Williams-Renault?

[BSchneiderFan]

This is pure speculation, with no foundation at all, but am I alone in joining the dots between these facts?

1) With the departure of Alonso to McLaren in 2007 and the arrival of Carlos Ghosn as CEO, Renault are rumoured to be looking to scale back their F1 commitment, and may scrap their works team and just become an engine supplier.

2) Williams currently does not have a works engine deal.

Could there be something in this?

[kipper]

I wouldn't have thought so. If I remember correctly, one of the main reasons that Renault pulled out of F1 in 1997 was due to it being felt that exisiting as an engine supplier did not bring sufficient coverage to justify the expense, especially given the success enjoyed. Therefore, given Carlos Ghosn's reticence to spend money on motorsport I can't imagine the situation being repreived.

[kmsport]

yes...let it be true...and bring back Nige.

[Mystery]

I would love to think so. In my completely uninformed view I always thought that Renault got good coverage during the Williams years, and may have even turned that into a handful of direct car sales - I vaguely remember a few Williams special editions of Clios and the like. Probably not enough to justify the effort though.

[N I Tram]

Renault car sales dropped in Spain last year, which is perhaps the main statistic making a pullout seem likely. Merely supplying engines would cost a fraction of what they spend on a whole team, and if costs cut for 2008 it could be worthwhile, but selling their car-making facilities (to Prodrive),a dn supplying engines as a partnership branded as Renault Prodrive seems more likely - that way, the public sees them as the bigger influence on success.

[Nintendo]

Don;t think so. Renault will probably stay on. Williams will probably get some sort of engine deal soon enough.

[nkh]

Originally Posted by N I Tram

Merely supplying engines would cost a fraction of what they spend on a whole team

Does it? The private teams (Williams...) get all their costs covered through sponsorships (and now they're even paying for their engines too). I would think that a championship wining team would be able to generate enough income through sponsorships to keep the team running. So Renault itself probably only pays what the engines + a title sponsorship would cost should they surply a private team....

Didn't Mario T also say something like that when BMW bought Sauber?