I was hoping more details would emerge after the dust settled, but I can't find much new about what was going on behind the scenes (I may have missed that part of the news cycle).
I get that they didn't exactly follow the original timeline set out, but he really did a great job at Renault and last I had read, he had a pretty bright future ahead of him with the Alpine brand. Losing Danny Ric to McLaren couldn't have helped, but picking up Alonso right at the rebrand has to have been a plus.
Did anything new come to light?
So I got onboard with Formula 1 in 2018, took a break in 2019 and then came back again in 2020. Therefore, I don't know a whole lot about Cyril Abiteboul. However, I've seen a lot of comments where some people like him and some people don't like him. I just want to know, how do the fans generally feel about Cyril?
He seems like a genuinely good team principal with a good vision, he was candid and honest about where Renault is in the pecking order. He was candid about their strengths (PU) and weakness (under estimating how hard it is to build a good chassis). He had good things to say about the strategy for 19, 20 and 21 cars. Good insight into why hiring a big name like Ricciardo was good for the whole team and why Hulkenburg was dropped for Ocon. It all made sense.
I was re-watching Drive to survive season 1 and this quote caught my attention. It's quite clear that Renault not only hasn't progressed but there is a clear argument that the team regressed. The question begs: why is he still Renault's F1 team top dog?
Will he last the season? Will he be back in 2020? Imagine the fall out if Ferrari, Red Bull, or Mercedes were regularly being beaten by teams using their factory engine.....
