Interview
Formula 1
Interview: Renault's on-track struggles betray its off-track progress
One year on from a brilliant podium finish with Romain Grosjean at the Belgian Grand Prix, few if any at the rebranded and relaunched Renault team would dare to believe a repeat is possible this time out.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Aug 25, 2016, 10:58 AM
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For although there are high hopes that the French car manufacturer's involvement will deliver great results in the long term, the season so far has been a difficult one for all concerned.
But it would be a mistake to view Renault's failure to march forward in the first half of the campaign as a sign that things have not changed dramatically since the new owners took over.
In fact, there are clearly two sides to the operation: the public side on track that has been difficult and the behind the scenes restructure and reshuffle that is seeing great change take place at Enstone.
As team principal Fred Vasseur told Motorsport.com: "It's true that nothing is changing on stage, or on the stopwatch, but in terms of structure, recruitment and organisation, we are improving a lot.
"This is the most important thing because, from my point of view, it makes no sense to try to gain one or two tenths on track.
"It's much more important for the project to be focused on the structure, to try to develop the structure than to develop the current car. We are spending much more time on recruiting, this is the biggest issue so far."
Playing catch-up
Renault knew from the moment it got involved in taking over Lotus that it would take time for its funding and restructure to pay off on track. That is why from the off it talked only of podium finishes by 2018.
Such conservative targets seem well justified now, especially since it has emerged just how much the Enstone-based operation had been hurt by a lack of investment under previous owners.
And, as Vasseur reveals, it was tough simply for the team to get its 2016 car ready for pre-season testing.
"The problem was that the first part of the season was a challenging period because we were under pressure just to put the car on track," he said. "To be honest, until March/April, we didn't take time to try to sort out something [in the team], we were just focusing on being in Barcelona.
"Then there were the back-to-back races and six months disappears quite fast. For sure it was challenging, but we knew before the season that it would be tough. It is.
"But that's life and we decided quite soon to switch for 2017 because it made no sense to develop the current one.
"Now we have to try to do the best with the 2016 car, but it will be difficult to improve, to be honest, because it's too long a process to develop car parts for the windtunnel and then bring them to the track.
"It is much better [to wait] due to the fact that we are going up in the factory, we are focusing a lot, we are spending a lot of time in recruiting - I think it's much better to start focusing on the future."
Investment, investment, investment
One thing that Renault is not holding back on is funding the changes that it feels will be needed to make the team successful again.
But improving factory facilities, recruiting the right personnel and getting the results of those efforts to show on track are not the work of the moment.
"You know probably more than me that the last three or four years were more than difficult for the team and they were absolutely not able first to survive, which means that investment - forget it," explained Vasseur.
"And if you want to come back to the pace and to recover the level of the other teams, we have to compensate for the investment not done in the past: in the way that we are building up a new factory, by increasing the workshop and the first floor. It's a huge project also.
"It would make no sense to say 'okay, we would work with an extra 150 or 200 people and not increase the factory' but you have so many things to do at the same time."
Enstone spirit
The one thing that Renault has not lost though is the positive racing spirit that helped it battle through the financial difficulties of 12 months ago to deliver that Spa podium.
Vasseur says that there remains some core strengths at the team that he believes are the right foundations to deliver on track when the behind-the-scenes efforts are complete.
"They lost a lot of people the last years but, if you have a look at the atmosphere and in the garage, they are still very motivated," he said. "And I think that's important not just for us, but to know that the guys in the factory and in the garage are pushing like hell.
"If you have a look what they did last year and then between January and the second part of February, it was just incredible. We can be proud of this, but it also shows the motivation and I think it's a good point for the project, it is a good point to have a motivated team."
And it's the internal conviction about the changes that are being made away from the public spotlight that has left the team able to push on and work hard to eke what it can out of its current car.
Vasseur added: "They know from the outside that it's okay. The perception is that we are struggling on-track - it's true.
"But in the factory they know perfectly that we are at 90 percent focused on the future.
"Day after day they are seeing new machinery arriving in the workshop, extensions [being built] - they understand the project and it's much easier to understand the project and see what is the next step when you're inside and not outside."
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