Renault boss Flavio Briatore says he has every confidence that his lifetime ban from Formula One will be overturned on appeal.

Legal action in the French high court began yesterday in Paris and after the hearing the judge said a verdict would be published on January 5. The 59-year-old Italian is demanding almost £1million in compensation for "moral prejudice", claiming that he was victimised by the FIA, the sport's ruling body.

He also believed he had not been given the opportunity to present a fair defence and that a lifetime ban from the Formula One paddock, team management and driver management was excessive.

The case was brought by the FIA after sacked driver Nelson Piquet gave sworn evidence that Briatore and Renault's technical head Pat Symonds had asked him to crash out of the sport's first night race at Singapore in 2008 to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win.