Renault's F1 team under review but Cyril Abiteboul remains confident

Renault

Renault's F1 team under review but Abiteboul remains confident

Will the company remain on the grid?

Matthew Scott

Saturday 26 October 2019 15:00

Cyril Abiteboul remains confident that Renault will remain committed to Formula 1 beyond 2020, despite the company's interim CEO Clotilde Delbos recently admitting that the team will be under scrutiny as part of a "deep review" of the French brand.

Away from the racetrack, Renault has gone through a turbulent period, with former CEO Carlos Ghosn arrested last year over claims of financial misconduct and his replacement Thierry Bollore recently voted out of the role by the board of directors.

Ghosn was crucial in leading Renault's return to F1 in 2016, while Delbos was also involved to offer Abiteboul added confidence, but the company's investment has not resulted in a significant return on the track as yet.

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Renault remain without a pole position, race win or even podium since returning to F1 and have this year seen ambitions of catching the top three teams on the grid – Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull – fall short, with fifth likely the limit of their ambitions.

That has seen pressure fall at Abiteboul's feet, but he sees little reason why the decision-making would radically change at the top of the company.

"I can't tell you that, until that process is done, I can't say," Abiteboul said of Renault's commitment to F1.

"It has to be a process. I'm sorry I don't have any confirmation to make further than what I have done already. Let's follow the process.

"But let's be optimistic. If everything is better than what we have now I don't see why we would get to a different position to the one we made in 2015.

"Yes, the market has changed and the sporting results are what they are. The most important thing is can we project ourselves with confidence in that period of time with reasonable results, at a reasonable cost.

"In my opinion, what we will get out of 2021 measures, we're going in the right direction to answer these questions positively."