Renault to announce F1 takeover on Wednesday
The French carmaker said team figures will front a press conference in Paris "to present the position of Renault in formula one".
The Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat cited sources in reporting that the group headed by Gerard Lopez has won the race to buy the 75 per cent shareholding.
It is believed Renault, to stay engine supplier to Red Bull, will retain a 25 per cent share of the Enstone based team, including the naming rights at least in 2010.
It is further expected that Ho-Pin Tung, who tested the R29 recently at Jerez, will be Robert Kubica's teammate, due to his links to the Gravity sports management outfit.
12/15/09 (GMM) Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn has made his choice about the Enstone based team's new majority shareholder and it will be announced on Wednesday, according to new French reports.
Le Parisien newspaper said a board meeting last week narrowed down the selection to two bidders, namely Gerard Lopez and David Richards, and Ghosn was set to personally chose on Monday.
On Tuesday the contract will reportedly be signed, ahead of public confirmation some 24 hours later.
Team boss Bob Bell is said to have addressed staff about the takeover at the Enstone headquarters last Friday, clarifying that Robert Kubica is still lined up as the lead driver.
Le Parisien mentioned Kamui Kobayashi and Nick Heidfeld as the likely candidates to be the Pole's teammate.
The team will continue to be called Renault for the next two years, with the carmaker to continue to own the Viry-Chatillon headquarters in order to remain an engine supplier to customer teams like Red Bull.