Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul is using the example of Red Bull as both motivation for Renault and a warning that success takes time.
Red Bull won four consecutive championship doubles from 2010-2013 using Renault power, and is currently second in the constructors' championship with one victory this season. While the Renault works team is struggling with just six points to its name, Abiteboul told F1i he is aware of how long it took Red Bull to finally win races having originally entered F1 in 2005.
“It’s good to see Red Bull as a benchmark, it’s useful and it’s pleasant to see our engine make such progress and that’s of use to everyone, but at the same time it’s a little bit painful," Abiteboul said.
"That said, we’ve been with Red Bull for so many years, we know what they had to go through in their infancy. Their cars were a bit hideous at the start, the transition from Jaguar to Red Bull was not painless. They were looking at their structure, Adrian Newey didn’t join immediately, so I think Red Bull is an example that was not built in a day.
"So we take that into account, we remember also what they did well and what they did wrong and we are factoring that into our plan.”
And Abiteboul says the Red Bull example is important for Renault to cite while it is struggling this season in order to keep spirits high within the team.
“It’s motivation because we see our hard work on the engine side is paying off and their hard work on the chassis side is paying off. So if we do things right, like they did, then there is no reason why there shouldn’t be any dividend up the road for Renault.
"But we have to learn patience, it took them four or five years to get to the level that we see today so we know that it’s going to be the same sort of time if we do things as well as they did.
"It will take time, what matters is do we do the right things as we stand today and frankly there is not much we can do to the current situation to improve the car. We have to accept it, keep the motivation, keep the morale and stay focused on what matters which is really the future.”
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