Interview – Alain Prost (Renault F1 Team): “There is a problem of perception of our status as a factory team”

If the Monaco Grand Prix allowed us to offer you an inside look with the Renault F1 Team, we also have another surprise for you… an interview with Alain Prost! Conducted with several fellow journalists, we had the opportunity to meet “The Professor” for 30 minutes.

On the menu, a varied discussion about the current situation and prospects of the French team’s involvement in the premier discipline. Here is the transcript of a rich interview that we would have liked to see last even longer, given how valuable the four-time world champion’s insight is.

Alain, how do you analyze the Renault F1 Team’s season start, which has only collected 14 points in six races?

The start of the season is obviously not quite what we had hoped for. Although we saw this winter during testing in Barcelona that it was not so easy to see where we could position ourselves in the hierarchy.

First of all, we encountered an engine reliability problem at the beginning of the season. I won’t hide it from you, it disrupted our development, especially on the engine design side. You take the second Grand Prix in Bahrain, we should have finished 6th and 9th, in the end, we scored zero points: it changed a lot of things in our progress…

This is Formula 1, when you have points and a good position, you have moral. Conversely, in our case, we have fallen back into a negative dynamic: especially since it was unexpected, we had to analyze the engines inside out… From there, we no longer had the same references at all.

And then?

We have entered another phase, a slightly more positive one: after Bahrain, reliability improved very quickly. There has also been quite a bit of development on the engine’s performance. Of course, we are still lacking a bit compared to Mercedes, but we can say that the gap has narrowed compared to last year. In this area, we are now relatively confident. When we analyze this, we see that the difficulty mainly comes from the chassis: currently, we are not at the top in this area.

What is the issue precisely with the chassis of the R.S.19?

« The problem comes from the tires with thinner casings (Editor’s note: decrease in tread depth) and different heating systems (Editor’s note: the temperature of the rear heating blankets decreased between 2018 and /f1/actualite/23330-exclusif-monaco-immersion-avec-le-renault-f1-team-.html, dropping from 100°C to 80°C). This year, the tire operating window is incredibly narrow! This applies to all teams on the grid but on our side, we are suffering a lot, which impacts the aerodynamic support on the car.

So it’s a bit complicated. We know that we lack a lot of things but we also don’t fully exploit all the potential that we still have available.

After, the analysis we are doing here is necessarily done in relation to the objective we set ourselves. If we had set the goal of being world champion this year, we could indeed be worried! On the other hand, if the goal is to bring the team to the top in the coming years, as is currently the case, there is still reason to be serene.

We still have the impression that Renault has been stagnating for a few years…

« No, I do not agree with this assessment! When we bought the team in 2015, probably a little too late in the season, there were people but there was nothing left in terms of structure!

It was necessary to rebuild everything, which was not simple: we may be in the most complicated period of F1, with this incredibly complex hybrid engine and these regulations that mean 80% of the performance comes from aerodynamics. And in this regard, we need a large and quality workforce, while still having money to carry out wind tunnel simulations… We didn’t have all that when we bought the team!

You know, to hire quality engineers, the waiting time can go up to a year and a half. (Editor’s note: there is often a waiting period of several months for the arrival of an engineer in a new team). All these elements I mention are not excuses. But that’s why you have never heard me talk about long-term goals, I remain cautious!

« When you are a constructor as experienced as Renault, you have the image of power. It’s a trap!

But then, what is the interest for a manufacturer like Renault to be in Formula 1 if it’s not to have results and to be just considered as a mediocre team?

« That’s the problem, there is this image problem! We are seen as a big team but we have just renovated Enstone! We have hired 200 people in the past year and a half, a little more for Viry-Châtillon. There are 1,200 of us on the two sites, which is still 50% less than the big teams like Mercedes and Ferrari.

But we cannot and do not want to do more! It would be foolish with the arrival of the 2021 rules, where we are just starting to work on it. And since we do not know the budget limit, we cannot make a distribution. We hope, in any case, that it will be at our level and not at the level of Mercedes or Ferrari, who have twice as much money, this is one of the key points of the upcoming Concorde agreements.

For me, you have to commit for the long term: I have always considered that for a brand like Renault, being in F1 is already important. Renault has a history, a tradition but we are not only talking to Monaco or France, we are also doing it with the whole world, and countries like China, Russia, or those in South America. Formula 1 is an enormous means of communication and marketing.

So obviously we need to be a little better in the standings but there is a perception problem of our factory team status, facing teams like the B teams, as is the case with Haas for example. That’s why Cyril Abiteboul recently pointed out; we are facing teams with great resources like Mercedes and Ferrari and B teams that are affiliated with these big names. At Renault, we are a bit in the middle of all that.

« It may be the most difficult period since our return in 2016. But Renault’s commitment is indisputable: what else would you do besides F1 to have the same image and notoriety that we currently have? »

As a technical advisor, what advice do you give to help Renault recover from a poorly started situation?

« She is not off to a bad start, she is just complicated. My role is to be behind the team and support them as best as I can. In terms of details, it’s not up to me to tell the engineers to change the settings of the sway bars. I simply try to bring my experience in team organization. Having already experienced strong and not-so-strong structures, I can more easily see what works and what doesn’t work.

But you know, what I often say is that when you are at a performance level like ours today, it’s difficult: if we had progressed more than we had imagined, I can tell you that the work you are doing at that moment is completely different. It would be easier for everyone, who would work in detail. There we are still forced to go into the general.

« My role is to speak and exchange between different parts of the team. I am also involved in discussing new commercial agreements. I do everything possible to increase our level and give Renault a foundation for the future.

Would Renault need to invest even more to succeed?

« It is not in the team’s culture: there must be a reasonable investment. So, we are still doing things step by step. »

To finish, Alain, what still fascinates you in this current era of F1? What keeps your own commitment going?

« Well, the thing is that Formula 1 is a never-ending subject, constantly evolving. It would also require current technology to further improve: it would be great to have a new technological evolution, for example, moving towards a hydrogen engine or a fuel cell. Just like with hybrids, let’s stay ahead and take advantage of Formula 1 to take the leap and offer a technique for the average person’s car! But it would need to be validated by all teams… »

And to sign a change in regulations, there is also a lot of influence and politics. A bit like in your time at Prost Grand Prix: looking back, did it bring you much?

« This mainly showed me the negative aspects… you know, the day before I signed, I didn’t want to do it anymore for economic and political reasons. »

For now, I think we need to stay calm, keep a low profile, and continue working. It’s obvious that Renault will never spend as much money as Mercedes or Ferrari… we are counting on the new Concorde agreements of 2021.

Interview conducted in Monaco on Friday, May 24th.