Marcin Budkowski: “Three years of attack beginning”

“It’s going to take three years to be competitive. » This sentence spoken by Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault, at the time of the return of the Losange as a full-fledged manufacturer from the 2016 season, will take on even more meaning at the start of the 2019 campaign.

In constant progress since its return (9th in 2016, 6th in 2017 and 4th last year in the Manufacturers ranking), Renault F1 Team (the name Sport having disappeared for this year) must therefore take a step forward in terms of performance from the Australian Grand Prix.

A step forward for which the French team will be able to count on its new recruit Daniel Ricciardo, arrived from Red Bull Racing, but also with the contribution since the first quarter of 2018 of Marcin budkowski.

The new executive director of the team, whose arrival had caused a lot of turmoil (a former member of the FIA, who had been in close contact with the other teams during this period), recalls that there is no miracle solution.

“We don’t work in the short term, we don’t only hire experienced people but above all young people coming out of university, apprentices, Budkowski tells us. We invest in the future. We are not in the immediate result, we are still rebuilding the team.

We could have done better last year if the short term had been our objective, but it is building a team capable of being world champions that interests us. After three years of construction, three years of attack are beginning! »

Concerning the last exercise, Marcin Budkowski gives an honest picture of the situation. “To the question: “Did we do the best job last year in terms of developing the car?” ", The answer is no. Our progress was intrinsically less good than in 2017 and we are aware of this.

It pushes us to change things in the way we operate. There is a bit of disappointment at not having been able to get any closer to the Top 3, but we must also not forget that we are talking about “catch-up time”.

Which means developing faster and putting more performance into the car than Mercedes, who Ferrari or that Red Bull. »

Discover our meeting with Marcin Budkowski, in issue 2198 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version and on newsstands.