Last year, Lotus was forced to stop the development of its E23 and was without motorhome repeatedly for lack of paid invoices. Renault had to wipe out the debts and took over the reins of a team in very bad shape. This situation is reminiscent memories to Bob Bell, Technical Director F1 du Losange.
“I think there are similarities,” estimated Bell ESPN . “When I left at Mercedes [2011, ed], it was really the mold of the Brawn team that used Honda.”
“Although sure, when Honda withdrew and became Brawn, many people have been laid off, the number of employees fell and the first thing he had to do was put up a structure that would meet the challenge ahead of the then current car, the next car and the car in 2014. “
” at one stage, we conducted three development programs in parallel, thus it was necessary to establish the necessary structure to deal with and build the resources to get the results. There really are similarities between the two programs, so I’m not into the unknown, it is clear. “
clauses in the contracts for engineers
Rebuild Renault F1 is however not an easy task. Indeed, in modern Formula 1, engineers often have in their contract a clause that prohibits them from working for another team just after leaving their current team, in case of separation.
they need such wait six months or a year to join another structure after their departure, so that the rival team does not know all the secrets of its competitor.
“It’s difficult, because these days in Formula 1, most good engineers have a long-term contract with long waiting periods if they wish to change teams,” confirms Bell . “So we can not recruit blood suddenly fresh. We have a stable growth plan and we know that it’s for the long term.”
“therefore, we are simply not prepared to take what’s available. We’ll pick the right people to suit the team, working well with the team and work with the right principles. We will take our time we will get the right people and we will not take shortcuts. “
Bell reveals Renault’s ambition: to recruit 180 employees for the season 2018. ” Our plan growth will see us move 470 people currently to 650 within 18 months to two years. it’s possible, but we must make sure to do it in a manageable way and end up with the right people. “
an unfailing support of Diamond
in an era where car manufacturers come and go in Formula 1, Bell is certainly confident that Renault is supporting this project in the long term, having set a goal to get on the podium in three years.
“Renault is very experienced in motorsport and short Grand Prix for over 100 years, and when they say they will commit somewhere they undertake “ highlights the Northern Irishman.
” they will support us 100%, they will us support with the budgets we need to do the job, but they will expect us the results, they will wait for us a good report results / costs, and they will wait for us to attract revenue from existing sources and new sources. We can not expect them to pay the whole bill. “
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