Renault F1 rejects Piquet's crash claims

The Renaul team principal Flavio Briatore talks to reporters at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza yesterday.

Renault is accusing a driver of attempted blackmail, after he said the Formula One team asked him to crash his car deliberately. Renault has been called to a hearing of the World Motorsport Council in Paris on September 21 to defend itself against allegations that it ordered Nelson Piquet Jr to drive into a wall during last year's Singapore Grand Prix.

That incident brought out the safety car and worked to the advantage of Piquet's team-mate Fernando Alonso, who went on to win the race. A statement attributed to Piquet, which names the Renault chief Flavio Briatore and the team's engineering director Pat Symonds as being party to the deliberate crash, was widely reported yesterday. Renault claims the source of the "false allegations" was Piquet, whom it sacked in July, and his father, the three-times world champion Nelson Piquet Sr.

"The 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," the team statement said. If Renault is found guilty it faces being thrown out of F1. Mr Briatore strenuously denied the allegations in a letter written to Piquet's father and submitted to the Fédération Internationale de l' Automobile (FIA) ahead of the hearing.

"I am outraged that you could think that I myself, not mentioning your son and the other people in the Renault's team, could have any part in such a strategy that may constitute a criminal offence," he said. "Secondly, I am forced to consider that your threat constitutes without doubt a blatant attempt of exerting blackmail against Renault F1 and myself to extort an illegitimate advantage by way of threats and outrageous lies on the basis of an alleged hearsay."

Details of the case will now be referred to the British police, as Renault's main base is in the UK. Max Mosley, the FIA president, said yesterday that the younger Piquet would avoid charges if he co-operated with the investigation. A similar offer was made to McLaren drivers two years ago when the British team was found guilty of espionage against the Italian manufacturer Ferrari. "He [Piquet] has been told that if he tells us the truth then he will not be proceeded against individually," said Mr Mosley.

The Formula One Teams Association last night criticised the leaking of documents relating to the case, including Piquet's statement. "All parties to the dispute should have the right to a fair hearing carried out in private and not in the public arena, which is producing adverse publicity damaging to the corporate image and credibility of Formula One," it said. Speaking in Monza ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Mr Mosley suggested the leaked document was genuine.

"I haven't seen anything which I believe to be a forgery," he said Renault's side of the story would come out at the hearing, he said, adding: "In most places, you assume someone is innocent until they are proven guilty. And that is the situation we are in at the moment." @Email:[e-mail]