Renault blamed departed team bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds for the Formula One race-fixing controversy yesterday and said their behaviour should not reflect on the carmaker or the sport.

"I don't know all the details but there was a fault and a fault requires a sanction," Renault chief operating officer Patrick Pelata told French radio station RTL a day after the two men left the team.

"Flavio Briatore considered he was morally responsible and resigned.

"We will know more about the details after what will happen on Monday with the FIA. For the moment we have assumptions but it is clear that basically there was a fault," added the executive.

"We don't like this, nor do we want a fault by two people to reflect upon the whole company and the entire Formula One team."

Renault will appear before the FIA in Paris on Monday charged with ordering Brazilian Nelson Piquet to crash deliberately in Singapore last year to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win the race.

Possible sanctions include being kicked out of the championship.

The Singapore race came at a time when the team was desperate for success, without a win all season and Renault mulling their future in the sport.

Alonso was also talking to Ferrari about a possible switch.