Renault Sport managing director Cyril Abiteboul claims the Enstone team was only a “small factor” in the current predicament faced by Esteban Ocon.
The French driver appeared close to re-joining the squad where he had been a reserve driver in 2016 with a deal in principle agreed with Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff.
Everything changed, however, after the Hungarian Grand Prix with Daniel Ricciardo unexpectedly opting to join from Red Bull and since the takeover by Lawrence Stroll at Force India, it appears a matter of when not if his son Lance replaces Ocon.
With other teams opting to pass on the 21-year-old due to his association with Mercedes, Wolff has grown frustrated at the prospect of his lead young driver not securing a seat for 2019 but Abiteboul doesn’t want to shoulder all the blame.
“Esteban is currently in the middle of a situation of a very adverse set of circumstances, and I think Renault is only a small factor in all of that,” he told Autosport.
“We are a factor, but I think we are only a small factor and I think we should not exaggerate the fact that, again, that we are just a small factor.
“We should not forget the Mercedes decision on its driver line-up. We should not forget the Force India situation and the role that Mercedes has clearly played in the Force India situation.”
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It is understood the agreement in principle between Renault and Mercedes was in the form of a handshake between the two bosses, with Wolff suggesting it would have been if a deal between two “serious corporations” would have “stuck”.
“I can see that Toto, maybe for the first time in F1, is struggling with something, with the situation,” Abiteboul continued.
“I have never denied the fact that we have had lots of interest for Esteban and that we will continue in the future to have lots of interest for Esteban.
“What I can say is that no contract was obviously signed. Otherwise, it would have been challenged by Toto, but for the rest let’s, again, not exaggerate Renault’s responsibility in the Esteban situation.”