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Piquet Reveals Renault's Plan, Briatore Thanked Him for Crash

Seconds before Nelson Piquet deliberately crashed his car into the wall during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Renault's director of engineering Pat Symonds advised him to “be careful” via the radio. This is only one of Piquet's unveilings in his letter to the FIA in late July, a copy of which was published on F1sa.com earlier today.

In addition, following his crash on Lap 13 of the aforementioned race, team boss Flavio Briatore personally thanked his driver for the incident. Later on, Alonso went on to clinch the lead in the race and eventually win it ahead of Williams' Nico Rosberg.

In the letter to the ruling body, Piquet admitted he was having a “fragile and emotional state of mind” at the time due to the uncertainty of his future commitments in the sport. He also knew that, if he were to follow the instructions of Briatore and Symonds, he would be awarded an extension to his one-year deal for 2010.

However, Piquet admitted that not everyone was aware of what went on during the Singapore racing weekend, as even his own race engineer was kept in the dark about Renault's plan. As Piquet's crash was caused by an acceleration in a zone where all drivers were actually supposed to brake, his race engineer repeatedly asked him what happened.

Also, Piquet admitted several journalists wondered, at the time, how his “unusual accident” occurred in the particular part of the track.

In addition, Piquet told FIA's chief steward Alan Donnelly and investigators from the firm Quest – the ones dealing with the information gathering for the aforementioned incident – that neither Briatore, nor Symonds wondered about his safety in the process. In fact, Piquet needed consultation by a doctor following his crash, as he received “a blow on the head” at impact.
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