In a statement to the World Motor Sport Council submitted on Monday, the Renault team affirmed that they are looking to remain in Formula 1 for the foreseeable future, hopefully ending speculation that the Fixgate saga would see them leave the sport.
Rumours swirled around during the Fixgate crisis that should the FIA stop short of banning the French manufacturer from the grid next season, Renault may well just walk away from the sport with it's tail between it's legs anyway. The team is already set to lose it's main sponsor ING for 2010.
But the statement that was submitted to Monday's hearing by the Renault team seems to clear up the issue of their commitment to F1. The statement admitted that the possibility of withdrawing had been discussed, but that the decision had been made to stay in the sport.
"Renault F1 and its parent company have given serious consideration as to whether it should remain in the sport following the prejudice caused to its corporate image by the conspiracy, in addition to the existing background of financial pressures that have caused car manufacturers to withdraw.
"But it has concluded that it would like to remain in Formula 1 and continue to make an important contribution to the sport."
What contribution that would be, aside from providing salacious scandals, remains to be seen.
The statement also revealed that the Renault F1 team are planning to completely overhaul their team structure in the face of evidence that former team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering head Pat Symonds conspired to fix the result of last year's Singapore GP.
The statement which was written after the team's own internal investigation had discovered evidence that the conspiracy had occurred, said: "Renault F1 had no reason to believe that the conspirators were capable of this kind of behaviour. Clearly the conspirators acted against the interests of Renault F1 and the sport generally."
It went on: "If they had applied their minds to their actions, they could not have thought that their actions benefited Renault F1. The acts of the conspirators were so outside what they were employed to do and so contrary to Renault F1's interests, they ought not to be attributed to Renault F1. This is truly a case where the conspirators were on a frolic of their own.
"Renault F1 will introduce a new structure within the team and will review its internal procedures in an effort to ensure that this type of incident will never happen again."
The Renault team's commitment to F1's future is an important step for the sport going into 2010, with the grid already having lost the names of Honda and BMW in the last twelve months. Renault's future plans also seem to end fears that Red Bull would be left without an engine supply for next season, though that team is known to be in complicated talks with Mercedes about a possible switch.
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