IGNITION

Renault is still struggling to catch up

It costs an inordinate amount of money simply to compete in F1, never mind win. It’s a lesson Renault is learning the hard way as it struggles to recapture past glories in this hybrid, high-tech era.

Trying to focus on the moving target of Mercedes is proving more challenging than expected, with Renault admitting even the extraordinary financial commitment it’s made since re-acquiring ‘Team Enstone’ (and its debts) at the end of 2015 is still nowhere near enough to reach the ultimate goal.

Renault always intended to win while spending less, but such is the heft of Mercedes’ financial commitment – boosted by favourable contractual terms with F1 and handsome commercial rewards for ongoing success – the financial gap to Renault is growing at a rate that easily outstrips any marginal gains Renault is making on the track.

As Stuart Codling explains on page 52, Renault’s current difficulty earning a tangible return on investment can trace its roots back to the previous downturn it suffered after winning a title double with Fernando Alonso in 2005-06.

F1 is agonising over ways to condense the competitive order, but neutralising the gains Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull have made thanks to years of constant and committed investment is almost impossible. As is trying to catch them while spending less (instead of more) than they do.

Even a budget gap won’t completely solve that conundrum, and eventually the Renault board will probably need to double down or accept the fallacy of sunk cost and disappear completely. That is something Liberty Media can ill afford, especially when you consider warnings from Mclaren team boss Andreas Seidl (profiled on p71) that the level of investment required is prohibitive to new entrants.

His former employer Porsche decided against joining hybrid F1, despite developing a six-cylinder engine, so Seidl should know. That makes Renault’s continuing participation vital if F1 wants to avoid further dilution of manufacturer involvement.

These are critical times for F1, as top drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel question its direction, and time ticks on towards major rule changes that still aren’t agreed (though the concept is at least taking firmer shape, see p19).

Here F1’s latest owners come up against the ageold problem of trying to be all things to all people. Teams, engineers, sponsors, drivers, fans – they all want F1 to be brilliant, but with a definition of brilliance particular to each of them.

The latest ploy to potentially reintroduce refuelling is a classic case in point. It may make the cars marginally more exciting to drive, but it will also very likely make the racing more predictable. Does the benefit outweigh the cost? This is the question everyone, including Renault, must grapple with before facing some inevitable hard choices.