Renault Sport Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul believes Formula 1 bosses should put forward a complete picture of how the future of the sport will look before changing the engine rules in 2021.
Recently, proposals were put forward jointly by the FIA and the Formula One Group, led by CEO Chase Carey and Managing Director of Motorsport Ross Brawn, for alterations to the current power unit regulations but, despite their co-operation in talks, the current manufacturers have been mostly negative in their response with Ferrari threatening to quit F1.
Brawn responded by insisting changes were needed for the good of the sport and admitted surprise at the backlash but support has come from Red Bull who claimed the comments were politically based.
Now lines are being drawn with Carey and Liberty Media keen to introduce fundamental changes to F1, but with resistance almost certain from the powerful teams and manufacturers Renault thinks they are greater priorities than the engines.
“We don’t know what Formula 1 will look like in 2021,” Abiteboul stated to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport. “The chassis, the cost reduction measures, how the money distribution changes — we don’t know the whole picture.
“We have the engine concept but we can only judge that when the other puzzle pieces are together.”
The opposition of the French carmaker will surprise some given how poorly they have performed since the current engines came in, in 2014, however, the Managing Director argued some of the ideas put forward would address matters that may not exist in a few years time.
“From today’s perspective I have to say I don’t like MGU-H,” said Abiteboul, referring to the part of the hybrid system that would be scrapped under the changes. “But by 2020 we will have our problem under control.
“It will be cheaper for the manufacturers and the customers, yet everything will start again at zero with a new engine concept,” he added. “There will again be manufacturers who will find the right and the wrong solutions, dividing the field into two groups again.Therefore, I see no reason to deviate from the existing concept.”
