Jolyon Palmer looks set to keep his race seat at Renault for the rest of the 2018 season.
Sources report that the British driver and his father Jonathan turned down the French team’s offer of $3 million to give up the seat to Carlos Sainz for the remaining six races of this year.
Indeed, Renault has now issued its official preview of this weekend’s Malaysian grand prix, quoting Palmer as saying he is looking forward to Sepang.
"The car keeps getting better, I’m certainly improving too so we’ll aim to get another good result," he said.
However, there remains a chance Renault could increase its offer to ’pay out’ Palmer and his sponsors, amid rumours the driver’s camp is pushing for a $7 million fee.
But Spaniard Sainz also seems confident he will stay at Toro Rosso for Malaysia and beyond rather than do an earlier Renault switch.
"No one has said anything about that to me," he told Onda Cero radio.
"I think it would be better to stay in Toro Rosso, completely focusing with the team on completing the season with good performances," Sainz added.