Background: 

Renault F1

Renault F1 Formula One team emerged in 2000 when Renault acquired the Enstone-based Benetton Formula One team. It was spear-headed by Italian businessman Flavio Briatore, who until 1997 had been the managing director of Benetton.

He managed Renault’s motorsport sister company Mecachrome before returning to the main team following the Renault takeover, once again as managing director of the team.

The three other notable names in this controversy included Fernando Alonso, Pat Symonds and Nelson Piquet Jr.

Spanish racing driver Fernando Alonso made his debut in Formula One in 2001, and drove for Renault from 2002-2006, in which he became World Champion with the team in 2005 and 2006. He completed a brief stint with McLaren in 2007, before returning to the team for the 2008 season.

English engineer Pat Symonds was the Executive Director of Engineering with Renault F1 having previously worked with the team when it was known as Benetton and its predecessor Toleman Motorsport in the early 1980s.

Brazilian racing driver Nelson Piquet Jr. – son of Formula One triple-World Champion Nelson Piquet – joined the Renault F1 team as their second driver to pair with Alonso for the 2008 season, having previously been their reserve and test driver during 2007. 

Before the now infamous 2008 Singapore Grand Prix it is important to note that Renault F1 had yet to win a race for almost two years – the last being the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix – and were rumored to be close to leaving the championship.

2008 Singapore Grand Prix

The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix commenced on the 28th of September 2008 and would firstly make history for being the first night race ever in Formula One. 

Despite Alonso being close to the top of the grid in practice, Renault had a poor performance in Qualifying, with Fernando Alonso starting the race on the Sunday in 15th place – after being eliminated during qualifying due to a mechanical failure, and Nelson Piquet Jr. starting alongside his teammate in 16th. 

During the warm-up lap, Piquet Jr. spun at the exact corner he would later crash out of the race at, but in this scenario was able to continue on.

After the race began, Alonso was the first driver to make a routine pit-stop for fuel and tyres on Lap 12, rejoining the track at the rear of the field. He had opted to put in a light fuel load at the beginning of the race in an attempt to pass the cars in front of him – normally most drivers that qualify in the lower positions tend to go for heavier fuel loads in order to make one fewer pit stop than the leaders.

Three laps later, Piquet Jr. made contact with the circuit wall at Turn 17, conveniently at one of the corners of the circuit which did not have a crane nearby, meaning it was necessary for both driver’s and marshal’s safety, that the Safety Car was deployed.

The Safety Car regulations in 2008 meant that the pit lane was closed until all the cars had been bunched up behind the Safety Car, meaning the advantage of the lead cars would be eliminated before they were able to pit and after they rejoined the track, they would have to re-enter the race at the back of the field.

Alonso, having pitted just before the deployment of the Safety Car, gained a significant advantage, as some drivers needed to pit while the pit lane was closed and were therefore penalised for the infraction.

Most of the leading cars ended up behind Alonso and also behind slower drivers who would prove difficult to pass on the narrow street circuit, with those ahead of Alonso being lighter on fuel – so whilst they were initially able to pull away, they still needed to make a pit stop. After gaining the lead in the final third of the race, Alonso went on to win the race.

Piquet Jr. leaves Renault

Despite some rumours that Piquet Jr. was set to leave the team, Renault announced they had re-signed the Brazilian driver on a one-year contract for the 2009 season, once again pairing with two-time World Champion Alonso.

By Round 10 of the 2009 Formula One Championship, Piquet Jr. had failed to score any points whereas Alonso had managed to secure 13 points. It was soon announced on the 3rd of August 2009, that Renault had dropped Piquet Jr. with the departure being acrimonious at best, and the Brazilian publicly criticised both the team and Briatore.

Piquet Jr.’s Accusations:

On the 30th of August 2009, Brazilian television station Rede Globo claimed that Piquet Jr. had been ordered to crash during the Singapore race. The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), immediately announced that it was investigating “alleged incidents at a previous F1 event”. 

On the 4th of September 2009, following an investigation by the FIA, Renault F1 were formally accused of interfering with the outcome of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, and conspiring with Nelson Piquet Jr. In a statement, the FIA claimed that the charges again Renault F1 included “a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, that the team conspired with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr., to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the Safety Car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso”.

Briatore and Symonds depart Renault

On the 16th of September 2009, the Renault F1 team released a statement announcing that they would not be contesting the charges at the meeting of the WMSC in Paris, and that both Briatore and Symonds had left the team.

“ The ING Renault F1 Team will not despite the recent allegations made by the FIA 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.” – Renault F1 statement, 16th September 2009.

WMSC Meeting:

The meeting of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) took place on the 21 September 2009 in Paris. After a ninety-minute hearing, the council imposed a disqualification on Renault F1, to be suspended for two years – meaning that if a similar incident occurred before 2011, Renault F1 would be banned from Formula One.

Briatore was banned indefinitely from any FIA-sanctioned event, whilst Symonds received a five-year ban. It was further decided that Briatore was indefinitely banned from managing drivers, due to the FIA stating that super licences would not be issued or renewed to any driver that was associated with him in the future.

Fernando Alonso was cleared of any wrongdoing, with the FIA finding no evidence that he or his mechanics knew anything about the scheme.

When announcing the sanctions, the council stated that while Renault F1’s actions were serious enough to merit being thrown out of Formula One altogether, it opted to impose a suspended sentence because of the swift nature in forcing Briatore and Symonds to resign.

Reactions:

Main sponsors leave Renault F1

In response to the ‘Crashgate’ scandal, Renault F1’s main sponsors ING and Mutua Madrilena ended their sponsorship agreement early, within a week of the FIA’s decision and before the commencement of the next scheduled race – the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix – with the team removing their logos from the cars before the event.

Mutua Madrilena was the first to withdraw its sponsorship of Renault F1, before the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix weekend, stating that the situation “could affect the image, reputation and good name of the team’s sponsors”. They did not withdraw their sponsorship of Renault F1 driver Fernando Alonso however, as he was not implicated in the scandal.

This was then followed within hours by the withdrawal of the title sponsor ING Group with immediate effect – although they were due to end their sponsorship with the team at the end of the 2009 season.

Flavio Briatore’s Response

On the 19th October 2009, Flavio Briatore announced his intentions to sue the FIA in regards to his lifetime ban, claiming that there were several miscarriages of justice, including a delay in summons, a failure to state the charges in advance and a lack of access to documents.

On 5th January 2010, the French Tribunal de Grande Instance overturned his ban and awarded him €15,000 in compensation, whilst Symonds’ ban was also overturned, and he was awarded €5,000 in compensation.

Briatore was believed to be suing the FIA for damages in addition to getting his ban overturned, whilst also stating his intention to pursue legal action against the Piquet family.

FIA Appeal

The FIA announced that they would appeal the decision of the Tribunal de Grande Instance to overturn the bans imposed on Briatore and Symonds. The FIA reinstated the bans, however stated that the drivers managed by Briatore would be granted their super licences for the 2010 season. 

The FIA further announced that a settlement with Briatore and Symonds had been reached and that the legal action had ceased, with both men agreeing not to work in Formula One until 2013, nor any other FIA-sanctioned Championship until the end of 2011.

Libel case against Renault F1

On 7th December 2010, it was announced that Piquet Jr. and his father had won a libel case against Renault F1 at the High Court based on the allegations against them. Renault F1 apologised to the Piquets and reportedly paid them substantial damages.

Aftermath

Piquet was heavily criticised by many within the racing community, with some suggesting that the controversy effectively ended his hopes of continuing in Formula One. Martin Brundle – who at the time was the BBC’s Formula One commentator – suggested that Piquet Jr. was now unemployable in Formula One, saying that no team or sponsor would want to be associate with the Piquet family. He was also critical that Piquet Jr. had escaped sanction from the FIA despite admitting to race-fixing, whilst those others involved were heavily punished.

Following the scandal, Piquet Jr. continued racing, most notability in Formula E. In 2014-2015, Piquet Jr. took part in the augural Formula E season with China Racing, eventually becoming Formula E’s inaugural champion by a single point over Sebastien Buemi. He continued to race full time in Formula E until he left midway through the 2018-19 season.

Alonso’s career is said to be untarnished despite the scandal and being the main person who benefitted from the crash. Following ‘Crashgate’ he continued to race with Ferrari from 2010-2014 and again with McLaren from 2015-2018. He left Formula One for two seasons before returning to race for Alpine from 2021 to 2022, and then for Aston Martin from 2023 onward.

From 2011 to 2013, Pat Symonds returned to F1 as a technical consultant for Virgin Racing (later known as Marussia in 2012). In 2013, he moved to Williams to serve as chief technical officer until 2016. In March 2017, Symonds was hired as Formula One’s Chief Technical Officer until his departure in May of 2024 when it was announced he would become the executive engineering consultant for Andretti Cadillac F1 program.

In 2022, Flavio Briatore returned to Formula One as an ambassador for the sport, before returning to Team Enstone in 2024 as a special advisor.