F1 boggle

According to the BBC, it appears that Flavio Briatore of Renault did tell Piquet Jr to crash. At least, Renault have accepted the blame, and Briatore has resigned.

It'll be interesting to find out whether Alonso knew anything at all about this - I would hope not, but who knows. And also what the authorities will throw at Piquet for his actions: this is like a boxer taking a dive, but with the added bonus that it puts everyone else on the track at potential risk.

ETA: Adding links borrowed from oldbloke:
AutoSport: Partial transcript of FIA interview with Pat Symonds (Executive director of engineering)
AutoSport: Briatore and Symonds leave Renault

So they're losing their CEO and CTO. If Renault do get banned for next season (which would be a relatively light penalty), then that releases the '14th' team place for the reborn Sauber.

F1 boggle

According to the BBC, it appears that Flavio Briatore of Renault did tell Piquet Jr to crash. At least, Renault have accepted the blame, and Briatore has resigned.

It'll be interesting to find out whether Alonso knew anything at all about this - I would hope not, but who knows. And also what the authorities will throw at Piquet for his actions: this is like a boxer taking a dive, but with the added bonus that it puts everyone else on the track at potential risk.

ETA: Adding links borrowed from oldbloke:
AutoSport: Partial transcript of FIA interview with Pat Symonds (Executive director of engineering)
AutoSport: Briatore and Symonds leave Renault

So they're losing their CEO and CTO. If Renault do get banned for next season (which would be a relatively light penalty), then that releases the '14th' team place for the reborn Sauber.