Renault have held an emergency board meeting in Paris to discuss pulling out of Formula 1 with immediate effect.

The French car company, whose F1 outfit are based in Enstone, were considering whether to remain in the sport with their own team, switch to simply being an engine supplier or quit altogether.

The outcome of yesterday's meeting was not immediately forthcoming.

News of their possible exit comes on the day Toyota said they were quitting F1, becoming the third car company to leave the sport in the last 11 months.

Renault's emergency board meeting was attended by F1 team bosses Bob Bell and Jean-Francois Caubet, although neither man was allowed to take part in the debate about the team's future.

Renault have had their least competitive F1 season since 2001 and finished eighth out of ten teams in the constructors' championship after Sunday's final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

The company came under scrutiny for the team's involvement in the Singapore 2008 race-fixing scandal, in which they decided not to contest charges that they had asked Nelson Piquet Jr to crash to aid teammate Fernando Alonso's bid for victory.

Motorsport's governing body the FIA gave Renault a ban from F1, suspended for two years, as punishment.