Renault has moved to quell speculation that it will walk away from
Formula 1 should its performance not improve soon, insisting that ‘we certainly won't leave while we're not winning'.
The
Régie – which achieved back-to-back drivers' and constructors' world championship successes in 2005 and 2006 courtesy of
Fernando Alonso and
Giancarlo Fisichella – has since hit something of a rough patch in terms of results. The squad has not now won a race since Alonso triumphed in the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix, and has notched up just 60 points since the end of the 2006 campaign, contrasting starkly with the 191 tallied in 2005 and 206 the following year.
Though there have been flashes of promise in 2008 to-date – with an inspired Alonso dragging his improved R28 up onto the front row of the starting grid to the evident delight of his adoring home fans in Barcelona – they have yet to be substantiated, with just nine points on the board, all courtesy of the Spaniard. That has left the 33-time grand prix winners lying a distant seventh in the title standings after the opening third of the season.
The French manufacturer's chief executive Carlos Ghosn, however, has dismissed suggestions Renault will withdraw from the top flight should it fail to arrest its dramatic fall from grace, insisting rather that more must be done to return the Enstone-based outfit to the head of the pack once more.
He was also effusive in his praise for Alonso's contribution to the team, stating his belief that the 26-year-old will remain with Renault for the foreseeable future, despite persistent rumours linking the man from Ovideo to a switch across to former title rivals
Ferrari in 2009 [see separate story –
click here].
“We are committed to
F1 for many years,” 54-year-old Ghosn underlined in an interview with Italian newspaper
La Gazzetta dello Sport, “and we certainly won't leave while we're not winning.
