Renault board meets to discuss F1 commitment

Shooting down speculation to the contrary, Renault’s F1 managing director Jean-Francois Caubet insists a working budget for 2010 has been approved and the team will race in formula one next year.

Following the announcement of Toyota’s departure on Wednesday, the Renault board met in Paris, triggering reports that the French carmaker could be the next to quit F1.

But Caubet told the sports daily L’Equipe: “We have already contracted our drivers, had our budget approved and are enrolled in the world championship.  Season 2010 has begun already.”

He said Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn has also laid out his expectations for Renault’s 2010 season; that the team “returns to a good level”.

“We will not be world champions in 2010, but we do have hopes to be much improved,” Caubet continued.

Renault board meets to discuss F1 commitment

While the world digested Toyota’s departure from F1, the French carmaker Renault was considering its own commitment to the sport.

The Paris board meeting, attended by the F1 team’s chiefs Bob Bell and Jean-Francois Caubet, came amid rumours that Renault might sell its Enstone based outfit but remain on the grid as an engine supplier.

A complete Toyota-like withdrawal is considered unlikely, even in the wake of the crash-gate scandal, given that Robert Kubica has been signed for 2010 and a new engine deal with Red Bull is believed to have been agreed in principle.

“I’d be surprised if they were that active in the market to suddenly just willy-nilly pull out,” former team boss and owner and now broadcaster Eddie Jordan told Sky News.

The timing of the meeting also suggests that no dramatic decisions were to be taken, with Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn scheduled to attend a major PR event to champion green technologies on Thursday.

A spokesman said the description of Wednesday’s gathering as an “emergency meeting” was wrong, because it had been planned for weeks.

source: GMM