First it was BMW->ke178. Then Toyota->ke88 followed next. Now, it looks like Renault is headed out the door too.

Renault’s F1 team executives met in Paris recently and rumors have spread that the French-based company is contemplating on following Toyota in leaving Formula One.

After a tumultuous – and that’s an understatement – season that involved the sacking of team principals Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds, Renault is now looking at the possibility that participating in Formula One may not be in their best interests anymore.

Although the meetings have gone on continuously, an announcement is not expected in the coming days because the company, led by president Carlos Ghosn, is scheduled to have an event promoting the brand’s new direction in introducing zero-emission vehicles, as evidenced by the recent news that the Zoe Zero Emissions Concept will be launched in 2012.

In the event Renault does pull the curtains on their F1 tenure, it would make them the third team from the 2009 grid to leave Formula One, following the recent departures of BMW and Toyota.

By our count, that’s now four major teams – including Honda last year - that have left Formula One in the past year and we’re beginning to fear that this could be the beginning of what is already becoming a mass exit out of the sport.

Photo courtesy of Renault F1.

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