Renault is once again understood to be questioning its F1 future amid speculation that Prodrive is to acquire the team.
Prodrive rumoured to be acquiring French manufacturer's team
Renault is once again understood to be questioning its Formula One future amid speculation that Prodrive is to acquire the French manufacturer's team.
Last month, Renault held a board meeting to discuss its continued presence in the sport after a torrid season which brought poor results on the track and also unwelcome publicity in the form of the so-called 'Crashgate' scandal.
The meeting was held just hours after Toyota confirmed that it was pulling out of F1 with immediate effect, with company CEO Carlos Ghosn later insisting a decision would be made before the end of the year.
More recently, Ghosn has used an interview to question Renault's involvement in F1 at a time when three manufacturers - Honda, BMW and Toyota - have pulled out of the sport in the last 12 months.
The situation has now given rise to talk of a takeover of the Oxfordshire-based team by Prodrive, albeit with Renault still supplying engines until the end of the 2012 season.
Prodrive founder David Richards ran the team, then known as Benetton, for a spell in the late 1990s before going on to improve the fortunes of BAR - an antecedent of this year's title-winning Brawn GP outfit.
Richards has twice tried to run his own F1 team in recent years, with the first attempt of running Mercedes-powered McLaren chassis thwarted owing to the illegality of customer cars.
Earlier this year, Prodrive appeared set for one of the three new places on the grid for 2010 but their reluctance to use Cosworth engines after agreeing a deal with Mercedes apparently cost them dear.
