https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/149677/renault-committed-to-f1-despite-exit-rumours Renault has announced that it remains committed to Formula 1, despite rumours about its future after making major cutbacks in its core automotive business. Like other manufacturers the French company has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, and it has announced that it will be cutting 15,000 jobs worldwide as part of an effort to save €2bn over the next three years. The fallout of the departure of Carlos Ghosn, followed by the ousting of his successor Thierry Bollore, created extra turmoil within the organisation. That put a focus on the F1 team, which along with the rest of the company has been subject to a review over recent months. The timing of the end of the current Concorde Agreement this year gave Renault the opportunity to reconsider its future, while the lack of any engine customers for 2021 also made it potentially easier for a withdrawal decision to be made. However the change to the post-2021 cost cap, formally confirmed by the FIA this week, has allowed all team owners and investors to get a much clearer idea of what they are likely to have to spend in future years, with the budget initially restricted to $145m on 2021 and then dropping to $135m by 2023. Image Unavailable, Please Login Clotilde Delbos, Renault's financial boss and currently acting chief executive, has made it clear that the changes are crucial to the company's decision. "We have said publicly and we confirm that we remain committed to Formula 1," she said in a phone call with analysts today. "The announcement of new regulations on spending limits is very good for us because we will have to invest less in this discipline than some of our competitors who spend a lot of money." Renault will enter 2021 with a change in its driver line-up, after Daniel Ricciardo signed a deal with McLaren for next season. In an exclusive interview with Autosport last week, Renault F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul had suggested that the team was looking to stay within F1.
Renault are saying they are staying FOR NOW. I didn't expect them to leave F1 overnight! But that decision, I understand, has been made by the interim CEO. The new CEO, Luca de Meo*, will probably takes some decision once the Covid-19 episode will be over, and the company restarts working. Examining the balance sheet in a year or so will help him make a decision regarding the F1 team. That decision could be made easier for him, if they haven't improve by then. One thing is certain, the big expansion plans announced by Abiteboul early in 2019 will never happen. *Luca de Meo comes from SEAT, and will arrive at Renault only on July 1st.
I don't know why you say that, Hulkenberg can't be an attractive prospect for Renault. If I am correct, Hulkenberg never had a podium in his long career. He never fulfilled promises.
Rumors are of Bottas but Mercedes will keep him. Vettel has no need to reside in the mid pack FA would not be in a team that can't win. He has stated this is his goal. Of course F1 will surprise us. Hülkenberg was never the worst driver. Team dynamics with Ocon are of a consideration as well. At Ferrari Vettel never fulfilled his promise either. They need a skilled experienced driver to be with Ocon. Maybe Perez LOL
Two vipers in the same (snake) pit...again?! We saw how that worked...Ocon is VERY fast but a nasty little so and so who cares only for himself, not a team player.
Was a simple polite suggestion. Renault are a big team but how attractive are they overall. Status in the sport is questionable for now which might make some question an impulse to drive there.
My annoyment was towards Hulkenberg not you Anyway contrary to William with whom we have agreed to disagree on Renault, I am convinced that the staff quality and quantity, the infrastructure growth which has been major, the engine progress (reliability was good last year) is there for progress to be achieved: they have come back in the past and succeeded every time since they turned F1 upside down in a major historical way by imposing turbos. So even though again I dislike Abiteboul I think with all of the above and Prost as advisor -the best ever according to Ecclestone and who really knows F1 better than Bernie?!- I think they can impress us this year. I think Alonso, Bottas etc are keen to see what the team can do before a decision is taken on the 2nd driver. And I am not a fan at all, I just respect them.
I agree on your statements to Renault. I think they seem viable for the near term and seem dedicated to F1 and the changes now appearing. They will have a choice of driver's it appears and appear to be in no hurry to resolve the Ricci seat! I certainly understand that you were not annoyed with my suggestion of driver!
Allow me to be rather doubtful about Renault's chances to ever be a championship winning team again. Any success Renault had was as an engine supplier at times. Alonso's 2 championships owed more to the Enstone team and Flavio Briatore than to any other factor. The same team that under Benetton's ownership and the guidance of the Italian had previously delivered 2 crowns to Schumacher, powered by Ford. So Renault had to buy an English team to get any success; then they sold it to repurchase it again a few years later. You couldn't make it up !!! True that Renault introduced the turbo in F1, but they didn't make it win; in fact, they left F1 then. The bottom line is that Renault can never commit long enough to F1 to ripe success. The socio-economic conditions in France keep questioning the benefits of belonging to F1. At Renaut, the management pays lip service to it, the unions are against it,
Well La France just got 39 billion free money from from tax payers in the Netherlands and Germany, it would be rude not to spend it on a bit of fun.
#I won't rrspond to that, would have to do it in P & R...suffice to say in European union thee is the word UNION, some don't seem to get it, they only want to good bits. but again this here is F1 NOT P & R so let's not go there. William ...Renault won plenty remember the Prost Arnoux days? Many many victories and they were miles ahead, always on pole, boost full on, yes of course reliability was not always there specially at the beginning. And don't ever forget in 1983 Prost should have been world champion, not Nelson Piquet but Brabham BMW had special brew fuel which gave them more power totally illegally. They were CHEATING and everyone knew it, all other drivers said when you followed the Brabs the exhaust fumes were horrible to smell. Renault decided not to protest as they did not want a championship won by disqualification or in court. At the time this was very delicate for BMW all over the world, in France in particular: they were world champions engine suppliers but... So BMW France's full page ads in the major papers the next morning after Kyalami was: "Bravo Renault, merci Nelson." So no mention of Brabham. Then decades later who supplied Red Bull with engines during the 4 Vettel titles 2010-2013?
Well this is the European Union and some countries like Holland during the pandemic have been more selfish than others and forget that it includes the word UNION, they just want the good part of it but it does not work that way. Let's leave it at that, we each had our say, this is not P & R.
The fact remains that Renault didn't win the championship with their turbo "Yellow Kettle" Instead in typical gallic fashion, they sacked Prost who was their best driver. He went on to win 4 WDCs in British teams; well done Alain !. So, Brabham cheated? Prove it! The Brabham should have been protested during the season, not in the end of the year. Why didn't they do it? Why spend millions to accept defeat? It's a very stupid management decision, that leaved them with no argument. By not protesting an illegal car, you endorse it! No point talking about it 30 years later then. Yes, Red Bull won with Renault engines, but not as team Renault!
Not to forget the GP wins and titles with Williams in the 90s. That war really Renault's golden era. Frank Williams and Patrick Head weren't shy of praising Renault, unlike Red Bull later.
Yep I'll refrain from going P*R on this one also as I have some pretty strong views on the EU and their antics
No benefit to striking when demand is so low. You won't see any strikes in the airline industry any time soon...
