Vasseur exit brings 'clarity' at Renault, says Prost

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Four-time Formula 1 world champion Alain Prost says Frederic Vasseur's departure from Renault F1 has brought 'clarity' to the team.

Vasseur exited the team at the beginning of the year, announcing his departure with immediate effect on January 11.

The Frenchman, who is also team boss of the ART team in F2, said at the time that he left Renault by mutual consent.

He later added that it had made sense for him to leave because there "was too much different vision in the management of the team."

Speaking ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Prost echoed Vasseur's comments. He said the upside of Vasseur's exit was that there was now clarity at the top of the team.

Cyril Abiteboul: How Renault intends to return to the top

Vasseur has not been replaced, and managing director Cyril Abiteboul has taken over the running of the team.

"For me, it's hard to judge why it did not work, but the fact is that Fred is no longer there," Prost told France's Auto Hebdo on Thursday.

"The responsibilities now rest on Cyril's shoulders. The benefit is that it is clear," Prost added.

He said that it was a "shame" that Vasseur had left.

"But I make one observation," he said. "When things do not work out, on one side or another, you take the consequences.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.