Having endured an up-and-down US-based sojourn since leaving his role as a Formula One test driver in 2007, Franck Montagny appears to have several options to return in 2010, having apparently entered into talks with former employer Renault.

The Frenchman ended his F1 involvement when he departed Toyota and wound up racing - and winning - with Andretti Green Racing in the 2008 American Le Mans Series. However, when AGR pulled the plug on its Acura programme, Montagny was left with little until the same team offered him a one-off IndyCar outing at Infineon Raceway late this season.

The veteran, who made seven F1 starts with Super Aguri in 2006, acted as Renault's test and development pilot between 2003-05 and is now eyeing a return with the team under new management following the departure of Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds. The Enstone equipe has only Robert Kubica confirmed for 2010 and, with rumoured team-mate Timo Glock recently opting for newcomer Manor, is entertaining approaches from several potential candidates, including erstwhile 2009 driver Romain Grosjean and former McLaren man Heikki Kovalainen.

"I did not expect to find myself on the list, but this is a real, we have discussed it a lot of times," Montagny told Radio Canada, "I've concentrated on my racing programme, although not especially on F1 because I'm not there any more, but surprises can happen. We will see how it goes at the end as it's still very early."

Montagny was recently named among the candidates for the nascent USF1 project, with French publication Auto Hebdo including him among the more experienced F1 hands that the team might consider to lead its debut campaign [see story here], but may also be tempted to remain stateside by offers from the IndyCar Series.