Formula One news

Renault launches lawsuit against Piquets

Renault Managing Director Flavio Briatore has announced on Friday that the team is to launch legal proceedings against former driver Nelson Piquet Jr. and his triple World Champion father following the former's recent claims that he was forced into developing a plan to crash deliberately in last year's Singapore Grand Prix.             

With Renault set to appear before the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) on Monday 21 September, Piquet has claimed that both Briatore and Executive Director of Engineering Pat Symonds advised him to crash on purpose in Singapore, causing the instant deployment of the Safety Car and helping team-mate Fernando Alonso to victory in the process.

Piquet slams into the wall during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix

'The FIA has announced that it is to hold an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council ('WMSC') on 21 September 2009,' a statement from the team reads. 'The ING Renault F1 Team is to attend that meeting and answer allegations that members of the team conspired with Nelson Piquet Jnr to cause a deliberate accident at the 2008 Singapore GP, so that Fernando Alonso might benefit from the resulting safety car.

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 (Manager to his son) in France concerning the making of false allegations and a related attempt to blackmail the team into allowing Mr Piquet Jnr to drive for the remainder of the 2009 season. The matter will also be referred to the Police in the UK.'

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