Flavio Briatore, the team principal of Renault’s Formula One team, has quit amid allegations that the team ordered one of its drivers to crash last season to allow its other driver to win.
Luca Bruno/Associated Press
Pat Symonds, Renault’s director of engineering, also quit, according to a statement issued by the French team on its official Web site:
The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the F.I.A. concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. It also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team. Before attending the hearing before the F.I.A. World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009, the team will not make any further comment.
The drama began to unfold two weeks ago. Around the time of the Belgium Grand Prix, a news item from Globo Television in Brazil claimed that Renault had ordered its driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash on purpose to help his teammate, Fernando Alonso, win the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. GrandPrix.com followed up that report with a confirmation from the Federation International de l’Automobile, which said it was investigating “alleged incidents at a previous F.I.A. Formula 1 World Championship event.”
The race in question was remarkable because it was the first of only two races that Alonso won last year. Alonso is a two-time champion, but last year the Renault cars were not competitive. At Singapore, he started in 15th position on the grid and reports the following day hailed the drive as one of his best ever, while noting the role Piquet’s crash played in the win.
“Piquet ran into a wall and destroyed his car, forcing the safety car to go on the track while the debris was cleaned up,” wrote Brad Spurgeon of The New York Times. “The race was therefore suspended behind the safety car, and most of the cars prepared to enter the pits to take advantage of the situation. But Alonso had already made his pit stop, and would therefore move up.”
GrandPrix.com wrote, “There was more than a little irony in the result of the Singapore Grand Prix. Nelson Piquet has seemed out of his depth this year and in Singapore he crashed heavily on lap 13. But in doing so he handed victory to his team-mate Fernando Alonso, who had gambled on a very short 12-lap first stint.”
During its investigation, the F.I.A. interviewed Piquet, who was fired by Renault at the end of July. That interview was leaked to the press last week, and statements made by Piquet pointed an accusatory finger at Briatore and Symonds.
From The Times of London:
“The proposal to deliberately cause an accident was made to me shortly before the race took place, when I was summoned by Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds in Mr. Briatore’s office,” Piquet told the F.I.A. “Mr. Symonds, in the presence of Mr. Briatore, asked me if I would be willing to sacrifice my race for the team by ‘causing a safety car.’ Every F1 race driver knows that the safety car is deployed on a track when there is an accident which leads to the track being blocked either by debris or a stationary car, and where it is difficult to recover a damaged car, as was the case here.” Piquet explained he was in a “very fragile and emotional state of mind” at the time the proposal was put to him because he had been given no formal assurances that his drive at Renault was safe for 2009. “When I was asked to crash my car I accepted because I hoped it could improve my position within the team at this critical time in the race season,” he said. “At no point was I told by anyone that by agreeing to cause an incident, I would be guaranteed a renewal of my contract or any other advantage. However, in the context, I thought that it would be helpful in achieving this goal. I therefore agreed to cause the incident.”
Briatore denied the accusations. According to The Associated Press, Briatore started criminal proceedings against Piquet after the statement was leaked. “Things came out that should have not been said. We can’t defend ourselves and our position after such a leak,” he said last Sunday. “It’s not right to call a team guilty before it is judged.”
Renault is scheduled to appear before the F.I.A.’s International Motor Sport Council in Paris next Monday to answer Piquet’s claims, reports Agence France-Presse. If the team is found guilty of fixing the race, it could be expelled from Formula One.
Renault F1 team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds have both split ways with the team. The move comes as Renault announce they will not fight a charge of race-fixing.
Marina Bay Street Circuit while Alonso moves towards victory. 
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) accused Renault of ordering Nelson Piquet, Jr. to crash during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. The wreck brought out the safety car and most other competitors made refueling stops while it was out. However, Renault's Fernando Alonso had pitted unusually early and was able to move up to take one of just two victories that year.
The safety car during its critical appearance at the race. 
The FIA interviewed Piquet after an investigation was triggered by claims published by Globo TV. Piquet's interview was leaked, and he placed the blame squarely on Briatore and Symonds.

"The proposal to deliberately cause an accident was made to me shortly before the race took place, when I was summoned by Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds in Mr. Briatore’s office... When I was asked to crash my car I accepted because I hoped it could improve my position within the team at this critical time in the race season," Piquet said in the interview.

Piquet further stated that he received no assurances he would still be racing for Renault in 2009. Although he continued to race for Renault in 2009, he was sacked midway through the current season.

Renault will discover their punishment at a hearing before the World Motor Sport Council in Paris, France. They face the possibility of being banned from Formula One. Piquet has received immunity from the FIA for his testimony. Data showed Piquet accelerating into the wall instead of braking as he approached it.

Briatore has a long history with Renault. He started off with Benetton Formula in 1988 and was team principal for Michael Schumacher's 1994 and 1995 world title wins. He left in 1997 but Renault made him head again after he helped the French firm buy the team in 2000. He was there for Alonso's world championship wins in 2005 and 2006.