Renault is stepping down its involvement in Formula One after agreeing to sell 75 percent of his racing team to Luxembourg businessman Gerard Lopez.The French carmaker will retain 25 percent of the team, based in Oxfordshire, England, and race under the name of Renault next season. The company will also retain control of its manufacturing base outside ParisThe operation will be sold to Mr. Lopez Genii Capital Investments, one of a coupling of potential buyers.Renault did not disclose financial terms of the deal.A statement from Renault said both sides would push team. Renault will continue to supply engines to Red Bull TeamLopez was an early investor in Skype and based Mangrove Capital Partners, which invests in technology. He is also involved in Gravity, a sport management team that has racing drivers among its customers.Renault F1 insiders say the manufacturer would have suffered a heavy bill if it went out of business or kept the team going.Bernard Rey, President of Renault, said: “Today’s announcement also reaffirms Renault’s commitment and confidence in the sport’s governing bodies to improve the green certificates for Formula One.”The decision is a follow up to the withdrawal of other automakers from the sport. Toyotaquit last month, following the departure of Honda andBMW.Ferrari is the only automaker with a controlling interest in an F1 team. Daimler last month intervals agreed to take 45 percent of the shares of the aforementioned Brawn GP team.Lopez does not intend to run the team himself, but to leave it to professional management.Some members of the Renault on board are believed to have satisfied itself that Lopez did not work with Flavio Briatore, his old team president who left after the race fixing scandal that has engulfed the team this year.Lopez thinks he can make money on F1 and use it to promote their greater commercial interests.“We see the whole environment as an opportunity,” Mr. Lopez said last week at a motorsports Business Forum in Monaco.“The situation is such now that it provides an opportunity for new groups and new investors - it is not a time of uncertainty, but a time of change. Times of change, generally provides an entrance. We believe there is a chance to enter in sport and build a platform that sort of have to reinvent itself. If we were to become a part of F1, we could be part of that reinvention. “Eric Lux, CEO of Genii, said: “Together with Renault, we intend to run the team with the same values as any of our other investments, prioritize ambitious performance goals without neglecting cost.”Separately, Renault said on Wednesday it would expand its short-time system to work until the end of 2010. The system has been operating since February 2009 when the Renault agreement with the unions and government employees will work fewer days to avoid layoffs, as a result of the financial crisis.