Renault yet to decide on F1 participation

Thursday 5th November 2009

Renault have called for patience as the French manufacturer weighs up the pros and cons of following Toyota out of Formula One.

On Wednesday, Toyota announced their immediate withdrawal from Formula One, citing the "current severe economic realities" for their decision.

Hours later another team, Renault, appeared to be facing the same fate as the French carmakers held an extraordinary board meeting to discuss its future plans.

And with the recent Singapore race-fixing scandal fresh in the minds as well as the two-year suspended ban hanging over their heads, many are predicting Renault will be the next team to walk away.

However, Renault Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn has revealed that no decision was made on Wednesday, although one will be forthcoming before the year is out.

"You will have to be patient," Ghosn told Reuters.

"We will make an announcement on our participation in Formula 1 before the end of the year."

Should Renault quit Formula One, they will become the fourth major manufacturer to leave, joining Honda, BMW and Toyota.

Your Comments

kriton

"I became an F1 fan in the 70's, when (apart from Ferrari and the odd BRM or Alfa 12-cylinders) everything was Ford Cosworth V8 and Goodyear rubber, Hewland gearboxes and Brembo brakes. Dismissed by some as "kit cars" Lotus, Brabham, McLaren, Tyrrell, March and many others made for close, exiting racing at a relatively reasonable cost. Max and Bernie were of that era, too, and no doubt longed for it again. But the last decade has seen an orgy of cash and technological sophistication on a scale never before seen in one place at one time. The Ford GT40 program and the Nazi-backed Mercedes and Auto Unions of the prewar era came close, but were isolated efforts. It simply was not sustainable as a business model. On this Max and Bernie were right - carmakers are motivated purely, indeed sociopathically, by monetary self-interest. Legally they MUST be lest the breach their primary fiduciary duty to benefit the shareholders financially. Thus, the coming and going carmakers -- whether as engine suppliers or as whole teams -- is unavoidable and will continue in the future as it has in the past. But the sport cannot be dependent upon them for its very survival or it will not survive their departure. "

BeachBoy

"GerhardSA, I think chrissturch made a mistake in the calculation for Toyota's latest quarterly result. 28.1B Yen is 188M (not billion) GBP. That means 150M GBP is almost their entire quarterly profit. Not quite worth 25% of their annual profit considering the results they've had."

lazydrummer

"I'm not convinced that opportunity minded, quick fix outfits, with no racing pedgree, bearing names that mean nothing, or trying to capitalise on a famous brand like Lotus, will actually gather interest. It's empty! And chances are they won't be around in a couple of years, selling to a third party who'll rebrand a name that aleady meant nothing with another name with no meaning. Apart from some racing outfits who earned a solid reputation through their longevity and success in the sport (although Williams is a rather sad outfit vs 20 years ago), car manufacturers give stability to the sport because they are rather solid, well established companies. And stability is a crucial element to any sports success. "

GerhardSA

""Don't get yen confused with �. 270 Billion Yen is �1.8 billion. Still a lot of money, but not the same is it? In the last quarter they posted a profit of 21.8 B Yen, which is only �145B."

And 150 million pounds of 145 Billion is.... 0.1% of their annual income.

Thus my point as before... its so small in relation to what they actually make a year...chrissturch.

It aint always money related...its just being unsuccessful"

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