LONDON (AP) — Renault has agreed to pay what it calls “substantial” damages to former driver Nelson Piquet Jr. and his father over allegations they lied when they accused the Formula One team of orchestrating a crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Renault said it “would like to apologize unreservedly” following a libel case at Britain’s High Court.
After it dropped Piquet last year, Renault claimed the pair made up the story of a deliberate crash to blackmail the British-based team into keeping the driver.
The allegations surrounding the crash that allowed Fernando Alonso to win the race turned out to be true, with Renault managing director Flavio Briatore and executive director of engineering Pat Symonds banned from F1.
