Polish driver Robert Kubica is prepared to sign a long-term deal with the Renault team, providing that the French team can prove to him that they will have the resources to fight for the championship in the future.
In a move that surely has little to do with the top seats for next season all being tied up, Kubica will extend his current one-year deal with the team in the next few weeks.
According to a report from Autosport, the move will be based on certain proofs from the team that they are ready and willing to fight for the championship in the future.
Kubica joined Renault at the start of the season from BMW Sauber, but had been linked with a move to Ferrari. However, the Italian team recently confirmed that Felipe Massa would stay on for the foreseeable future.
The Renault team, and Kubica in particular, have been one of the revelations of 2010 so far, after a dismal pre-season testing performance, and the Pole currently sits in 6th place in the championship.
But with the team struggling for sponsor money for 2010, with pay driver Vitaly Petrov being signed as Kubica's team mate, the 2008 Canadian GP winner wants assurances that the team will improve in the future.
Team boss Eric Boullier was quoted as saying that the team's immediate job was convincing Kubica to stay.
"We definitely want him and we have spoken - and it is up to us to show that we have the ambition and the means to be ambitious," he shrugged, "If we do that, then I am sure he will stay. If he doesn't want to stay then he will leave, it is as simple as that."
On the subject of rumours linking him with a move away for 2011, Boullier said that: "Robert is one of the very highly ranked drivers but, because his contract is supposed to end this year, he has become attractive. It's normal."
The team is currently believed to be in negotiations with a series of new sponsors, including Mastercard, and Boullier is thought to have sounded out the possibility of 2007 F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen returning to the sport with the team in 2011, so confident is he in their financial situation.
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