Breaking news
Formula 1
Renault was nearly a decade behind F1 rivals - Abiteboul
Renault was nearly a decade behind its Formula 1 rivals when it resumed its works team project, says its managing director Cyril Abiteboul.
Matt Beer Jonathan Noble
Edited: Jan 19, 2018, 11:44 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The former Benetton and Lotus team was Renault owned from 2001-09 and then reacquired ahead of the 2016 season.
Although Renault won the 2005 and '06 F1 world championships in the first of those eras and won grands prix as late as '08, Abiteboul says by that time the Enstone facility was already suffering from a lack of investment that would escalate under its subsequent Genii ownership.
"There was clearly a lack of investment under previous ownerships," Abiteboul told Motorsport.com.
"But also at the end of Renault ownership, in the previous cycle, we really lost opportunities to modernise the place.
"If you go back into this sort of 2007/2008/2009 period, it was far from being great and it was the start of the lack of investment in Enstone.
"So we almost need to play catch-up since 2007/2008, so that is almost 10 years where F1 has changed completely the universe."
Despite the scale of the task Abiteboul says Renault faced, he believes it is "really not far" from having comparable resources to its rivals again.
"We have a big job to accomplish and as far as I can see we are aligned with that," said Abiteboul.
"The infrastructure is coming up, people are coming up, the commercial side - I know it is not super exciting, but it is also important to be able to finance that.
"We have had a very successful campaign of acquisition of new partners and they believe in the project, they can see the improvement at the factory but also at the track."
Renault began a recruitment drive during 2016 that took its F1 staff from an initial 400 to past the 500 mark, with its chassis technical director Nick Chester telling Motorsport.com the tally would "probably" reach 700 by the end of '18.
"You certainly have to keep a good eye on it to make sure that the departments are communicating well," Chester added.
"But actually, I have to say the growth we have had since the end of 2015 has actually worked pretty well.
"We haven't really had any big problems of departments not communicating, we have just been able to do more.
"Some of it is just making sure that the levels in the departments are balanced, so the drawing office can keep up with aero and production can been up with drawing office.
"Trying to get the resource splits right is a little bit tricky, but given the amount of people we've increased by it's been quite painless."
Asked if the Enstone facility was now on a par with rival teams', Chester replied: "Not just yet. But it is well under way.
"A lot of the building work is heading into its final stages, and that should be finished off February time.
"A lot of other infrastructure work is already complete so it is probably 70 percent there."
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 F1 to disappear from RAI free to air TV in Italy, a foretaste of UK situation?
Next article Mercedes defends staff contract strategy
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Matt Beer
Ferrari drivers escape punishment for clash
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
Nov 17, 2019
Ferrari drivers escape punishment for clash
Hamilton accepts full responsibility for Albon collision
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
Nov 17, 2019
Hamilton accepts full responsibility for Albon collision
Vettel, Leclerc called to stewards over accident
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
Nov 17, 2019
Vettel, Leclerc called to stewards over accident
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
Why aerodynamics will become "even more important" under 2027 MotoGP regulations
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
Why aerodynamics will become "even more important" under 2027 MotoGP regulations
Sebastien Bourdais hopes latest WEC success will remind teams of his value
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
1 h
Sebastien Bourdais hopes latest WEC success will remind teams of his value
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
2 h
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
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