Frenchman Cyril Abiteboul is leaving Renault, where he was Formula One team principal, the company announced on Monday in a press release.
Laurent Rossi, director of strategy and business development for Renault, will take over the motor sports unit which will be rebranded Alpine.
The Formula One team, which is based in Enstone in England, will replace its predominantly yellow livery with the red, white and blue of the French flag.
That leaves the responsibility for running the F1 team open and its executive director, the Franco-Polish Marcin Budkowski, could take over the reins.
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Perez joining Red Bull
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Abiteboul, 43, joined Renault in 2001 and has spent most of his career there, apart from a stint at the head of the Caterham F1 team from 2012 to 2014. He oversaw the Renault team’s return to F1 in 2016.
The team, which won 12 constructors title between 1992 and 2013, was unable to repeat that level of success, but did return to the podium twice as Daniel Ricciardo finished third twice while Esteban Ocon recorded his first top-three finish when he came second in the Sakhir rand Prix in Bahrain.
Ricciardo is leaving the team and will be replaced by Fernando Alonso, who will turn 40 during the season. The Spaniard won his two world titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006.
Daniel Ricciardo may have made the switch to McLaren ahead of the 2021 season but he has left with a clear picture of just how much Renault have transformed since his arrival in 2019.
Renault has recorded ninth, sixth, fourth and fifth (twice) placed finishes in the Constructors’ Championship since its full-time return in 2016.
Ricciardo’s signature was a serious coup but his first year did not live up to expectations, with the Aussie admitting that he would ramp up the pressure in 2020.
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“I’ve made the mistake in the past of setting to high an expectation and left disappointed, so I more came into the season excited for something new and a new challenge,” he said at the time.
“We’re still not there but I think in the second half of the season we have had a bit more consistency. That’s been more positive. So looking towards what we are really trying to achieve next year it looks better.”
Ricciardo was able to snare Renault’s first podium finish in nine years last season and while he may not be sticking around, he said there is a key reason why he feels more confident about their chances moving forward.
“I saw a lot more confidence in the team, just as far as personnel,” Ricciardo said, per autosport.com.
“There was that feeling now that, ‘yeah, we can do it’, where I felt like I walked into a bit more of a timid environment early on.
“It’s not criticism. It’s just the team wasn’t used to it. They hadn’t been successful in quite a few years, so everyone can start to have some self-doubts.”
Ricciardo celebrates a podium finish. (Photo by Luca Bruno / POOL / AFP)Source: AFP
Ricciardo and Renault finished the year fifth after picking up two podium finishes while also scoring more than double the amount of points as in his debut year.
There was no title obviously but for Ricciardo it is all about progression and those podium finishes were enough proof that the team is on an upwards trajectory.
“I guess there’s levels of success. Real success would be winning a title in the two years, but definitely stepping on the podium a couple of times made it feel like a success,” he added.
“I’m not obviously claiming it all, but the feedback I was giving and trying to help out and everyone was trying to move forward.”
F1 star Romain Grosjean has shown off the gruesome damage done to his hands after his bandages were finally removed six weeks after his horror smash.
The former Haas driver, 34, crashed at 225km/h at last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Grosjean’s car split in two and instantly burst into flames.
The Swiss-Frenchman was only saved by his Haas’ protective halo device and his racing suit, new for the 2020 season and designed to withstand flames for 20 seconds.
Grosjean confessed he “saw death coming” after smashing through the safety barriers.
But he has shown off his miraculous recovery on Instagram, sharing an image of himself enjoying a cuddle with pet cat Petrus.
So painful-looking are his injuries even to this day, Grosjean even included a warning to followers before swiping through his latest upload.
Grosjean captioned the post: “My hands are back and Petrus isn’t too unhappy about it!
“It’s not yet pretty so please don’t swipe right if you don’t feel like it.”
Shortly after his crash, Grosjean described his escape as a “second birth”.
He said: “To come out of the flames that day is something that will mark my life forever.
“I have a lot of people who have shown me love and it has touched me a lot, and at times I get a bit teary-eyed.
“I don’t know if the word miracle exists or if it can be used, but in any case I would say it wasn’t my time (to die).
“It felt much longer than 28 seconds. I saw my visor turning all orange, I saw the flames on the left side of the car.
“I thought about a lot of things, including (F1 legend) Niki Lauda, and I thought that it wasn’t possible to end up like that, not now. I couldn’t finish my story in Formula 1 like that.
“And then, for my children, I told myself that I had to get out. I put my hands in the fire, so I clearly felt it burning on the chassis.
“I got out, then I felt someone pulling on the suit, so I knew I was out.”
Grosjean has three children — Sacha, Simon and daughter Camille — with wife Marion, and he revealed his desire to get back to his family helped him escape.
Grosjean confessed: “I was more afraid for my relatives, my children in the first place, but also my father and my mother.
“I was not really afraid for myself. I saw death coming, I had no other option but to get out of there.”
Grosjean performed a miraculous escape.Source: SuppliedThere were serious fears for the F1 star’s safety.Source: AFP
This article first appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
Two-time Dakar motorbike champion Toby Price crashed out of this year’s rally in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the Australian having to be airlifted to hospital after a serious accident as French veteran Stephane Peterhansel took a massive step towards a record 14th title.
Peterhansel has one hand on the trophy again after landing his first stage win of 2021, the Mini driver emerging from the ninth stage Red Sea run over dirt and rocks with a near 18-minute overall lead in the car category.
But the day was marred by Price’s crash which left him dazed after hitting his head.
He had started the stage in second place overall, a little over a minute adrift of Chilean leader Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo.
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Today I tried to fix as much as I could and when I got to refuel at 229km I saw I still had a solo zip tie on! I didn’t think I would make it to the finish, let alone 2nd in stage and still be 2nd overall!#Dakar2021pic.twitter.com/jMp9Yk6Z4z
At the time of his fall in which he also hurt his left arm and shoulder, Price had actually taken the lead and appeared to be gearing up for a victory before being airlifted to hospital.
“Toby fell and hurt his arm badly. He had no idea where he was when I got to him, so I waited until the doctors got there,” fellow contender Ricky Brabec said.
Price’s accident comes on the first anniversary of the death of Portuguese motorcyclist Paulo Goncalves.
Later, Peterhansel’s deep experience paid off as he finally got a win to go with all his placed finishes this month after several of his top rivals suffered mechanical problems.
“I wasn’t sure any of us were going to make it, that was a real Dakar day where not only speed counts,” said the 55-year-old former skateboard champion.
“First we caught up with Carlos (Sainz) who had a puncture, then the same with Nasser (Al-Attiyah). We played a game of nerves, lost time early, won it all back later,” Peterhansel explained.
The grizzled Frenchman, known as ‘Mr Dakar’ after his six bike titles and seven on four wheels, now leads by 17min 50sec with only three stages to go until the finish line at Jeddah.
Al-Attiyah, a three-time Dakar titleholder and winner of four stages this month, also showed great grit.
“Well, we made it to the finish line at least, that’s life, we had three punctures and had to watch Stephane cruise past us, but that’s life,” said the Qatari who saw his deficit on Peterhansel increase significantly after starting the stage only 4min 50sec behind.
Defending champion Sainz suffered a break failure after his flat and was 22 minutes down on the day.
Australian rider Toby Price. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)Source: AFP
Argentina’s Kevin Benavides on his Honda came out on top in the motorbike category in Tuesday’s 485km run along deserted dirt tracks overlooking the Red Sea from Neom.
Cornejo Florimo now leads Benavides by 11min 24sec and Briton Sam Sunderland by 14min 34sec.
Sunderland is expected to be given a time reduction after stopping to comfort the stricken Price after his crash.
“I’ll be fighting for every minute, as you can see the whole race can turn from one second to another,” Benavides said after the stage.
On Monday, French rider Xavier de Soultrait pulled out following a heavy crash and is being treated in the same hospital as Price.
Some riders have simply become lost on the race with some reportedly spending the night in a makeshift bivouac in the dunes.
The most gruelling event in the motorsport calendar wraps up in Jeddah on Friday with three stages remaining.
