Abiteboul: “For the moment, I have more pain than pleasure”

Le Carpooling from number 2219 ofSelf, available in digital version and on the newsstands is devoted to Cyril Abiteboul. The Director General of Renault Sport Racing, far from the hectic paddocks of Formula 1 and the lackluster performances of the French team at the start of the 2019 season, provides an unprecedented testimony on the task that has fallen to it since 2016. Selected pieces.

How do you experience the race from the pit wall?

I tend to internalize. There are a lot of people who intervene. I am very vigilant. I try to make sure everyone participates and is heard, so I don't add to it. It's difficult, because we are largely spectators in these moments. It's complicated, especially when it doesn't work. It's a very hard sport.

Our #PicturePerfect from the #MonacoGP has been chosen.
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- Renault F1 Team (@ RenaultF1Team) 28th May 2019

I try, once the emotions have been digested, to draw positive energy from them to make the required changes, so as not to have the slightest complacency because the slightest sign of lightness comes back to your head like a boomerang. Races, I live pretty badly. I like to be in the action and, unfortunately, the Grand Prix doesn't allow me that. I see it more as a passing exam which sanctions everything we have done for weeks, months, years. I find myself with the same anxieties as at school. We are judged every other week in front of millions of people.

Impossible for you to enjoy?

No. Right now I have more pain than pleasure. Even in a season like last year which was a good campaign because we finished 4th. I also measure the extent of the work. We finished 4th, which is great because we stuck to the line drawn for the first three years, but when we are 1”5 a lap, or even 2”, from the best…

I am either evaluating what has happened so far, or projecting what remains to be done to be at the desired level tomorrow. My friends, my family, my colleagues blame me for not enjoying the present moment. This is my character: I am very analytical, in control. It may seem easy from the outside, but we are tackling three ultra-established behemoths, with 100 or 150 million euros less than them. I don't always sleep very well. It's a tiring job. I'm not complaining, but there is a toxic side to it. You leave a little bit of your health there every year.