“We Take No Satisfaction in Honda’s Situation”- Renault Slam F1 Over “Failed” Engine Regulations

Ever since Honda announced its exit from Formula One, the sport has been receiving a lot of hate. Renault’s Team Principal, Cyril Abiteboul, is the latest to criticize F1 and feels that sport is going in the wrong direction in terms of technological development.

Abiteboul believes that the current regulation changes do not seem to be as successful as they thought it would. “I want to be very clear that we take no satisfaction in Honda’s situation,” Abiteboul says while speaking to Motorsport.com. “We need to call it the way it is, it’s not a positive development for F1.

“We want an F1 car with car makers, with OEMs, with engine suppliers. And being down to three engine manufacturers is not a positive development.

“We need to draw some clear conclusions from this situation, and it’s something I’ve been urging the government body to look at more carefully,” Abiteboul says.

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“I am not sure we can afford this perception. Either we’re capable of changing this perception of the current engine architecture or probably we need to fast track the adoption of a new architecture so that we get in a better place in terms of perception again.

“I would expect that this development triggers some harder thinking about the scheduling of the next generation of power trains.”

With Honda out of the picture from the launch of the 2022 season, one may assume Mercedes or Ferrari could take over. But Renault might have to supply their engines to both Red Bull and AlphaTauri.

Both Mercedes and Ferrari are already supplying their engines to two different teams apart from their own. A fourth and a fifth does not sound too practical.

Hence, the Honda powered teams have two options on their plate, a manufacturer from outside F1 to power the teams or Renault engines. And the latter seems much more likely.

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The reasons put forward by Honda, not good news for F1: Renault

Cyril Abiteboul mentions that Honda’s reasons for their exit have created a bad image on Formula 1. “It’s just more evidence that we have failed in putting together the right messaging and the right marketing of these engine regulations, which are mind-blowing- there is nothing more advanced in the world in terms of automotive Powertrain.”

Honda, despite leaving Formula 1, mentioned that it will continue competing in other racing series. This clearly proves that the problem is not with the Japanese manufacturers, but with Formula 1.