SCANDAL-HIT Formula One team Renault, which employs more than 500 workers in Oxfordshire, has lost two of its key sponsors.

The team, based at Enstone, was handed a suspended disqualification from F1 over a plot involving team principal Flavio Briatore, executive director of engineering Pat Symonds and driver Nelson Piquet Jr to cause a crash in last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.

All three have since left the team.

The Dutch bank ING, Renault’s principal sponsor, confirmed earlier this year that it would not be extending its £30m-a-year backing beyond the 2009 season.

However, in the wake of the World Motor Sport Council’s verdict on Monday, the financial group announced it had opted to terminate the contract “with immediate effect”.

Spanish insurance firm Mutua Madrilena also announced it would end its backing due to the “substantial breach” of F1 rules by Renault.

A statement said: “The behaviour of the relevant people in the team was extraordinarily serious and compromised not only the integrity of the sport, but also the lives of spectators, drivers and circuit personnel. This can affect the image, reputation and good name of the team’s sponsors.”

Mutua Madrilena added that it would continue to back Renault driver Fernando Alonso, fuelling rumours that the Spanish ace could be about to switch to Ferrari.