Renault to Reconsider Formula One Program After Negative Publicity and Management Shakedown

As if things cannot any worse for Renault, following their double disqualification, it just did. The French manufacturer has confirmed that its involvement in Formula 1’s future is in serious doubt.

They cannot seem to catch a break, neither on-track or off it either. As it turns out, former CEO Carlos Ghosn was arrested in 2018 on the grounds of financial misconduct. To make matters worse, his successor, Thierry Bollore was voted out of the role by the board of directors.

During his tenure, Ghosn spear-headed Renault’s return to F1 in 2016. Unfortunately, the company’s investment has not yielded any promising results on the circuit.

Renault have not scored a pole position, race win or even a podium since their return to F1. The French outfit set very lofty ambitions of catching Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, this year. Sadly, they have fallen way short of the mark, with McLaren overtaking them in the championship.

Interim CEO Clotilde Delbos recently discussed Renault’s ownership of the Alpine brand and its F1 team, following the recent publication of financial results.

“I’m not specifically targeting those two activities,” she said. “But clearly the review of the ‘Drive the Future’ plan means we put [it] on the table.”

“It’s like a normal process, it’s not a minor review, we’re launching a deep review of the ‘Drive the Future’ plan in order to take into account the new context of the market, the change in usage, mobility etc, and the current situation of the group.

“Everything can be on the table at some point. This is a deep review of our strategy and plan.”

Admittedly, one of Renault’s biggest investments, was signing Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull for this season. Now, in 2020, Esteban Ocon will be partnering the Australian on a two-year deal that will run to 2021. 2021 will also be a crucial year, with a massive overhaul of the regulations and the cars themselves.

“It’s been the most difficult season I have experienced personally,” team boss Cyril Abiteboul admitted in Mexico.

“Formula 1 should create a positive image for the brand. We do not want to invest as much money as we do now and get a negative outcome.”

“We have time to reflect until the 2021 rules are clear. It is obvious that we will analyse not only our results, but also our potential to achieve better results in the future and the current situation in the industry.”

“We have a long-term project, but one of the stages of that is finding out the regulations for 2021. Then we will need to confirm our participation in the seasons 2021-2015.”

“The new leadership will think about whether this really suits us,”