Renault says that a decision on it’s F1 future is yet to be decided.
There has been strong speculation that the French car manufacturer is on the verge of immediately announcing a takeover of Lotus to become a works team again, but it’s F1 boss has said things are more complicated than they seem.
Renault F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul said that certain conditions were to be met before it makes a decision on it’s future, which is why he is not yet sure how the situation is going to pan out.
“Unfortunately, I have to say what is out there is much more advanced than the reality,” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com. “I am constantly playing catch-up with the news. The reality is much more complex.
“We said that we were looking at alternatives, that is correct. We said that we were looking at possibly committing long term to F1. That is correct. We think we are really at the end of the road for the role of just being an engine supplier. That is correct.
“The rest frankly at this point of time, as we are talking today, is speculative.”
Abiteboul confirmed that Renault had been through an evaluation process with different teams and that Lotus emerged as the best team to do a deal with. However, it’s not it’s the only option.
He continued to say that without Renault having the right financial platform in place through sponsorship, F1 commercial rights income and investors, that it would not push on with completing a deal.
“There are discussions, there are exploratory talks and there are a number of factors that are going in the right direction. But clearly given the size of the commitment for Renault, we are talking about a potential long-term commitment, we want to be sure to make the right decision.
“This decision will be made on a number of conditions, so we are going through those conditions one by one, keeping our head down.
“I am reasonably confident that we are heading in the right direction, but, unfortunately, there are still a number of conditions that are not met.”
Abiteboul would not confirm what elements were missing to complete a deal, whether it was Lotus related, third-party finance, or commercial rights income.
However, he made clear that unless others showed commitment to Renault’s plans then it would be unlikely to move forward.
“From a governance perspective, we have what it takes to take a very quick decision, assuming we have those conditions met.
“But this opportunity means we cannot bury our head or lose our temper on what looks like a good opportunity. It has to be much more than that. It has to be rock solid because we see if you do not have a proper plan in F1 you get completely crushed.
“If you look basically how money has been centralised; if we do not do the necessary today to be sure that we are within the right part of the grid, we know we have absolutely no chance to deliver what we want to deliver – which is being a top team contender. We have no interest to just participate.
“We know we can do that. But what we want is the ingredients of success and the capacity to win in a reasonably quick time.”
He also added: “I think it is fair to say that we have done all we need to do to advance on our side; so it is up to a certain number of parties to help if they believe in the project, just like Renault believes in the project.
“We believe in the value of F1, but F1 has to believe in Renault.”
