page_title: Renault Formula One crash controversy
section_title: Renault F1
hierarchical_section_title: Renault Formula One crash controversy / Background / Renault F1
caption_attribution_description: Imagem de piloto Nelson Angelo Piquet
context_page_description: The Renault Formula One crash controversy, dubbed Crashgate by some in the media, was a sporting scandal caused when Renault F1 driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, deliberately crashed during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, to give a sporting advantage to his Renault teammate Fernando Alonso.
  On 28 September 2008, on the 14th lap of the Singapore race, the Renault R28 driven by Piquet crashed into the circuit wall at turn 17, necessitating a safety car deployment. The other Renault driver, Fernando Alonso, had previously made an early pitstop, and was promoted to the race lead as other cars pitted under safety car conditions. Alonso subsequently won the race after starting 15th on the grid. Piquet described his crash at the time as a simple mistake.
  After being dropped by the Renault team following the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, Piquet alleged that he had been asked by the team to deliberately crash to improve the race situation for Alonso, sparking an investigation of Renault F1 for race fixing by Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the Formula One governing body.
context_section_description: The Renault F1 Formula One team came into existence with the car manufacturer Renault's re-entrance into Formula One in 2000, by purchasing the Benetton Formula One team. Italian businessman Flavio Briatore had been managing director of Benetton until 1997, when he was replaced by Prodrive boss David Richards. After managing Renault's motorsport sister company Mecachrome, he returned to the main team following the Renault takeover, again as managing director. In addition to his Formula One sporting interests, as of August 2007, Briatore was Chairman and part owner of the English football club Queens Park Rangers F.C. (QPR), which he purchased jointly with Formula One president Bernie Ecclestone, being joined later by funds from Indian industrialist Lakshmi Mittal.
  Spanish racing driver Fernando Alonso had been involved in Formula One since 2001, and drove for the team from 2002 to 2006. After becoming World Champion in 2005 and 2006 and a one-year stint with McLaren, he returned to the team in 2008. English engineer Pat Symonds had risen to his position as Executive Director of Engineering with Renault F1 having worked for the Benetton team, and having entered Formula One with Benetton's predecessor Toleman Motosport in the early 1980s. Brazilian racing car driver Nelson Piquet Jr. – son of the Formula One triple-world champion Nelson Piquet – joined the Renault F1 team as the second car driver alongside Alonso for the 2008 season, having been their reserve and test driver during 2007. Since October 2006, Piquet Jr. was also personally contracted to Flavio Briatore's management company FFBB. Before the Singapore incident, Renault F1 had not won a race for almost two years (the last Grand Prix won was on 8 October 2006, the Japanese Grand Prix), and were said to be close to quitting the sport.
caption: Nelson Piquet Jr., December 2007
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