F1 | Renault, Abiteboul does not rule out a future without a partner: "We could think about it in 2021"

At the top of the objectives of Renault reliability stands firm for 2018. After an extremely complicated season from this point of view, the Enstone team has already focused its attention on the performance of the power unit since the Barcelona tests, in order to avoid those technical failures which jeopardized several races in 2017: "We are starting with a conservative approach" - has explained Cyril Abiteboul, Managing Director of Renault, a La Gazzetta dello Sport. “The focus is on reliability, which is important because we have a completely different car from the gearbox to the suspension and so on. A huge leap. Last year we went from ninth to sixth place, so we have to continue. We are aiming for our goals in terms of reliability and performance. But this is just a starting point.".

Furthermore, Abiteboul reiterated how its customers will be treated in the same way by Renault: at least until 2020, when the French team will perhaps need to concentrate all its energies only on itself for the construction of the new engines 2021. “We see Red Bull and McLaren as partners, not as customers. We guarantee that everyone is treated equally. But this is something we could think about when we move to the new generation of engines in 2021." - He admitted.

In the meantime, however, there is another problem to resolve: the motorsport partnership with Red Bull, which it will expire at the end of 2018. “It's too early to say, but I'll just underline one thing: there hasn't been a season without intense discussions with them, and yet we've been together for twelve years” – underlined Abiteboul. “I'm not saying we will be like that in 2019, but we want to clarify as soon as possible this collaboration".

Federico Martino