Renault: “We do not want to be part of such a Formula 1”

Cyril Abiteboul has confirmed he and Renault are very concerned with the increase in the number of B-teams on the grid. There’s the classic, Toro Rosso and Red Bull relationship. This traditionally plays an important part in young driver development, but last year was slightly different. Toro Rosso ran with the Honda engine in 2018, collecting important information ahead of Red Bull’s inaugural year with Honda in 2019.

Haas buys 70% of the parts from Ferrari, and Alfa Romeo currently gets a lot of support from Ferrari. Mercedes meanwhile work closely with Racing Point.

Abiteboul, boss at Renault, claims this is very damaging to the development for Renault. The French team are on a five-year plan to return to the top, but Abiteboul claims this will be hard to achieve if the current B-team situation continues.

“It looks like you will soon be unable to win races if you do not have a B-team. We see this as a serious problem that needs to be recognized by the FIA. We do not want to be part of such a Formula 1,” Abiteboul told Auto Motor und Sport.

Abiteboul believes a partnership with McLaren offers no solution because the teams are almost equal to each other.

Source: GP Blog