In times of Covid-19, Renault is patient (2/2)

Continuation of the first episode

Virtual successes, real benefits

While waiting for this horizon, the Losange is already shining on the Esport field. Its Chinese test pilot Guanyu-Zhou thus won the Virtual Grand Prix of Bahrain, while his Danish comrade from the Renault Sport Academy (RSA), Christian Lundgaard, took a good 2nd place, behind Charles Leclerc, during the second round of the virtual championship organized by Liberty Media.

The holder Esteban Ocon is not the last either when it comes to going for miles online, but the Norman prefers the Gran Turismo simulation to the game F1 Official.

Associated with the French structure Vitality, one of the heavyweights in the sector, Renault also organized its first Esport event last week with, headlining, Ocon and Hadrien David, one of the 2020 recruits of the RSA.

If he estimates with humor “Being too old for that”, Abiteboul recognizes the merits of simracing in terms of exposure and interaction with fans, even more so at a time of widespread confinement.

“It’s a real media, entertainment and performance platform, observes our interlocutor. We are keeping a close eye on this phenomenon. We are lucky to have young drivers who are also excellent simracers. We highlight them because it makes sense.

It’s a good way to maintain a link with fans, especially the youngest who can identify, compete and participate in competitions, I find it really nice. Afterwards, I am not in favor of imposing anything on our regular drivers in areas where they are not comfortable.

Liberty encourages us to participate but there is no obligation to group together Hamilton, Hag et Ricciardo. People need to stay true to who they are and what they love.”

However, the Australian from Renault, who currently resides on his family farm near Perth, does not have the same appetite for online competitions as his French teammate.

The “world after”

If the teams will be able to keep the same car next year in an effort to reduce costs, what about the duo of drivers who will defend the colors of the Losange? Recruited from Mercedes, Ocon has a two-year contract, while Ricciardo's expires at the end of the 2020 campaign.

The current situation has necessarily pushed the transfer market into the background, but Abiteboul admits that the question will have to be decided at some point.

“It’s complicated for Daniel as it is for us, specifies the main team. We wanted to see the spirit, the performance, the way the team worked during this second year together, what progress we had made on the car, and also see how he felt.

We discussed a schedule to identify the key stages where we wanted to talk. All that was in a normal universe which has since been shattered. Afterwards, we are already talking about this aspect, because he wants to see where he is going.

I don't have any big revelations to make to you. Daniel is an option for us, that’s obvious. But we must consider others. The absence of races makes things more complicated to make the right decisions, but we cannot put them off forever.

We talk a lot with Jérôme (Stoll, President of Renault Sport Racing. Ed.), Alain (Cheers, non-executive director of Renault F1. Editor’s note), and the Renault management committee on this issue because it is a strategic subject.”

Beyond his discussions, Abiteboul, like his drivers, is eager to be able to resume competition. “Racing remains the backbone of everything we do, he observes. We must be careful not to fall too much into literature, in the figurative sense of the term, and remain very concrete.”

What is concrete for Renault is also participating in the fight against the coronavirus, both in the United Kingdom through the use of its factory.enstone as part of the Pitlane Project which brings together all the teams based on English soil, as well as in France with the cutting-edge technology and engineering site that is the engine department of Viry-Châtillon (Essonne).

As the conversation digresses, the boss of the Jaunes-et-Noirs explains to us how this double example also highlights the industrial decline of our territory, unfortunately.

“We saw the difficulties we had in having a Formula 1 factory in France, he points. We still have installations that are very high technology, move quickly, and are agile but which, unfortunately, are not capable of producing.

Today, we can no longer turn on a news channel without people asking the question of France's industrial independence on a certain number of essential goods. Well we have two models.

On the one hand, we are able to participate very quickly in the design and manufacturing of new products with Enstone. And on the other, in Viry, we don’t have this capacity and in a way we regret it. The site followed the same path as many others in France with deindustrialization.

Each of the two entities participates in national projects according to their respective skills to produce health goods in high demand. These are enriching experiences which once again show the agility of Formula 1.

When you know how to make racing cars, you know how to do a lot of things that can be transferred and applied in completely different areas. It’s quite satisfying.”

If we have not finished debating the contours of the famous “world of After”, Renault already has its eyes turned towards Formula 1 of After with ambitions that are certainly offbeat, but anything but confined.