Car manufacturer Renault is considering several rival bids for its Formula One team, according to the sport's commercial owner Bernie Ecclestone.

Renault said last month that it would decide its Formula One future by the end of the year.

Ecclestone told UK newspaper the Times that former BAR and Benetton team boss David Richards’ Prodrive company and Gerard Lopez, founder of technology investment company Mangrove Capital Partners and chairman of Luxembourg-based fund Genii capital, are two of four interested parties.

Lopez has also invested in the Gravity Sport Management agency, which represents Ho-Pin Tung, the first Chinese person to drive a Formula One car and recently tested with Renault in Spain.

The Renault board is reported to be meeting in Paris this week to consider selling a controlling stake to outside investors in a partnership deal that would see the team continue to race with Renault engines.