The French Team Hope the Departures of Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds and Nelson Piquet Jr's Immunity Will Save Them

Renault's future in Formula One will hang in the balance when they appear before the FIA world motor sport council in Paris tomorrow morning, to find out what sanction will be taken over the Crashgate scandal.

The French team have stated that they will not contest allegations that they conspired with their former driver Nelson Piquet Jnr to cause an accident ­ deliberately during last year's Singapore grand prix. But they will be hoping for a lenient verdict after Flavio Briatore, their managing director, and their executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, left the team last week.

With the two principal architects of the scandal now beyond FIA jurisdiction, and Piquet having been granted immunity from prosecution, the court hearing had been expected to be brief and to the point. However, there were reports over the weekend that the driver Fernando Alonso had been summoned to appear.

Alonso has repeatedly denied that he had any knowledge about the origins of the crash, but Piquet's father, the triple world champion Nelson Piquet, insists the Spaniard must have known. There are suggestions that Alonso could be closely questioned over Briatore's role.

The motor sport council – which has 26 members, including the FIA president, Max Mosley, and the Formula One commercial rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone, – is expected to retire to consider what penalties should be imposed, if any, on the French car maker. The formal verdict may well not be made public until tomorrow morning, in line with established FIA custom.

However, the question of Piquet being granted immunity has enraged Carlos Gracia, the head of the Spanish automobile federation, who criticised both driver and governing body in spectacular terms over the weekend.

"The kid [Piquet], if it was up to me, wouldn't be allowed to walk blind people on the sidewalk," he was quoted as telling the Spanish radio station Onda Cero. "It's such yobbish behavior from which he has also benefited because, like he said in his sworn statement, he did it so that he would get a contract renewal for 2009 and he will be paid until the end of the year.

"In that case this is a person who should not only be sanctioned by the council and the FIA, but should also be prosecuted in an ordinary court. I found out through the press that Mr Nelsinho was going to get immunity. It would be totally shameless if this happened in the FIA."

Gracia also criticised the influence which Piquet's father has had over his son, effectively accusing Piquet Sr of spoiling Piquet Jr. "He is a silly kid who doesn't know if he has pushed the throttle or not because [it's] no coincidence that he has had 17 accidents since he has been at Renault," he said. "The father has an uncontrollable kid and he is a resentful parent. When they turn the fan on, they try to get the shit to hit as many people as possible."

Gracia said it was right Briatore and Symonds had left the team. "Renault is a very serious company," he said. "It's a company that has been in the world of motor sport for many years without any kind of immorality."

The Renault team, who could face a ban or an unlimited fine from the FIA, will be hoping that the governing body will feel similarly generous-minded in its deliberations tomorrow.