The Renault team will be aiming for a gradual rise to rostrum places during the 2010 season with a title challenge planned for 2011, according to Bob Bell. The Northern Irishman, who stood in as Team Principal following the sudden departure of Flavio Briatore last year, stresses that the Genii Capital-owned squad remains pragmatic.

Want to know the real reason why car manufacturers are pulling out of F1? In a nutshell, the five car manufacturers which owned Formula One teams last year needed to sell over 25,000 cars to break even on their investment in the sport.

According to a recent report CVC, the company which own F1, has taken steps to reduce transparency in its own finances. With transparency increasingly becoming a hallmark of credibility it does little for the standing of the sport in the public eye.

With the Lotus car company being owned by Malaysian motoring giant Proton, some have speculated why Lotus itself is not taking full ownership of the new F1 team. It appears that the reason for this may be that Lotus' finances simply cannot support it.