Veteran Prost to be new Renault team boss?

Alain Prost is set to become Renault's new team principal, according to intensifying rumours.

When the automaker announced its acquisition of Enstone based Lotus, it said Cyril Abiteboul will be managing director, and Jerome Stoll chairman.

Renault added: "The new team name, full management structure, team partners and other details will be announced during an event to be held in Paris in February."

Renault back in F1

In December 2015, former F1 team owner Gian Carlo Minardi wrote on his website: "On the management of Renault, the rumours seem to point to Alain Prost as team principal."

He added that Prost, the F1 legend and former four-time world champion, is apparently not a team shareholder like Niki Lauda at Mercedes.

Following the acquisition announcement, Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said of the new works team's structure: "In F1, you cannot work with the pace and processes of a large company like Renault.

"It needs a flexible and responsive operation that goes at the speed of the grands prix," he told the French publication Auto Plus.