Renault F1 about to shed its wings?

PARIS, France - Renault seems to be charging towards a future without Red Bull.

With the French automaker's next move a hot topic in the 2015 Hungarian GP paddock, boss Cyril Abiteboul fired a barb at its ever-complaining team partner.

RED BULL'S F1 INCOME= R7bn

Abiteboul told RMC Sport: "When we read that Red Bull loses money with Renault, that (comment) is completely unacceptable."

"Combining all the money they were paid directly, the amounts Total paid to them and Infiniti paid to them, as well as prize funds, we are talking about half a billion euros."

That's the equivalent of a cool R7-billion... say it slowly: seven thousand million.

WATCH: Rosberg wraps Hungarian GP

And suddenly Renault and Lotus are openly admitting that talks about a new works alliance are taking place. Indeed, the pieces of the puzzle seem now to be falling into place.

L'Equipe reports that Renault has decided to pull its support from the Formula Renault 3.5 category; a highly regarded series that nonetheless does not have the profile of GP2.

Abiteboul said: "About 60% of current F1 drivers were trained in Formula Renault, yet nobody knows. We cannot continue to do everything in isolation."

MAYBE BUY LOTUS?

It's been reported that a decision about the entire Renault programme, including F1, will be taken in September 2015. Abiteboul admitted there would be "a clarification". "We have been thinking about our strategy for nearly a year."

He admitted that buying Lotus "is one of the opportunities we are considering" but said Renault was also determined "not to repeat past mistakes".