Renault announces Abiteboul departure ahead of 2021 F1 season

F1

Cyril Abiteboul will not be part of the Alpine F1 effort in 2021, as he leaves the team that raced last year as Renault

Cyril Abiteboul, 2020 Renault F1

Cyril Abiteboul left his position as team principal of Renault in 2021.

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Renault has announced that Cyril Abiteboul has left the team ahead of the 2021 Formula 1 season with immediate effect.

Abiteboul headed up the Renault outfit as team principal since 2015 but will not be remaining with the team as it morphs into Alpine F1 this year.

Laurent Rossi will replace Abiteboul as Alpine CEO while current Renault executive director Marcin Budkowski is expected to take up the role of team principal for the forthcoming season.

Rossi already held the position of director of strategy and business development of Groupe Renault.

“I would like to thank the Groupe Renault for having trusted me for many years, particularly with the relaunch and reconstruction of the team since 2016,” Abiteboul said in the announcement.

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“The solid foundations of the racing team and the entities in France and England built over these years, the strategic evolution of the sport towards a more economically sustainable model, and more recently the Alpine project which provides a renewed sense of meaning and dynamism, all point to a very fine trajectory.

“I would like to thank Luca de Meo for involving me in the construction of the Alpine Business Unit and I wish the new structure every success.”

His exit from the team comes after the departure of former Renault Sport president Jerome Stoll late last year and the expected hiring of ex-Suzuki MotoGP team manger Davide Brivio this month.

Abiteboul had been expected to take up a more senior position with the arrival of Brivio from Suzuki. No official announcement has been made by Renault on Brivio’s position yet.

“I would like to warmly thank Cyril for his tireless involvement, which notably led the Renault F1 Team from the penultimate place in 2016 to the podiums last season,” Groupe Renault CEO Luca de Meo said.

“His remarkable work in F1 since 2007 allows us to look to the future, with a strong team and the new Alpine F1 Team identity to conquer the podiums this year.”