Renault have escaped punishment for their role in the spy scandal, despite being found guilty of fraudulent conduct.

The decision by the World Motor Sport Council in Monaco paves the way for Fernando Alonso to potentially return to the team.

It is understood Alonso, who recently quit McLaren in the wake of a turbulent year with the team, has been waiting on this verdict.

Renault found themselves facing a charge of fraudulent conduct, namely being found in unauthorised possession of confidential technical information belonging to McLaren. But despite being found guilty of the charge, the Council have decided not to impose any sanctions on the team.

An FIA statement read: "The World Council found Renault F1 to be in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code, but imposed no penalty.

"Detailed reasons for this decision will be issued on December 7, 2007."

The verdict is a remarkable mirror-image of the decision initially taken against McLaren in July when they were found guilty of being in unauthorised possession of technical information belonging to Ferrari.

However, due to lack of evidence, McLaren avoided punishment, but were warned by the FIA that if the information stolen from Ferrari was found to be used in the future, they could face exclusion from the championship. The decision caused uproar, with Max Mosley, the FIA president, forced into announcing an appeal hearing.

When fresh evidence did surface, McLaren were hauled back in front of the WMSC in September and ultimately found guilty, which led to a record £50 million fine, while the team were stripped of all constructors' points for 2007.

In this instance, as far the FIA are concerned, the case is now closed on Renault as the information at the team's disposal would only have had a direct bearing on last season's car.

The case surrounded engineer Phil Mackereth, who joined Renault from McLaren in September 2006 and took with him information proprietary to McLaren and contained on 11 floppy disks.

The information related to details of the McLaren fuelling system, gear assembly, oil cooling system, hydraulic control system and a novel suspension component used by the 2006 and 2007 McLaren cars.

The information was viewed by nine members of Renault's staff, and when printed out, amounted to 762 pages, but with only 18 individual technical drawings.

Following an internal investigation, Renault subsequently suspended Mackereth and returned the floppy disks to McLaren.

With Renault in the clear, Flavio Briatore, the team principal, is now likely to pursue his ambition of re-signing Alonso. The Spaniard won the drivers' championships in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, while helping them win the constructors' titles in the same years.