FIA knew of scandal last year, says Piquet

The scandal involving Renault and allegations that it fixed the result of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix continues to unfold after Nelson Piquet claimed the FIA were made aware of the incident some ten months ago.

Piquet was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror that he had spoken to FIA race director Charlie Whiting over what had occurred in Singapore during the final round of the 2008 season at Interlagos, Brazil.

Taken from excerpts of an interview by private investigators Quest, the newspaper alleges that Piquet came to Whiting, with whom he had previously worked with at Brabham in the 1980s, to explain what his son and the team had planned to do.

However, Piquet admits he was concerned about 'screwing up' his son's F1 career after just a single season with the French team, while no formal action could be taken without a statement from Piquet Jr himself.

"When this thing happened in Singapore I couldn't believe it. Anyway, in Brazil I talked to Charlie. I got him and said 'Look what could happen to Nelson if I bring this up? And I was afraid to screw up the career of Nelson.

The allegations involving Renault only came to light publicly in August after Piquet Jr. was dismissed by the team mid-season. The Brazilian claims to have been asked to crash his car in order to allow team-mate Fernando Alonso to take the team's first win of the season.

Earlier this week, Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds resigned from their respective posts, while Renault will go before the World Motor Sport Council on 21st September (Monday) having already stated that it will not contest the charges. Alonso has always maintained that he had no knowledge of the conspiracy.