Renault tells suppliers F1 exit possible

Renault has warned its suppliers that it may not be racing in formula one beyond the 2009 season.

At the same time as that news emerged on Wednesday, the French carmaker's CEO Carlos Ghosn was aiming fire not at the controversial budget cap rules for 2010, but at the distribution of income.

According to AFP France, he told a French parliamentary committee that because the teams "make the show" in F1, they should be the ones benefiting "principally from it".

Until now, while issues of governance have been playing a role in the dispute with Max Mosley, it was believed that the teams' threats to quit formula one were based primarily on their distaste for the new regulations.

But Ghosn said: "It is us who make the show, who bring the technology, the engines, who engage the pilots, so if we make the show, it is necessary that the income returns to us."

Germany's motorsport-total.com, meanwhile, revealed that external suppliers of Renault's Enstone based team received a letter early this week warning that the outfit's participation in the sport beyond 2009 can not be guaranteed.

It was also reported on Wednesday that Toyota's currently Cologne based team principal Tadashi Yamashina is set to relocate the position to Japan and commute to races.