Renault is unhappy with Gilles Simon joining PURE
The arrival of former FIA engine director Gilles Simon at engine supplier PURE to provide V6 engines from 2014 does not please everyone. Indeed, Renault believes that the Frenchman had access to privileged information from all the current engine suppliers, giving PURE a competitive advantage.
Rob White, the engine manager at Renault, believes that Gilles Simon was informed, as part of his duties at the FIA, about the development plans of each manufacturer: «My initial reactions are rather predictable and understandable from my point of view. From a personal and professional standpoint, we have had good relations with Gilles for a long time, both in his current position for a few more days and in his previous position at Ferrari. Of course, it is a problem for all of us who have worked with the FIA and Gilles over the past year, 18 months, to have given unprecedented access to Gilles. We certainly did so at Renault, and I believe all the other engine manufacturers did as well. Especially regarding the progress of our own engine development programs alongside all the regulations.»
He would like a segmentation of the information that the engineer will be able to use in Craig Pollock’s structure. « Of course, we are eager to be reassured that the information Gilles received under such particular conditions as a representative of the FIA will not be used in his new role as an employee of a competitor. »
He is therefore asking for confidentiality agreements that prevent individuals in such positions from being able to quickly join a competitor, similar to the model that prevented Charlie Whiting, the FIA’s technical director, from joining a team around ten years ago: « It’s a very complex sport. In order for the technical and sporting regulations to be administered effectively, we ask the governing body to have competent individuals, and they likely request access to the teams. Therefore, there is a clear risk that we must manage if these same individuals can switch allegiances very quickly.
However, transfers between teams are common, as shown by Sam Michael’s statement about staying in F1, even when his time at Williams comes to an end. To address such issues, teams give their employees extended leave before they join the competition. Thus, the Korean Grand Prix will be the last one Sam Michael attends on behalf of the Grove team. But in a technologically advanced world like F1, today’s truth is never the same as tomorrow’s, and today’s information will likely no longer be valid by 2014. But undoubtedly, it provides a very good starting point for the structure set up by Craig Pollock.
With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr
