communications at the Singapore race appeared to indicate that, at the very least, there is a strong case for Renault to answer.The FIA offered Piquet Jr immunity in return for outlining his allegations. Symonds is also believed to have been offered immunity, but it now appears unlikely he will take up the offer.The Formula One rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone, said he could not comment on the likely decision of the council, on which he sits alongside the FIA president, Max Mosley, and 24 others, but said he "felt sorry" for his close friend Briatore."Obviously, I'm surprised at what has happened, and I'm taken by surprise that they've decided to walk away," he said.Whether Briatore jumped or was pushed is neither here nor there in the ultimate analysis; Renault concluded that both had to go if the team was to have a hope of drawing the sting from any penalty the FIA might have in mind – which could include their exclusion from the title race a few days before the first anniversary of the controversial event.This has been a fast-moving saga, fuelled by the embittered Piquet who was dropped from the team last month, through to the symbolic sacrifice of Renault's leading player, Briatore.The sequence of events mirrors the way in which the McLaren chairman, Ron Dennis, and his lieutenant, Dave Ryan, were sidelined following the so-called "Liargate" controversy involving Lewis Hamilton at this year's race in Melbourne. Both Ryan and Symonds were caught in the crossfire and were not the main targets of the FIA's ire.Formula One insiders are split on Renault's likely intentions. Some argue that the decision to part company with Briatore and Symonds suggests the team was preparing a case that would appeal for clemency by the FIA and enable it to honour an earlier commitment to remain competing in the championship until at least 2012.Others are convinced that the scandal will merely have hardened Renault's intention to pull out, but that Briatore and Symonds had to go in order to limit the damage to the team's reputation.Formula OneRenaultFlavio BriatoreMotor sportOwen GibsonAlan Henryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Renault ask police to charge Piquet

Attitudes hardened further yesterday in the acrimonious fall out surrounding allegations that Renault's Formula One team fixed the result of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Renault launch criminal proceedings against Piquets

Renault have launched criminal proceedings against Nelson Piquet junior and Nelson Piquet senior for making false allegations and blackmail in relation to claims that the team conspired to fix the outcome of the 2008 Singapore GP.

Renault react to race-fixing claims

• F1 team accuse former driver of blackmail• 'Matter will also be referred to police in the UK'Renault have announced they have begun legal proceedings against Nelson Piquet Jr and his father, Nelson Piquet, over "the making of false allegations and a related attempt to blackmail the team into allowing Piquet Jr to drive for the remainder of the 2009 season".The action followed claims from Nelson Piquet Jr that he was ordered by Renault to crash at last year's Singapore grand prix in order to improve his team-mate Fernando Alonso's chances of victory.The FIA is investigating the claims and Renault will go before the World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September, when it could be thrown out of the sport if found guilty."The ING Renault F1 team is to attend that meeting and answer allegations that members of the team conspired with Nelson Piquet Jr to cause a deliberate accident at the 2008 Singapore GP, so that Fernando Alonso might benefit from the resulting safety car," read a Renault statement. "The ING Renault F1 team had not commented publicly during the FIA's initial investigation into this matter. However, today the ING Renault F1 team and its managing director, Flavio Briatore, personally, wish to state that they have commenced criminal proceedings against Nelson Piquet Junior and Nelson Piquet Senior in France concerning the making of false allegations and a related attempt to blackmail the team into allowing Mr Piquet Jr to drive for the remainder of the 2009 season. The matter will also be referred to the police in the UK."Piquet Jr's contract for 2009 had still not been renewed by the time of the Singapore GP and Briatore fired the Brazilian driver last month after one and a half seasons with the French team.The crash at Formula One's inaugural night race brought out the safety car shortly after Alonso had pitted. The twice world champion was then able to position himself for victory.Alonso denies having any knowledge of the alleged plans.RenaultFormula OneMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

FIA probes Renault beyond 'crash-gate' claims

The FIA's investigation into Renault runs even deeper than the sensational claims that Nelson Piquet was told to crash on purpose during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix...