Renault survive Singapore scandal

The fact Renault have avoided financial penalty came as a major surprise. With the car industry currently crippled by the recession, Renault can perhaps breath easy, and in return it will not force them into considering whether to walk away from a sport that currently costs around 250 million euros a year (£225million) in which to compete.

Pointedly asked whether Renault had said they will stay in F1, Mosley issued a firm "Yes".

Renault's penalty of permanent disqualification from F1, suspended for two years, may be seen by critics as lenient, considering the World Motor Sport Council in Paris noted their breach of the rules was of "unparalleled severity".

The 26-man Council stated that Nelson Piquet Junior being ordered to crash his car "compromised the integrity of the sport, but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Piquet himself".

Despite that, the WMSC took into account mitigating circumstances, opting to suspend the ban until the end of the 2011 season, and it will only be enforced should they be "found guilty of a comparable breach during that time".

Renault's former team principal Flavio Briatore was handed the most stringent penalty, being handed a lifetime ban from FIA-sanctioned events.

The WMSC turned their attention to the individuals involved, handing Briatore his lifetime ban as well as refusing to grant a license to any team who employs him, and Pat Symonds, who stepped down last week as executive director of engineering, received a five-year suspension.

Briatore's management career also appears effectively at an end as no driver will be granted a Superlicence - the document that allows them to compete - should they continue to associate themselves with the Italian.

Briatore currently has Alonso, Mark Webber, Heikki Kovalainen and Romain Grosjean, as well as Piquet Jnr, under his wing, while he jointly runs the GP2 Series.