Renault given two-year suspended ban for race-fixing scandal

Renault has been handed a two-year suspended ban from the Formula One world championship after admitting to race-fixing. The French manufacturer had said it would not contest accusations the team ordered Brazilian Nelson Piquet to crash his car into a wall at last year's Singapore Grand Prix so that Fernando Alonso might win. Former team boss Flavio Briatore was also banned from further involvement in Formula One, including driver management, the FIA said after a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council in Paris. The team's head of engineering Pat Symonds was banned for five years from FIA-run events. Double world champion Fernando Alonso was exonerated of any involvement at the hearing. A statement from the FIA read: "The World Motor Sport Council considers Renault F1's breach relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity. "Renault F1's breaches not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself."

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ITN | September 21, 2009

Tags:. .severity. .events. .symonds. .breaches. .spectators