Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul knows his team needs to fight for podiums when the new regulation will go into place in 2022. The Frenchman states that the factory team "can't hide anymore" in 2022 if the results are still disappointing by then.
In 2016 Renault came back as a manufacturer in Formula 1. There was a clear upward trend, and it was even said at the time that the goal was to be at the front of the grid within five years.
In 2019, the fourth season of the project, Renault finished fifth in the championship, something that was not according to plan as the team finished fourth in the previous year as well.
Abiteboul, the helmsman at the Enstone stables, suggested to Autocar that it really wants to fight with the big teams in 2022.
"The expectation has to be realistic and reasonable," started the Frenchman. "But yes, in 2022 we won't be able to hide if we're not able to fight for stages. We don't expect to dominate, but fighting for podiums is our goal."
The Renault group, partly financed by the French state, has recently gone through reorganisation in order to reduce costs. The Formula 1 project suddenly seemed to be in jeopardy, partly due to the disappointing performance.
"It is up to us to exploit our potential and chasing performance," Abiteboul commented. "If our performance was better, we wouldn't have to respond so much to these questions. The reality is that we have two factories, a group of 1,200 people at work, and we are well on the way, not only for this year, but also beyond.''