Renault has issued an unreserved apology to the rest of Formula 1 for its involvement in the Singapore crash scandal, having been handed a suspended ban by the FIA in Paris today.
And while hoping that it could now "focus on the future", the team stopped short of confirming that it would stay in the sport.
The World Motor Sport Council ruled that as Renault had parted company with Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds - the instigators of the plan for Nelson Piquet to deliberate spin into the wall and cause a safety car - and because no one else in the team had been aware of the scheme, the squad itself should not be thrown out of the sport.
Briatore has been banned indefinitely from involvement in motorsport, with Symonds receiving the same punishment for five years, and Renault will both pay the costs of the FIA's investigation, and contribute significant sums to the governing body's safety projects.
Team president Bernard Rey told reporters outside the hearing that Renault was deeply sorry for what had happened.
"We are very sad to find ourselves in front of the World Motor Sport Council today," he said.
"By way of background, as a result of our own enquiries, we informed the FIA last week that we would not defend the charges and we accepted our responsibilities in relation to the incident in Singapore and we immediately took appropriate action inside the team.
"Today, we fully accept the decision of the Council.
"We apologise unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour."
There has been speculation that the affair could lead to Renault pulling out of F1 even if it was not banned, and Rey declined to confirm that the team would definitely be on the 2010 grid when quizzed in Paris.
"We sincerely hope that we can soon put this matter behind us and focus constructively on the future," he said.
"We will issue further information in the next few days."
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