Renault delay F1 decision

Renault have put their future in Formula One on hold.

The French manufacturing giant held a board meeting yesterday to discuss whether to continue in the sport just hours after Toyota confirmed they were pulling out with immediate effect.

However, Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn today called for patience as there will be no immediate decision.

“I can assure you before the end of the year we’ll announce our strategy regarding the participation of Renault in Formula One,” Ghosn told reporters in France.

It is understood three options are open to Renault: to continue in F1, to become an engine supplier, or to withdraw completely.

Renault have endured their worst season since returning to the sport in 2002 as a fully-fledged team in their own right, both on and off the track.

They finished a lowly eighth in the constructors’ championship, but it was the ’Crashgate’ scandal which severely damaged the team.

It emerged Nelson Piquet Jnr was deliberately ordered to crash his car in last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.

While Flavio Briatore lost his job as team principal, Renault escaped severe sanctions from the FIA as they were handed a ban, suspended for two years.

Due to the effects of the global economic crisis, the team also lost primary sponsor Ing, and another of their major backers in Mutua Madrilena.

Star driver Fernando Alonso, who has spent four of the last five years with the team, is also on his way after signing for Ferrari from next year.

However, Renault did recently recruit Robert Kubica, suggesting they will not follow the lead of Honda, BMW and Toyota in withdrawing from F1.