Cyril Abiteboul believes Renault Formula 1 team should hire more staff and develop bigger facilities to realize its full potential.
After reacquiring Lotus, Renault started to recruit and invest heavily to rebuild the team and restart the works entry in 2016.
During 2016 Renault added 80 new staff members but they still have departments with no staff and no place to work at the pace required.
“We have grown a lot in the engineering/technical area, and what needs to happen now is to have not a similar growth, but growth that is compatible with the engineering potential – like the design office, in production, where we are almost too small and almost delaying what aero is capable of producing,” Abiteboul told the sports website Motorsport.
“That will happen also when we have completed the extension of the building, where we will have a larger design office because right now we have a limitation in space.
“And also new works – we will be producing our own gearbox and composite next year which is a big project, with lots of space and lots of people dedicated only to that project, so we will see the growth will have to continue.”
After taking control from Lotus late in the season, Renault could not make any progress in 2016 and is looking forward to making major gains this season. They stood ninth in 2016 constructors’ championship and got only eight points.
In contrast, they are at the eighth spot this year and score 26 points so far and are aiming to be in the fifth spot by the end of the season.
“If you try to imagine a pipeline, there is a start of the pipeline and it takes a bit of time for the pipeline to get full and get projects/concepts and then physical parts out of the pipeline,” said Abiteboul.
“This is exactly what is happening. We fill up the pipeline first with investment, equipment, people and then ideas, projects and concepts and then that is finally turning into parts.
“That will always take a little bit of time but what is good is that once this is starting, in theory, it is not going to stop.”
As Renault focusses on expanding its staff and facilities Abiteboul hopes F1 will rein in the teams from becoming too large once again.
“It will have to grow in a controlled manner because frankly, I don’t have the appetite for becoming an 800-900 head unit,” he said. “I don’t think it is sensible.
“I expect at some point this sport will do something so it makes little sense for us to grow at such a level.
“It is not a matter of financial resources, it is also a matter of long-term strategy – because I think the most sensible point for the team is in the region of 650. Assumptions for next year are already almost above 650.”
