Breaking news
Formula 1
Renault: F1 set for "game of chicken" in 2020
Formula 1 teams will face an intense "game of chicken" this year in terms of when to abandon development of their current car and instead switch all their focus to 2021, reckons Renault.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Feb 15, 2020, 8:26 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
With F1 set for an all-new rules era from 2021, teams know that they need to devote as much resource as they can to the future design in a bid to ensure that they don’t get left behind.
However, they are equally aware that they still need to push on with the current cars as much as possible because otherwise there is a risk of them falling down the order if they stop development too early.
Renault executive director Marcin Budkowski admitted that how to balance out the development programmes for 2020 and 2021 was especially tough.
“I think it is going to be a big dilemma,” he said, when asked by Motorsport.com about the challenges teams faced on the issue. “I think it is going to be a big dilemma for everybody.
“We have a plan, I am sure everybody has, and that plan is to shorten development into the season. It is not less development it is just more concentrated development.
Read Also:
- Renault: 2020 form alone won't be enough to keep Ricciardo
- Renault/Mercedes "agreed" what secrets Ocon can bring over
“It is easy to say this now because the season hasn’t started, but at the front it could be quite interesting if the top three are fighting for the championship and it’s going to be a close fight. It is going to be interesting seeing who pulls the plug first and jumps to 2021. Are Ferrari, for example, willing to switch earlier and take a risk that another team will win?
“To be honest it is the same throughout the field. If it is a close fight for fourth, it is going to be a game of chicken about who blinks first, and who transitions first. But I think it is important we don’t get distracted because 2021 is such a big challenge and the margin of progression on the new set of rules is big.”
Budkowski reckoned the benefits of making an early start to 2021 were so high that if you missed the right window on work then you could end up well off the pace.
“There has been a lot of talk about 'are these rules too restrictive?', and yes, they are more restrictive than now and I think that is intentional to make sure that the championship is more competitive,” he said.
“At the start of a new set of regulations your development rate is massive and we are seeing this. We see a lot of opportunities to gain performance, so if you transition too late you are going to be in trouble for 2021.
“The reality is we will have to understand, by doing more 2021 development, how much potential there is and where we sit in 2020. I think every team will assess this and make their own choices. It can be interesting to watch.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article AlphaTauri presents new-look F1 car for 2020
Next article Wolff: Mercedes dominance hasn't cost F1 fans
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Dec 28, 2024
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Renault F1 Team
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
15 d
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
22 d
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Formula 1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Latest news
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
General
Misc General 3 h
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
9 h
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
10 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe