Renault handed one-race suspension

Spaniard Fernando Alonso's Renault were suspended for his home Valencia GP yesterday for allowing him to race in Hungary with a dangerously loose wheel.

Former champions Renault immediately announced their intention to appeal against the stewards' decision, lodging a deposit of €6,000 with the FIA yesterday.

The Spaniard, who had started on pole position at the Hungaroring, had pitted at the end of lap 12. A few corners later the wheel cover and then the right front wheel came off the Renault, bouncing away to the side of the track.

The Spaniard returned to the pits on three wheels and retired a few laps later with a fuel pump problem.

The incident came a week after 18-year-old Briton Henry Surtees, son of 1964 world champion John, died in a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch after being struck by a loose wheel bouncing across the track.

It also followed an incident in qualifying at the Hungaroring on Saturday which left Ferrari's Brazilian driver Felipe Massa in intensive care with serious head injuries after he was hit on the helmet by debris shed from compatriot Rubens Barrichello's Brawn.