The Nelson Piquet junior 'crashgate' scandal could not have come at a worse time for a Formula One team such as Renault already under pressure to justify its operation against the backdrop of the global economic crisis.
The Nelson Piquet junior 'crashgate' scandal could not have come at a worse time for a Formula One team such as Renault already under pressure to justify its operation against the backdrop of the global economic crisis.
ADVERTISEMENT
The French manufacturer's implicit acceptance of what has been described as the worst case of cheating in the history of sport cannot fail to have some bearing on its continued presence in the sport.
Question marks over Renault's F1 involvement had already been raised before Piquet's whistleblowing call to the FIA which triggered this latest and most damaging of scandals to hit the sport.
Former team boss Flavio Briatore angrily brushed off suggestions that Renault's future could be in doubt back in January, just one month after Honda announced they were quitting.
"Everyone always talks about Renault, whereas the others have more problems than us," said the Italian, who resigned on Wednesday along with Renault's director of engineering Pat Symonds.
"No one ever asked Honda if they were going to stay. And look what happened, they left," added Briatore.
"It's been five years now that we've been talking about reducing costs. Renault has never been one to waste money. Spectacular presentations, fireworks, that's not for us. I've never had a budget problem at Renault."
The amount of money it costs to run a modern day Formula One team - Renault's annual budget is put at up to 300 million euros - has never been more pertinent in these cash-strapped times.
That's a hard figure to justify for a car giant that recorded an 80 percent loss in profits in 2008 on the previous year's sales and which has already suffered a 2.7 billion euro hit in the first quarter of 2009.
Renault's success in F1 is pivotal to its image and consequently its performance in a market place shrunk by the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
F1, with its 600 million spectators, remains the principal vehicle for Renault to advertise its marque - Fernando Alonso's world drivers' tiles in 2005 and 2006 giving it a huge boost around the world.
But for the past two years the team based in France at Viry-Chatillon on the outskirts of Paris and near Oxford in England has treaded water.
And with a difficult start to the 2008 season a win for Alonso in Singapore could well have been just what was needed to convince Renault to continue, according to paddock rumours.
Alonso's (legitimate) follow-up success in Japan would have only helped the argument to stick with F1.
The 2009 campaign has not been kind to Renault - after 13 races Alonso is trailing in tenth place in the drivers' standings while the team are eighth of ten in the constructors' title race - 126 points from leaders Brawn GP.
What's more Alonso is set to jump ship and move to Ferrari in 2010 when the Italian team will be backed by Santander, Alonso's long-term partner.
So the stakes could not be higher for Renault as they await the FIA's verdict on crashgate - a huge fine like the 100 million euros meted out to McLaren Mercedes in 2007 or lengthy suspension could well spell the end for the proud French outfit.
Their one hope going into Monday's hearing at FIA headquarters in Paris is the decision by Briatore and Symonds to quit on Wednesday - resignations which they hope will lead to clemency by the FIA stewards.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
