Drivers back Renault's decision

"It is a decision made by the team and it is also the right one," said Heikki Kovalainen ahead of this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix.

"It is time to focus on next year now we have sorted some of the problems with this year's car and the wind tunnel, all that is correlating well and we are getting the right results from the wind tunnel time to shift focus," the Finn added.

Renault, world champions for the past two seasons, have struggled to match their previous success this year and look set to finish in fourth place in the standings.

The French squad are 38 points behind rivals BMW-Sauber with six races remaining, having scored a total of 33 points in 11 Grands Prix.

The team revealed this week that they are now focusing on next year instead of pushing for big developments this season.

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella also backed the decision.

"Where we are right now I think it is the right decision," Fisichella told reporters. "We went ahead with the development of the car from the beginning of the season, but the gap between us and the leaders is too big.

"There is nothing to do even if we work 100 percent on the 2007 car until the end of the season, but then you are a little bit late with the 2008 car so it is the right decision."