Renault cleared to race in Valencia

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Renault and Fernando Alonso have won an appeal against a one-race ban, clearing them to take part in Sunday's European Grand Prix.

The French team were punished after allowing Alonso to leave the pit lane with a loose wheel at last month's Hungarian Grand Prix.

The wheel came off and bounced across the track at the July 26 race, with race stewards subsequently ruling that the team's pit crew knew the wheel was not properly secured and failed to tell the driver.

Renault were hopeful the team's suspension would be lifted - and today motorsport's governing body the FIA overturned the ban and instead decided to fine the team just over £30,000.

A statement on the FIA's official website, www.fia.com, read: Renault admitted to the court that they breached the sporting regulations, in that they failed to ensure that (the) car complied with the conditions for safety throughout practice and the race, and that they released the car after a pit stop when it was unsafe to do so.

"However, it requested the court to reconsider the severity of the sanction imposed by the stewards.

"Having heard the arguments of the parties, the court have decided as follows:

1) To allow the appeal and overturn the sanction imposed by the Stewards in the contested decision.

2) To issue a reprimand and impose a fine of $50,000 (£30,600) upon Renault.

"The reasons for this decision will be published in a full judgment in the coming days."

With the ban overturned Alonso will now race at his home grand prix in Valencia, which is likely to prove highly popular with the Spanish crowd.

The incident happened the day after Felipe Massa was involved in an horrific incident which left him with life-threatening injuries.

The Ferrari driver needed surgery on his skull after being struck by an object dislodged from the Brawn GP car of Rubens Barrichello during qualifying at the Hungaroring.

The previous week, 18-year-old Formula Two driver Henry Surtees - the son of 1964 F1 champion John Surtees - died after being struck on the head by a wheel and tyre while travelling at 120mph at Brands Hatch

Renault drive chance for Grosjean

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Renault have confirmed that Romain Grosjean will replace Nelson Piquet Jr at the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

Grosjean has also been chosen as the team's second driver for the remaining races of the season after Piquet Jr failed to pick up a point in 10 races.

"I'm very proud and looking forward to helping the team get the best results," said the 23-year-old Frenchman.

"Romain is an impressive young talent and we expect him to show his skills," said Renault team boss Flavio Briatore.

Grosjean will race alongside two-time world champion Fernando Alonso for Renault in Valencia at the weekend after getting the green light to replace Piquet Jr.

"It is an honour to be Fernando's team-mate and to make my Formula 1 debut alongside a double world champion is especially motivating," said Grosjean.

Schumacher sad at F1 abandonment

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Seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher has spoken of his sadness at being forced to scrap his proposed comeback on medical grounds.

He had been set to deputise for Ferrari driver Felipe Massa after the Brazilian was hurt in a crash in Hungary but a neck injury thwarted the German's plan.

"No simulation can produce the demands an F1 car puts on the body, so we needed to test to find out," he said.

"We did everything in the most prepared way possible and it didn't work out."

Schumacher stunned the world of F1 when he announced he would return to fill in for Massa.Massa's accident occurred in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix after a spring from fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP car hit his helmet.

Massa was travelling at more than 160mph when the spring hit him but pressure on the brakes reduced his speed to about 60mph when he hit the tyre wall.

He was initially seriously ill but he is recovering well and has flown home to Brazil.

The problem that scuppered Schumacher's return to the track three years after he retired was a neck problem sustained in a motorbike crash earlier this year.

The injury meant Schumacher was unable to withstand the intense strain experienced when driving an F1 car.

The 40-year-old said there was no way he could have prepared any better for a possible return because of the unforeseeable circumstances that had brought it about.

"Nobody knew we had this tragic accident from Felipe, so it wasn't planned at all," stated Schumacher.

"I don't think there was any other chance to do it any other way."

When asked if the injury ruled out any other possibility of a future comeback, Schumacher suggested it was not something he was considering at the moment.

"Speculation in this business is pretty natural and lots of people have opinions but the matter of fact is I'm very disappointed not to do what I was looking to do," he added.

"It's certainly not something I'm thinking about right now as I just had to take a very tough decision to say no to what I wanted to do - I don't feel like thinking too much about the future right now."

In the absence of Schumacher, Massa's place on the grid will be taken by Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer, 38, whose last competitive drive in F1 was 10 years ago.

But Schumacher is confident Badoer is up to the job.

"He has prepared himself quite strongly to be ready for all these years - this is his main job, to be ready for testing as well as in case something happened, so he's not been sitting quietly around waiting," said Schumacher.

"He works very hard since the accident of Felipe as I said I needed to confirm that I could do it [fill in for Massa], so it's normal for him to keep himself on the fitness level he would need.

"He has not been racing for a long time but a racer doesn't normally lose the racing spirit, so I wish him well for a difficult task."