Renault to reveal F1 plans on Wednesday

London: Renault will reveal the future of their Formula One team on Wednesday, ending weeks of speculation that they are planning to sell a majority stake in the former champions.

The French carmaker said team president Bernard Rey and managing director Jean-Francois Caubet would attend a news conference in Paris "to present the position of Renault in Formula One." Formula One`s commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone said last week that Renault were evaluating several rival bids for the team, who were champions in 2005 and 2006 with Spain`s Fernando Alonso. One frontrunner to take over is Luxembourg-based businessman Gerard Lopez, the founder of technology investment company Mangrove Capital Partners who was also an early investor in Skype. "We see the whole environment as providing an opportunity," Lopez told a motorsport business forum in Monaco last week. "The situation is such right now that it provides an opportunity for new teams and new investors -- it`s not a time of uncertainty but a time of change.” "Times of change usually provide an entry point. We believe there is a chance to enter the sport and build a platform that sort of has to reinvent itself. If we were to become part of F1 we could be part of that reinvention," he added. Lopez Takeover Some media reports have suggested that Ecclestone and the Renault board favour a Lopez takeover because he would be willing to continue racing under the Renault name. The Prodrive company led by David Richards, who is also chairman of British sportscar maker Aston Martin, is considered the other main bidder. Richards ran the Benetton team that Renault took over in 2002. Prodrive secured a slot to enter Formula One in 2008 but withdrew due to uncertainty about the sport`s future regulations. They applied again this year to be one of three new teams but were passed over. Renault, whose team were handed a suspended permanent ban in September for their involvement in a race-fixing controversy which resulted in ex-principal Flavio Briatore being barred for life, have not commented on the speculation. The team have signed Polish driver Robert Kubica for 2010. Bureau Report