Flavio Briatore could be forced out of Queens Park Rangers following his indefinite ban by motor sport's governing body, the FIA.

The World Motor Sport Council today suspended him from taking part in any FIA-sanctioned events for an unlimited period for his role in Crashgate, when he plotted with former driver Nelson Piquet Jr to deliberately drive into a wall at last year's Singapore Grand Prix in a bid to help Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso win.

The repercussions could spell the end of the flamboyant Italian's tenure at QPR. The Football League board will meet next month to discuss his role as chairman of the club's parent company, QPR Holdings, and it remains to be seen whether the 59-year-old will pass their Fit and Proper Person test.

Under current rules, nobody can be a director or hold a majority interest in a club if they are “subject to a ban from a sports governing body relating to the administration of their sport”.

Briatore's stake in the Championship outfit could yet be bought by co-owner Lakshmi Mittal, the steel billionaire, who is reportedly said to be keen to end his association with Briatore at QPR.

The financial cost of the ruling could be worth as much as £6 million a year for Briatore, who has been at the helm of Renault for nine years — including their former guise as Benetton. It is thought he was earning £2m a year as team principal and £4m annually from his management of some of Formula 1's leading drivers, among them Alonso, Mark Webber, Heikki Kovalainen and, ironically, Piquet.

Under the specifics of his ban, no drivers connected with Briatore will have the superlicence required to race in F1 renewed unless they end their association with him, and likewise no teams on the grid with any links to Briatore will be allowed to compete in FIA-sanctioned races.

Today's hearing, headed by FIA president Max Mosley and the World Motor Sport Council, took just an hour to deliberate at the FIA's Paris headquarters as Renault opted not to contest the charges of having deliberately fixed last year's race in Singapore.

Briatore was not present to give evidence having already resigned from his post as principal, nor was Pat Symonds, who also stepped down from his role at the team last week and received a five-year ban by the FIA from any motor sport involvement.

Mosley called the ruling “the right decision” but admitted he was saddened to see Briatore's impressive F1 career, which has spanned two decades, end so abruptly.

“I think the blame has been placed where the blame should be placed, and I think that was the right decision,” said Mosely. “But it's sad because he's been in motorsport for 20 years, more actually. It's sad to see a career end like that but what else could we do?”

Alonso, who insisted he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing in Singapore, was called before the WMSC to give evidence but was cleared of any wrongdoing himself.

The FIA thanked the two-time world champion for “co-operating with enquiries and concluded that Mr Alonso was not in any way involved in Renault F1's breach of the regulations”.

There had been speculation that Renault could face a fine running into tens of millions of pounds and even be excluded from the world championship altogether but the team instead escaped with a two-year suspended sentence.

A statement by the FIA read: “The council considers Renault F1's breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity. They not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr himself.

“The WMSC considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship. However, in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1's disqualification until the end of the 2011 season. Renault had confirmed that Mr Briatore and Mr Symonds were involved in the conspiracy and ensured that they left the team. It apologised unreservedly to the FIA and to the sport for the harm caused by its actions.”
Renault were ordered to pay the costs of the FIA investigation and also to contribute to the FIA's road-safety scheme for their part in the scandal.

Despite being seen by many to have got off relatively lightly, rumours remain that the manufacturer could yet walk away from F1 following the withdrawal of their major sponsor, Dutch bank ING, and with the company having seen a dramatic fall in car sales.

However, Mosley pointed to the fact that Renault had recently signed the Concorde Agreement, tying them to F1 until the 2012 and, when asked if he expected Renault to stay in F1, he said “yes”.

Mosley's stance over Renault's future has been reinforced by reports that they have agreed an outline contract with BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica for next season. With Alonso now certain to join Ferrari in 2010, the management have been on the lookout for a frontline replacement to join Romain Grosjean in 2010.

Kubica, who is also thought to have been in talks with Williams, admitted at the weekend that Renault was “one of my options for next season” and, with a major ban or points deduction having been avoided, it still looks a potentially inviting drive.

Renault were in apologetic mood from the outset of the hearing and afterwards president Bernard Rey, who was also called before the FIA in the French capital, said he regretted his team's action in the scandal.

He said: “We are very sad to find ourselves in front of the World Motor Sport Council today. By way of background, as a result of our own enquiries, we informed the FIA last week that we would not defend the charges and we accepted our responsibilities in relation to the incident in Singapore and we immediately took appropriate action inside the team.

“Today we fully accept the decision of the council. We apologise unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour. We sincerely hope that we can soon put this matter behind us and focus constructively on the future.”

Piquet, who also gave evidence at the hearing, had already been given immunity by the FIA after admitting to his part in the race fixing.
Meanwhile, it was announced today that South Korea will stage a race in a 19-team Championship from 2010.