Renault not expecting to replace ING

Renault is not expecting to simply replace the departed title sponsor ING.

Prior to the Dutch bank's termination of its contract over the crash-gate scandal, ING was already planning to leave Formula One after the 2009 season.

Before Flavio Briatore also left Renault because of crash-gate, he was openly looking to the corporate world to replace the lost ING dollars in 2010 and beyond.

But the team's acting managing director Jean Francois Caubet said in Singapore: "I don't think the future for a carmaker will be having a main sponsor like we've had in the past."

He revealed that Renault is therefore prepared to make a bigger relative contribution to the team financially.

"Yes, it's not a problem," said Caubet.

"Ten years ago Formula One (sponsorship) was (dominated by) the tobacco companies. Two or three years ago it was banks, but I think in the future it will be impossible to find title sponsors the same size as ING or whatever."