Renault’s Formula 1 project hit its first major stumbling block in 2019 as it slipped to fifth and failed to make in-roads on the front-runners. What went wrong, and what’s next? Motorsport Week continues its end-of-season review.
When Daniel Ricciardo jumped ship from Red Bull it was a genuine jaw-dropping move that stunned the Formula 1 paddock. Renault had secured a big-name signing. It was making gains with the engine. Its chassis was also on the up. Heading into 2019 it looked best poised to try and rattle the cages of the top three teams and pick up the pieces if an opportunity fell its way.
But instead it was usurped by McLaren, failed to take any silverware, and spent the year firmly entrenched within the midfield action.
It was a year in which not a lot went right for the manufacturer, which has its operations split across France (engine) and the United Kingdom (chassis).
Fundamentally it produced an uncompliant chassis that was not developed adequately, powered by an engine that, while substantially stronger than previous years, still lacks the ultimate might of the very best.
The signs were there early on when initial optimism started being played down, with the idea of podiums dismissed, and the emphasis that the target was on maintaining its position atop Formula 1’s midfield. Pre pre-season talk of reeling in the front-runners was shunted into the scenery.
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An indifferent display in Australia confirmed such expectations while in Bahrain a mixed performance ended in a horror show when a double MGU-K failure, attributed to a faulty conrod, halted its cars simultaneously with just a few laps left. It meant Renault had to focus on reliability over performance for a hatful of events and for much of the campaign Renault was left chasing its tail, left to fight with Toro Rosso and Racing Point while customer team McLaren pulled clear. A smattering of update packages did not yield the expected gains while the overall performance was fundamentally best at low-downforce venues, with Canada and Italy the best rounds for the R.S.19. That nonetheless at least demonstrated the gains made in the engine department after years of underperformance. A narrow operating window in qualifying did not help its cause, meaning Renault often qualified worse off than its ultimate race pace, leaving it on the back foot. By the time the sport left Abu Dhabi there was relief that it had scrabbled across the line to hold fifth in the standings, just six points clear of Toro Rosso.
“Speaking with the aero guys, the philosophy of how we designed the car, and especially the front of the car this year [was wrong],” said Ricciardo. “They are pretty confident that that was not the best way to go. Looking at some other teams, to develop the car we can change that and get a lot more out of it as the year goes on. With the updates we didn’t really get that much, so we have a bit in hand. We certainly have the resources and the budget to do so.”
Renault enacted changes by axing Peter Machin and Nick Chester, while recruiting Pat Fry (on gardening leave until mid-2020) and Dirk de Beer, as part of a wider reshuffle. It underlined where Renault felt it took a mis-step but to pin the blame solely on the aero department would be egregious. Renault’s reliability was still sub-par, operationally it did not take advantage of its chances – and was overly conservative with some strategies – while its drivers also have to take their fair share of the blame.
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Ricciardo accepted early on that he was struggling to rein back his style, reckoning it was more challenging to make a step down than a step up – pointing to his own move to Red Bull in 2014 and the ease with which Charles Leclerc joined Ferrari. The two-day Bahrain test facilitated his cause but he still made a few mistakes as he endured a scruffier season than perhaps might be expected.
What Ricciardo did do was bring a winning mentality to a team that was sometimes too conservative. Ricciardo pointed to the natural confidence that was lacking within Renault – compared to Red Bull – when he first joined, viewing its strong result in Canada as something of a turnaround, even if the pace thereafter was inconsistent. “I don’t feel like [when] they got into a slump, we were kidding ourselves and [thinking] this was where we belong,” said Ricciardo on the lows after a good result. “It was no, no, let’s get back to where we belong.”
Nico Hulkenberg had a fairly quiet season and needed to grab the initiative early on from Ricciardo, having already been handed a warning shot by team boss Cyril Abiteboul that it was now or never. Ricciardo soon held the edge though Hulkenberg can consider himself unfortunate to often be on the wrong side of the strategy game (losing out to some baffling decisions) that cost him points. Nevertheless, Germany epitomised his career: superb pace in the slippery conditions until a misjudgement left him on the side lines. With Esteban Ocon sniffing around Hulkenberg’s fate was sealed. There will be lesser drivers on the 2020 grid but Hulkenberg’s time has passed.
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Renault’s season was also hindered by a couple of other misdemeanours and external factors. The automated brake bias saga in Japan cost it points, and did not aid its reputation, while speculation remains over its long-term future in the championship owing to a global decline in Renault sales. Its interim CEO confirmed nothing is off the table, including Formula 1, after a tumultuous 12 months for the Renault brand, following the Carlos Ghosn fallout and axing of successor Thierry Bollore. In Formula 1 terms it has also lost McLaren as a customer post-2020, meaning Renault will be flying solo on the grid. It can be viewed as a positive or a negative depending on your perspective.
“There’s been many tough moments,” assessed Renault boss Abiteboul. “There’s been good moments also. I think it’s important to take a bit of distance, so if you ask me, it’s really to manage, to learn about the resilience that you need in that sport.
“[We still want] to bridge the gap with the top teams. That will be the next difficulty and still the target for us. It’s a target for 2021. Everything in our programme has been built around that long-term target of 2021 because, in accordance to our strategy, that’s really the first opportunity to make that happen. But before 2021, there is ’19, there is ’20. And there is a short-term result and a short-term pressure that everyone is putting on all of us. And that’s fine. Again, that’s part of the sport.”
Renault may be looking forward to 2021, and the opportunity to reset, but if it is to realise its long-term ambitions it cannot afford to have another season of struggle.
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