Formula 1: Renault Gets Suspended Two-Year Ban in Race-Fixing Scandal

PARIS — Renault drew a suspended two-year ban on participating in Formula 1 as punishment for conspiring to fix the outcome of last year's Singapore Grand Prix, won by Renault's Fernando Alonso.

Former team boss Flavio Briatore bore the brunt of the World Motor Sport Council's wrath. Competitors in F1 are banned indefinitely from having business associations with the flamboyant Italian, who became wealthy as U.S. marketer for the Benetton clothing line.

"The World Motor Sport Council finds that Renault F1 team members Flavio Briatore, Pat Symonds and Nelson Piquet, Jr., conspired to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix," the sanctioning body, the Fédération Internationale de L'Automobile (FIA), said in a statement after a 90-minute hearing.

The statement noted that "offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification" but was lenient because of the team's admission of guilt and dismissal of the two top-level managers.

Team principal Briatore and engineering chief Symonds are no longer with the team as of last week. Symonds was banned from participation in any FIA-sanctioned event for five years.

Piquet blew the whistle on the scandal after he was released as the No. 2 driver in August. The council's findings confirmed that Piquet was granted immunity for his revelation of the conspiracy.

The ban will be activated only if the team should be found guilty of "a comparable breach" during the next two seasons. Renault was not fined but will pay for the costs of the investigation and has also pledged to make "a significant contribution to the FIA's safety work," the statement read.

Alonso was not named as a co-conspirator, and the FIA made no modifications to the result of last year's event. However, Alonso is one of three drivers for whom Briatore serves as manager.

Inside Line says: The outcome was in line with expectations, given Renault's contrition and self-punishment. — David Green, Correspondent