LEGAL EAGLE: RENAULT TO QUIT OR NOT TO QUIT FORMULA 1?...
LEGAL EAGLE: RENAULT TO QUIT OR NOT TO QUIT FORMULA 1? http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/701706/Legal_Eagle_Renault_to_quit_or_not_to_quit_Formula_1/ Renault’s latest rumoured pull out of Formula 1 comes complete with multiple ironies which Legal Eagle has pointed out in what we hope will be regular contributions from his legal perspective of our sport. It has recently been reported that the French team’s management are questioning whether the enormous cost of F1 is worth it given Renault’s poor results and loss of engine customers. Renault has joined other teams pushing for, among other things, a budget cap and changes to the technical regulations to level the field. Ironically, in May 2009, Renault threatened to quit F1 if the $60-million budget cap proposed by then FIA President Max Mosley was implemented. Granted, that proposal included a regulation freezing technology for teams that did not adhere to the budget cap, while allowing more technological freedom for teams that did agree to the budget cap. But at the time, it seemed that Renault was all for spending money. From a technology perspective, Renault was a driving force behind the adoption of the current, expensive, and technologically complex, hybrid F1 engine. In 2010 and 2011 it was widely reported that Renault threatened to quit F1 if a “greener” engine design was not adopted. On June 7, 2011, Renault threatened to quit F1 if a “greener” engine formula (initially proposed as a 4-cylinder hybrid) was not adopted for F1. That was confirmed on November 17, 2011, when it was reported that, then Renault F1 engine boss, Jean Francois Caubet, told journo, John Reed, that “Renault threatened to pull out of F1 altogether if the new generation 2014 engine wasn’t introduced, ‘We pushed the FIA to conclude on new regulation – concluded in June. Either the new regulation is clear and we will stay in F1 or we keep the same engine and Renault will stop,’ he said.” Only four days after their 7 June, 2011 quit threat, it was reported that even the French manufacturer was happy with the compromise design of a V6-hybrid. Ironically, Renault has obviously found the current engine design more complicated than they can handle. Since 2014 their F1 engine has been hampered by unreliability and poor performance relative to the competition; first to Mercedes, then Ferrari and now, it seems, Honda too. This has cost them customer arrangements with both Red Bull and McLaren severely reducing the income available to fund new engine development. Hence the current plea for “changes to the technical regulations to level the field.” With the engine formula changing for 2021, there is no Megatron-like buyer for Renault’s current engine technology and related operations. They could remain as an engine supplier under certain circumstances. As it would be uneconomical to just close the team down, a sale of the team is likely if Renault do quit or not to quit F1. Given that there are still plenty of wannabe F1 team owners willing to throw their money away by owning a team, a buyer is likely to step up. However, it is probably not financially justifiable to develop a new engine for just one customer team. Whether other teams needing an engine supplier are admitted to the F1 fraternity in 2021 remains to be seen. Regardless, new, smaller, and likely less successful teams, may not be the best showcase for Renault from a corporate identity perspective. There are, interestingly, long overdue matters that the FIA could do to make motorsport more commercially justifiable on a number of levels. But then these are the folks that brought us the “one helmet design per F1 driver” rule. So unless F1 under the 2021 rules, and/or motorsport at the top level, becomes more financially justifiable, it really could, finally, be the end Renault in F1. Pour l’instant!
Meh, just like Mercedes, they´ll threaten to quit until they get a good deal. I think Ferrari has signed recently so they´ll be quiet for a while. BTW, maybe teams should not be allowed to get individual deals with Liberty. They´re always complaining about inequality but I suppose that the old "divide and conquer" is still useful.
If Renault leave F1, it's probably because they can't afford it anymore, so I cannot see them engaging in another world series so soon.
Toto Wolff and Yamamoto declared that Mercedes and Honda can also retire. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mercedes-future-presence-2021-wolff/4595817/ https://f1i.com/news/351400-yamamoto-holds-out-hope-for-honda-f1-future.html So if the worst happens and everyone retires only Ferrari will be here. Maybe they should think of simpler and less expensive engine rules for everyone to continue and for new manufacturers to arrive.
The main factor behind Honda's Formula 1 future decision https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/147343/the-main-factor-behind-honda-f1-future-decision By Scott Mitchell @ScottAutosport Published on Monday November 25th 2019 Honda must reduce its spending to stay in Formula 1 because cost is the biggest issue as the manufacturer weighs up continuing its engine programme beyond next season. The Japanese company has had comfortably its best season since it returned to F1 in 2015, winning three races with Red Bull and claiming two pole positions. Honda is committed to the 2020 season with Red Bull but must decide by the end of this year if it wishes to sign up for 2021 and the next rules cycle, which features the same engine technology but greater research and development restrictions. "We have started to calculate how much it will cost with the future regulations," Honda's F1 managing director Masashi Yamamoto told Autosport. "We have noticed that it's very tough for all the car manufacturers at the moment, because of the environment change for electrification. So, we are summing up the development cost and having discussions internally." Asked if cost-cutting was the biggest factor in the decision to continue, Yamamoto added: "It is true that the cost is the biggest issue. Winning is the first priority. Once we decide to participate, we just try to win." Max Verstappen earned Honda its three victories this year and is on the brink of scoring more points than any Red Bull driver in this engine era and finishing third in the drivers' championship, which would mark his best result in F1. "It's positive to have good results," said Yamamoto. "But more important thing is a balance with the cost. We have to put lots of budget to accelerate our development to catch up the top runners. And now we are planning how to maintain current condition and reducing the cost at the same time." Yamamoto said that while "it is true that we haven't caught up" entirely to its competitors, it was essential that Honda ties to reduce cost from "any area" in order to continue in F1. Honda had previously indicated it would wait for F1's 2021 regulations to be published before being able to proceed with a final discussion over its future, and Yamamoto is broadly satisfied with the new rules, which do not affect engine manufacturers beyond the limited dyno testing. However, that has an impact on Honda because even if the company reduces its own budget the rules will put a limit on what can be spent on development. Yamamoto admitted there were other potential avenues to explore with the rules to cut costs, such as some common engine parts. "That was one idea," he said. "But overall, maybe we are still behind, so it might have been a bit difficult to use common parts. [But] taking the example of commons parts, if the FIA could have shown that in 2025 they can distribute this [example] part as a common part, maybe it could affect our decision to continue or not. Because [then] we can see a bit more longer-term with the budget."
There's no point to being there as long as Abiteboul is running the show. Maybe they will sell to Lotus again!
