Renault says it cannot confirm whether it will remain in Formula 1 at present, amid speculation that it could be the next manufacturer to pull out of the sport.
News that Renault top brass were meeting to discuss the firm's F1 programme yesterday, just hours after Toyota announced its departure, had prompted rumours that another big car company was heading for the exit door.
But Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters it was too early to say whether his firm would be staying on the grid.
"You will have to be patient," Ghosn was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"We will make an announcement on our participation in Formula 1 before the end of the year."
With Toyota joining BMW and Honda in pulling out of F1, the once manufacturer-dominated grid now only features three car firms - Renault, Ferrari and Mercedes - alongside a host of independent teams.
Rumours about Renault's long-term F1 future have circulated repeatedly in recent years, but gained credence during the painful fall-out from the race-fixing affair this autumn.
The scandal led to the departure of team bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds, and an early withdrawal by title sponsor ING, while lead driver Fernando Alonso is heading to Ferrari next year.
Those blows, coupled with the team's lack of form and the economic pressures on all the manufacturers, were seen as reasons for Renault potentially quitting after 2009, but the company assured the FIA it planned to stay on, and it has already signed Robert Kubica to take Alonso's place.
Team boss Jean-Francois Caubet was quoted in the French press today as being confident that Renault's 2010 F1 programme was going ahead as planned.