Renault considers withdrawing from F1
November 6, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Hot on the heels of Wednesday’s announcement that Toyota was withdrawing from Formula One comes new rumours that Renault is also seriously considering leaving the championship before next season.
It is believed Toyota’s exit sparked an emergency meeting at Renault to decide the French company’s future in the sport.
Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn refused to speculate on the rumours, telling a press conference:
“You will have to be patient. We will make an announcement on our participation in Formula One before the end of the year.”
Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz are the only other manufacturers left in the series after BMW and Honda succumbed to financial pressures earlier this year.
Tyre supplier Bridgestone also will also disappear from F1 after 2010 as it declined to renew its contract.
Last month Renault announced that Robert Kubica would replace two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso as he heads to Ferrari next season.
There was optimism among senior team members for the challenges of the new year, but now it seems time will tell whether they even begin their 11th season since returning to the sport in 2000.
One way or the other, Renault’s decision will have an enormous impact on the immediate and long-term future of F1, which continues to endure perhaps the most calamitous and controversial year in its history.
by Tim Beissmann
Print it: 
As mentioned prior.
Toyota leaving isnt just about them struggling to earn points and podium finishes. But it really is an expensive competition. For all manufacturers who has taken a hit in the recession, its priority to recover what was lost over luxury such as F1.
It’s been a very expensive exercise for Toyota.. over 8 years they had a bigger annual budget than their F1 rivals combined and yet no championship title.. Unlike Renault-BMW-Honda who are also gone
They’re using the GFC as an excuse to pull-out instead of admitting they failed.
Haha… The irony of each member in the team photo all gone.
Flavio, Alonso and Piquet all history!
The team is next
“Tyre supplier Bridgestone also will also disappear from F1 after 2010 as it declined to renew its contract.”
Could Pauline Hanson’s boyfriend AKA Mr Czechoslovakia please explain this one? Or are anti-Toyota tirades and recreating world history all he’s good for?
Realist, reports suggests that Goodyear/Pirelli/Michelin have all declined on entering F1 for 2011, may be they will be running Hankook or some other far eastern brand, then it really will be the display of the pinnacle in motoring technology.
As regard to Renault, i thought they’ve already confirmed their participation for 2010, but they might be leaving F1 after that. Interesting times ahead for F1, i think the politics in F1 nowdays might be another reason for manufacturer’s reluctance to continue
Maybe they could run good ole’ Bazza and Kens retreads from the local tip.
I just can’t understand why motor companies participate in F1 races. Will it help to sell more cars? Maybe for Ferrari. If I’m picking up a new car today for practical day-to-day use, I don’t care if the car company has won any races at all. It has nothing to do with the reliability nor build quality nor interior or exterior design nor fuel efficiency-zilch. The development of passenger cars can do without F1 and it’ll benefit everyone-better profits for manufacturers, better value-for-money cars for consumers and a cleaner environment.
So it’s official-we’ll have just one team for F1 in 2010 season- team Ferrari ready to be crowned world champion right from day one.
Maybe Holden should have an F1 team, with the car based on some Korean thing
Why then would Red Bull participate?
They don’t even sell cars.
I don’t think it’s so much the GFC that has caused major competitors to leave F1.
I think it’s squarely Mosley’ and Ecclestone’s fault. Two dictatorial monsters have wrecked the whole F1 circus.
Eventually people get tired of rules changing every year and sometimes halfway through the year.
The ridiculous testing bans also make it impossible to develop and test new stuff, much of which eventually flows into production cars.
Not to mention the Ecclestone money grab for his own benefit. He wants to reduce the cost of F1, but just ask the venue managers if the big B is willing to reduce his costs – no way.
Well Toyotas boss crying heavily in the press conference makes me think its not a move made out of spite of the restrictions imposed.
Its like if your house was being auctioned because you couldnt afford it, you would be crying.
If you were selling your house at auction because you couldnt stand the neighbours of the local council, you would be selling it with a sense of relief.
Maybe the reason why they’re withdrawing is because they know Ferrari and Merc are tough competitors…still it’s worth trying, being optimistic is still the best. Another reason is the most common, financial crisis…
Why any responsible entity would want to keep tipping money into that megalomaniac idior Ecclestone’s pockets defies the imagination.
Totally agree Captain – the man gets no respect from me, he’s so stupid he doesn’t even know he’s knackering the sport with his greed.