Renault face Singapore race fixing charges

By Alan Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - Renault will face charges of fixing last year's Singapore Grand Prix by staging a crash that helped Spaniard Fernando Alonso win, Formula One's governing body said on Friday.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that Renault representatives had been summoned to an extraordinary meeting of its World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Sept. 21, the Monday before this year's Singapore race.

The charges were 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".

If found guilty the team could be kicked out of the championship they won in 2005 and 2006.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has already warned the allegations could prompt Renault to walk away from the sport.

Renault, whose team boss Flavio Briatore co-owns English soccer club Queen's Park Rangers with Ecclestone, have made no comment on the allegations.

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