Cyril Abiteboul leaves Renault and will not lead Alpine in 2021

Renault

Abiteboul leaves Renault and will not lead Alpine in 2021

Abiteboul leaves the French company completely ahead of 2021

Ewan Gale

Monday 11 January 2021 15:18 Updated: 15:26

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Cyril Abiteboul has left Renault and will not take the mantle of the re-branded Alpine Formula 1 team for the upcoming season.

Abiteboul had been expected to take up the CEO role at Alpine following Groupe Renault's shift of focus to the classic French brand last year.

The Frenchman's departure is the second big-name departure from the brand after Jerome Stoll resigned from the role of President at Renault Sport.

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Renault has appointed Director of Strategy & Business Development Laurent Rossi to be Alpine CEO.

"I would like to thank the Groupe Renault for having trusted me for many years, particularly with the relaunch and reconstruction of the team since 2016," Abiteboul said.

"The solid foundations of the racing team and the entities in France and England built over these years, the strategic evolution of the sport towards a more economically sustainable model, and more recently the Alpine project which provides a renewed sense of meaning and dynamism, all point to a very fine trajectory.

"I would like to thank Luca de Meo for involving me in the construction of the Alpine Business Unit and I wish the new structure every success."

Renault announced that Rossi would "take charge of Alpine Cars, Sport, F1 and competition activities," with it as yet unclear how the leadership structure of the F1 outfit will be made up given the departure of Davide Brivio last week.

Groupe Renault CEO Luca de Meo thanked Abiteboul for laying the foundations for Alpine to prosper.

"I would like to warmly thank Cyril for his tireless involvement, which notably led the Renault F1 Team from the penultimate place in 2016 to the podiums last season," he added.

"His remarkable work in F1 since 2007 allows us to look to the future, with a strong team and the new Alpine F1 Team identity to conquer the podiums this year."