MOTORSPORT: Renault loses F1 team principal

Renault Sport Formula One Team managing director, Cyril Abiteboul, has confirmed that the team will not replace outgoing team principal, Frederic Vasseur, following the announcement on Wednesday that he would be leaving the manufacturer by mutual consent.

Speaking at the Autosport International Show in the United Kingdom at a media event to launch technical partner, Infiniti’s 2017 Engineering Academy, Abiteboul said that he believed the team did not require an individual in the role of team principal in order to be achieve its 2017 goal.

“We have a very, very strong structure," he said. "We don’t feel shocked, we don’t feel weakened by the announcement yesterday, which is something I have been discussing at length with Fred.

“We tried to make it work but at some point in time, when it doesn’t work we have to make a decision and move on," said Abiteboul (pictured here to the right of Infiniti global motorsport director Tommaso Volpe yesterday).

“As far as I’m concerned we will not replace Fred in the capacity of team principal. If we feel that we are weakened or held back by the fact that we don’t have a team principal then we will take action but I don’t think this is a necessity at this point in time.”

Abiteboul said the Renault F1 team is focused on moving on from a challenging debut year as a manufacturer and would be pushing to improve its results in the 2017 season.

“I don’t think we should be judged by what we are doing," Abiteboul said. “I think what will matter is the result that we deliver. Everyone is working flat out to achieve the target this year which is that we need to be in the mid-field rather than behind the mid-field.”

Renault’s 2017 race car is set to be revealed in late February ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne over March 23-26.

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