Formula One governing body the FIA has confirmed that it is reviewing claims that the Renault team instructed driver Nelson Piquet to crash deliberately in one of last year’s Grands Prix. The team won the Singapore race with Fernando Alonso following a subsequent safety car period for Piquet which allowed the Spaniard to take the lead.

With Piquet having now been replaced at Renault by Romain Grosjean, Brazilian television channel Globo has reported that the French team gave orders to its second driver to crash in what is highly suspected to be the night race, forcing a deployment of the safety car.

With Alonso, who had made an earlier pit-stop, taking the lead when the leaders came in, the Spaniard went on to win his first Grand Prix of the season. It is now believed that an FIA spokesperson has claimed that ‘alleged incidents at a previous FIA Formula One World Championship event’ are now being looked at.