Renault Begin Criminal Proceedings Against the Piquets - Official!

What was only rumored a few hours ago about a potential legal case issued by Renault against Nelson Piquet Sr. and his son is now official. The Enstone-based team released a statement prior to the Italian Grand Prix this weekend in which they confirm they have begun criminal proceedings against the Brazilian “duo.”

“The FIA has announced that it is to hold an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council ('WMSC') on 21 September 2009. The ING Renault F1 Team is to attend that meeting and answer allegations that members of the team conspired with Nelson Piquet Jnr to cause a deliberate accident at the 2008 Singapore GP, so that Fernando Alonso might benefit from the resulting safety car,” said begun the statement.

“The ING Renault F1 Team had not commented publicly during the FIA's initial investigation into this matter.”

“However, today the ING Renault F1 Team and its Managing Director Flavio Briatore personally, wish to state that they have commenced criminal proceedings against Nelson Piquet Junior and Nelson Piquet Senior in France concerning the making of 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 matter will also be referred to the Police in the UK,” added the Renault release.

Earlier today, it has emerged that Renault's boss Flavio Briatore previously warned Piquet Sr – via a personal letter – that he will press criminal charges against him if he'll release the race-fixing accusations to the media. The letter was issued on July 28th and, 2 days later, Piquet told Max Mosley about the whole affair.