MONZA, Italy, (Reuters) – Brazilian Nelson Piquet said he was telling the truth and would not be bullied after his former Renault Formula One team accused him and his father of attempted blackmail in a race-fixing controversy.
Piquet issued a defiant statement after the French manufacturer and team principal Flavio Briatore announced criminal proceedings in France against the pair.
The team have been charged by the sport’s governing body of fixing last year’s Singapore Grand Prix by ordering Piquet to stage a deliberate crash that helped team mate Fernando Alonso win the race.
If found guilty, Renault could be kicked out of the championship.
“I confirm that I have co-operated fully and honestly with the sport’s governing body,” the 24-year-old driver, whose father and namesake was a triple Formula One champion, said in his defence.
“Because I am telling the truth I have nothing to fear, whether from the ING Renault Team or Mr Briatore, and whilst I am well aware of the power and influence of those being investigated, and the vast resources at their disposal, I will not be bullied again into making a decision I regret.”
Renault said the father and son had made “false allegations and a related attempt to blackmail the team into allowing Mr Piquet Jnr to drive for the remainder of the 2009 season”.
The team, whose main factory is in England, said the matter would also be referred to police in Britain.
Piquet junior was dropped by Renault in August after he had failed to score a point in 10 races.
International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley said Piquet had been offered immunity from prosecution by the governing body if he told the truth.
The offer is similar to one made to McLaren drivers in 2007 when that team was being investigated over Ferrari documents found in their possession. McLaren were fined a record $100 million in that affair.
Mosley, who cautioned that the team were innocent until proven guilty, said the case was potentially more serious and deemed race fixing to be “one degree worse than cheating”.
“If you’re a cyclist and you take dope, that’s cheating. If you bribe the other cyclists, or you get somebody to have a crash in the peloton so the yellow jersey guy crashes, that’s more serious,” he said.
“Then if it puts human life at risk, whether it’s the spectators, the marshals or the drivers, then it’s more serious again.”
Alonso told reporters at the Italian Grand Prix on Thursday that he had been unaware of any plan cooked up by his team in Singapore and Mosley agreed there was no indication of his involvement.
“I am very surprised. I cannot imagine these things or this situation,” said Alonso. The accident, at a point on the track where cars cannot be swiftly removed, came just after Alonso had refuelled after a very short first stint. The safety car was then deployed, to the Spaniard’s advantage.
Briatore told reporters at the Italian Grand Prix that he was “very confident that the truth will come out” in the criminal courts and described Piquet junior as a “very fragile” and “spoilt” individual.The Italian said Piquet’s pay had been cut from $1.5 million to $1.0 million after the 2008 season with a clause in his contract saying he would be out by July if he failed to meet performance targets.
