Renault manager director Cyril Abiteboul has hinted that the French company could start a young driver programme like the one used by Red Bull.
The engine supplier is widely thought to be splitting from Red Bull to set up its own works team and has been heavily linked with a buyout of Lotus.
However, Abiteboul has suggested that implementing an academy system for would-be world champions could prove a cost-effective way to run in Formula 1.
He told Motorsport.com: "You only need to see the driver wages for a team like Mercedes versus the driver costs for a team like Red Bull or Toro Rosso. I think that Red Bull/Toro Rosso wages are just a fraction of those of Mercedes and that is fantastic.
"So that tells us a lesson about what we should do and how we can improve what we are doing. What we know is that we want to be in this category, which is single-seaters, if possible, with F1 at the top.
"But we need to do that in a much more cost efficient manner which serves the business and the marketing story much better than what we are doing now."
The top four at last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix – Sebastian Vettel, Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen – are all products of Red Bull's young driver programme.
Chris O'Keefe
