Renault are reportedly considering a full return to Formula 1 by buying out an existing team.
The French car manufacturer had its own constructor until it was sold to Gerard Lopez and renamed as Lotus, in the aftermath of the 'crash-gate' scandal in 2008.
However, Auto Motor und Sport claims that Renault is interested in returning to the sport on its own terms.
Among the reported list of teams that could be acquired are Lotus, Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso.
It is thought that Toro Rosso could be the most likely candidate as the Red Bull junior team have no debt on its books and run Renault engines.
Renault have been criticised by Red Bull over the reliability of the engines supplied to the former world champions in 2014.
