New Renault chief Vasseur wants “results from the first year”

2016 F1 season

Posted on

| Written by

Renault 2016 F1 team launch

    Renault has appointed former ART team boss Frederic Vasseur to head up its Formula One team as racing director.

    Vasseur has enjoyed success with his ART team (previously known as ASM) in GP2, GP3 and Formula Three, winning championships with several current F1 drivers including Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Nico Hulkenberg, Romain Grosjean.

    Most recently he took Stoffel Vandoorne to victory in GP2 and Renault’s new reserve driver Esteban Ocon to the GP3 crown.

    He has close connections to Renault having first used their engines in F3 20 years and more recently setting up chassis builder Spark which collaborates which builds cars for the Formula E championship where Renault is highly active.

    Vasseur described Renault’s F1 ambitions as “a mid-term project” but stressed they want to see clear improvements in 2016.

    “We know the target for the next two or three seasons,” he said. “But we know also that we will need to deliver some results from the first year and I think that we can consider that we have the good drivers for this for next year.”

    “For sure it’s a huge challenge for everybody, for me also<" he added. "I know the step is very high but I know also the motivation in Viry-Chatillon, in Enstone, from everybody and we can be quite confidnet."

    2016 F1 season

    Browse all 2016 F1 season articles

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

    Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

    23 comments on “New Renault chief Vasseur wants “results from the first year””

    1. Probably an uphill battle considering they didn’t start working on the new car until january.

      1. 2face, to make matters worse, Renault’s decision to delay taking over the team for several months meant that Lotus temporarily halted development on the car in 2015 due to a lack of funding (the “new” car is rumoured to effectively be a B-spec version of Lotus’s 2015 car that’s been hastily modified to accept the Renault power unit).

    2. If anyone can lead this team to success, it’s Vasseur. ART Grand Prix is a single-seater dynasty that he co-founded. He brought Hamilton, Rosberg, Hulkenberg, Bianchi, and Vandoorne to international prominence. With the backing of Renault behind him, it may take time, but he can and will lead a winning team.

      1. And Bottas!

    3. Renault can get back on track, but that’s if they find a way to get Ross Brown !

      1. Assume you meant Ross Brawn….?

    4. Watching the full launch.. I cannot help to feel this is a bit… out of place “results from the first year”.

      I’ll be suprised if they can score a podium first year… and to improve upon last year .. they need a second place.

      Greatest victory for them would be occasionally beating Red Bull on engine parity.

      That being said, they are rightfully treating this as a mid term project. Head honcho Ghosn, set them a goal of scoring some victories in 3 years. That does not sound to ambitious, Enstone team is more reliably on podiums last 3-4 years than McLaren for example. And they did all that amidst epic financial difficulty. Not worrying about their next paycheck should help them perform better.

      Then the question is… Le Engin’e how fast can they make it good? Also there is substantial respect to be gained as a well fighting underdog. If they can get in to a position to sneak out some victories from dominant team in 2018… that’d be probably the best publicity they can hope for.

      All Good stuff I hope they succeed.

      1. Greatest victory for them would be occasionally beating Red Bull on engine parity.

        RB vs Renault, the most intriguing battle for minor points in years. Not being sarcastic, I’m really looking forward to it.

        1. Hmmm RB higher downforce, slower top speed, Renault slippier and higher top speed, less downforce in the corners.

          It will indeed be interesting!

          1. @captainpie

            How does Renault have higher top speed? Sure, when they had a Mercedes hump in back. But they don’t. They have the *cough* Renault *cough* engine now. RB ended 2015 with the best chassis and aero and have been developing the 2016 car full tilt since then.

            Renault/Lotus – not so much. I do anticipate Renault finishing ahead of Manor though.

            1. RB are known for their aero skills so it will stand to reason they will retain a high downforce package, which will impact top speed.

              The Renault/ Enstone team have never had the same level of downforce, meaning their car will be slippier and be faster on the straights.

              This is why teams like Toro Rosso and Force India often have a decent score on the speed traps. :)

    5. I’m finally excited to have Renault back on the grid. Pastor’s gone, so it shows they’re serious about getting results. Now they’re getting one of the most successful team manager’s in GP2’s history as a racing director. Plus they have a young talent in Ocon on the horizon. They might not set the world ablaze in 2016, but I expect them to become a top 4/5 team in 2017.

    6. As I understand it, Red Bull supplied their own hybrid system and not a Renault one, but I haven’t been able to confirm that. If it is true, then that is unfortunate for Renault because it meant for 2015 they were just an engine supplier and not an engine and hybrid system supplier, meaning now they are at least a year behind in the hybrid technology (and having to rush to get the car ready for this year will mean they are more than a year behind). On the plus side, they do have the experience from the Formula E series.
      I am hopeful this year’s car will be a good car.

      1. I would be surprised by that seeing as the power unit is a single product, not something you can choose parts of.

        It will have been designed, developed and built from the ground up as a single system.

      2. Stop believing every forum poster that posts whatever silly think comes to his mind. Red Bull did nothing and it will do nothing this year too.
        They receive what Renault gives them. That is all.
        This power units require a full built They can’t be built separate like that.

    7. The following quote from Renault Sport Racing president Jerome Stroll was published on the *same day*:

      “At the end of the day [we have] to prepare the roadmap that we have in mind which is to be in the podium after three or four years. So 2016 will be a year of transition where we have to prepare our future.”

      I guess we can crown the new Renault team as the Hedge Fund of F1 Pre-Season Predictions ;-)!

    8. I’m confused. This Renault guy say he wants ‘results in 1st year’ (well even last is a result) yet elsewhere we are hearing that ‘2016 is a transition year’ etc and ‘podiums are 2-3 years away’. Is the left hand even talking to the right? They don’t even seem to have a clear direction, just ‘it will get better’. Kinda vague, who’s in charge there exactly?

      1. Hi EF1. Results do not necessarily mean points. Having a successful transition year – whatever that entails – will be considered a good result. They will look at their situation, look at the competition, and work out what is achievable. Then they will aim a little higher than that. But I doubt anyone in the team considers podiums in 2016 as anything more than a nice-to-have.

    9. At least they now have a bunch of staff that got a good look at the Mercedes engine for a whole year :-)

      1. Definitely! Worked like a charm for McLaren Honda :)

        1. hahaha, touche. :-)

    10. I’d be greatly surprised if they are as competitive this year as Lotus was last year because unfortunately they have to go back to the Renault PU.

      I’m expecting them to be the Caterham of 2016.

    11. Not being the last team in WCC 2016 will be a good result.

    Comments are closed.