Column: Renault and Abiteboul look stupid by the departure of Ricciardo

Cyril Abiteboul had his mouth full last Thursday when it became known that Daniel Ricciardo will leave for McLaren in 2021. Not a move to a top team for Ricciardo, but a move to the competitor in which everyone has more confidence.

Renault stands for dick

''Now you need a driver and an engine'', were the legendary words Abiteboul said to Christian Horner, after Renault Ricciardo had taken over from Red Bull Racing and the Austrians had also renounced the Renault engines. The Netflix documentary 'Drive to Survive' captured it all, but Cyril does have some problems now.

The French race stable would return to the top. From day one, Abiteboul has been shouting that the goal is to return to the top of Formula 1, but actually the team is nowhere. Of all the factory teams in Formula 1 it is still at the bottom and after a campaign of already four years it still has to endure customer teams in front of it.

Nobody is good enough

However, it is never up to Renault itself. From 2016, Red Bull's reviews will be swept off the table, 'because the engine isn't that bad' and drivers will be thrown out the door one by one. The team starts with Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer, but the Dane is soon found to be no good as leader of the team.

In 2017 Nico Hulkenberg is the dreamed successor, but it is Palmer who will not make it to the end of 2017 and will be replaced by mercenary Carlos Sainz. However, the man who is now judged good enough by Ferrari will be thrown out the door without excuses to get the 'new leader' in 2019 with Ricciardo. The former frontman Hulkenberg is not good enough anymore either, because Esteban Ocon will be recruited for 2020.

Six different drivers for five Formula 1 seasons. It doesn't seem like a stable basis for an organisation at all, but it is exactly Renault. It continuously goes up and down and from hot to here. Then they work on the speed, but the engine fails every race and when they work on reliability, they are the slowest team in the field.

Everybody gets the blame, except.....

Yet they never look in the mirror. Abiteboul has brought a culture of wisdom into the ranks of Renault. Where in the always winning Mercedes they don't want to blame people, but want to solve the problems as a team, Abiteboul kicks the in his eyes the rotten apples out of the organization.

Whether it's the drivers like Magnussen, Palmer, Sainz and Hulkenberg or technical people like Nick Chester, Abiteboul does everything he can to blame, but is that the solution? For the time being, Renault is still in midfield with a bigger budget than any other midfielder, and customer McLaren drove past them in 2019.

Gone are the customers

However, it is now no longer up to Renault to point out the propblem. The people are up. Red Bull left for the less esteemed engines of Honda and also McLaren left after two years at the French race stable. Renault remains without customers, while a manufacturer like Renault can use the money of those customers just as well.

Apart from the engine, however, the intended leader now also runs away. With great plans Ricciardo was brought in for 2019, but he got the lid on his nose during the season. The truth lasts the longest and McLaren, who had been honest with the Australian over the long road, turned out to be right. In fact, McLaren was even further ahead than Renault in 2019.

What is the future of Renault?

Within a year Abiteboul had already caused a breach of confidence and so Ricciardo ran away from Renault as fast as he could. Not even for a chance with a top team, but a switch to the competitor McLaren. It says enough about the confidence in Renault's project, where everything seems to be crumbling away more and more.

Where McLaren radiates class with the message about the departure of Carlos, Renault shows exactly what the problem is. Abiteboul does not wish Ricciardo any success for the coming years and thanks him for his services rendered. No, Ricciardo gets one more kick, saying that 'trust and togetherness are so important values for the Renault team at this time'.

Departure of Renault

The man who for years has pointed out others as the guilty parties and has continuously kicked people out of the company, is now a sad Frenchman. Ricciardo is now the culprit. He shows no solidarity and confidence in the project and once again Abiteboul is not even looked at and asked the question: "Is this the right leader?

The answer is a clear 'no'. 'Now you have no driver and no money', Horner can now bounce back to Abiteboul, but why should he? Renault is no longer a competition. Abiteboul has sunk the team and with the crisis created by the coronavirus, it remains to be seen if Abiteboul will still get the support Renault. As long as Abiteboul is in power, there will never be a stable and successful organization.

This article appeared earlier on the Dutch edition of GPblog and was written by Tim Kraaij