RACING LINES
The big car makers often struggle to ‘get’ Formula 1. Take Renault. On the one hand, it has a storied history in grand prix racing as both a successful engine supplier and all-in constructor. On the other, it has yo-yoed in and out of the sport over the decades, proving fickle to the merits or otherwise of spending millions to go around in circles.
Renault has contributed so much – and yet you’re often left wondering how long its patience will last until the next rattle/pram moment.
This is generally a more stable time for F1. A strict budget cap and what is effectively a team franchise system make the investment and return sum less risky for car makers than it used to be. But none of them can bear losing.
That’s why it mattered that Renault big cheese Luca de Meo turned up at the F1 new car unveil in its current guise as Alpine at the team’s Enstone base earlier this month. The message was clear: Renault is keeping the faith, despite a high degree of recent turbulence and abject underachievement. Since Renault bought the team (for a second time) in 2016, there has been just one win (Esteban Ocon, Hungary, 2021) and that was down to a dose of luck and opportunism. Last year, on the back of finishing a promising fourth in the 2022 standings, a clear target was for the team to push on and close the gap to F1’s top three. Instead, Alpine slumped to a distant sixth in an oasis of mediocrity. Not good enough. Team principal Otmar Szafnauer paid the price mid-season, and even sporting director Alan Permane – whose time at the team dated back to 1989, when it was called Benetton – was out.
Bruno Famin, best known for steering Peugeot to Le Mans and Dakar Rally wins, stepped in from his wider remit to become interim team principal and has now accepted the role on a permanent basis. Meanwhile, the team has gone aggressive by designing an all-new car around a fresh concept, just like Mercedes. On a grid where a couple of tenths can be the difference between fighting for podiums or scrabbling for points in the outer reaches of the top 10, the stakes are high. If progress isn’t obvious in 2024, will that brittle Renault patience hold?
CRUCIAL TIME FOR DRIVERS
F1 drivers are always under pressure, but this is a big season for Ocon, 27, and team-mate Pierre Gasly, 28. Both are out of contract at season’s end – and both might hope to be considered in contention for the vacant Mercedes drive for 2025, f
