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Cyril Abiteboul: There was no interest from McLaren in extending relationship

Cyril Abiteboul: "There was no interest from McLaren" in extending relationship

03-10-2019 15:22 Last update: 16:10
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Cyril Abiteboul has revealed that there was no interest from McLaren in extending their partnership with Renault. In 2021 Mercedes will supply McLaren with their engine leaving Renault supplying only themselves with a power unit. 

"Our proposal was simply, 'how do we build the next journey together?" Abiteboul said to Formula1.com.

"They will be P4, we will be P4? I don’t know, but we are exactly at the same level and the key question for us is not to fight between us, it's how do we bridge the gap to the top teams?

"That was the single unique selling point of a renewed partnership together. There was no interest [from McLaren] – so be it.

"And it’s not a critique, it’s just that we had a certain ambition, really, to bring that relationship to a strategic level, which was maybe not really the expectation or the focus of McLaren at this point in their journey."

Many have been left to question how easy Renault are to work with after Red Bull and now McLaren have decided to leave them. Abiteboul will hope to prove these people wrong and get his team back to the top of Formula 1 in the near future.