Renault Sport managing director Cyril Abiteboul has claimed their controversial new executive director Marcin Budkowski is the "perfect" man to take the works team to the next level in Formula 1.
Budkowski, formerly the technical director at the FIA, was confirmed as joining the Enstone-based team last October and immediately that led to an uproar from rival teams who were concerned his knowledge of not only their 2017 cars but also concepts for this year could be passed on to Renault.
Originally, he was slated to start work on January 1 and Abiteboul has revealed Budkowski is indeed now on their payroll, however, in a compromise to appease other teams worries, it was agreed he would not start working on this year's car development until April 1.
"We are recruiting him for his capabilities, his experience, his skills," the Renault chief insisted speaking to Autosport. "He's someone coming with a fantastic CV and he's a perfect fit for building the next stage of Renault in F1.
"We are not interested in the secrets about the other cars and I think a good demonstration is the fact we have accepted basically to keep him in isolation from any chassis development until April."
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Over the next few months, Abiteboul explained, Budkowski would be using his time to adjust to the working environment at Renault and getting to grips with the size of their entire motorsport operation, not just F1.
Once into his official role, it will also not specifically entail working on helping the French manufacturer develop their car either, instead, he will focus on improving the team as a whole.
"The job of Marcin is basically to move Enstone from being a very strong midfield contender to becoming a top team," the managing director said.
"Marcin will really be focused on building the organisation and the operation to make sure we are aligned with our ambition for 2020-2021 when we want to start fighting for the championship.
"I want Marcin to build the perfect F1 team of the 21st century."
