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Renault move on from ban and Briatore

Flavio Briatore was back in the Monza paddock at the weekend, greeting old friends and accompanying Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone on the Italian Grand Prix starting grid.

One year on from his exit from Renault and subsequent life ban, later reduced on appeal to 2013, the flamboyant former team boss appeared entirely at ease as he strolled around his old stamping ground.

After being besieged by a media scrum on his last appearance at Monza when he was still in charge of Renault and at the centre of race-fixing allegations concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, the tanned Italian had reasons to be cheerful.

Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard he has managed for a decade and guided to two world titles with Renault, won the race for Ferrari.

Australian Mark Webber, also under his management and ever loyal to the Italian, left Monza leading the championship for Red Bull.

Renault, racing under a suspended permanent ban until the end of next year after Brazilian Nelson Piquet revealed he had been ordered to crash into a wall to help Alonso win in Singapore, had a more difficult afternoon.

Poland’s Robert Kubica, who has had second- and third-place finishes this season, was eighth; Russian Vitaly Petrov ended up 13^th. As a team, the former champions are fifth overall with 127 points to Red Bull’s 350.

TEAM REBIRTH

The team have been through the wringer since last September, with doubts about the French manufacturer’s desire to stay in the sport followed by a rebirth through the sale of a significant stake to Luxembourg-based Genii Capital run by Gerard Lopez.

The talk in recent months has ranged from lingering speculation about the team’s financial footing, and a possible hole in the budget, to Renault seeking a bigger involvement.

Lopez, denying both rumours, is convinced that the tide has turned and the team can look forward with considerable optimism.

‘There is a winning mentality back in the team...for sure we would like to fight for the championship next year and it takes more than just words to do that,’ he told Reuters outside the team motorhome.

‘It takes a culture and so on, and I think we are back into that culture where a weekend like this is really disappointing, not just for me but disappointing for the whole team.’

Alonso scored all of Renault’s meagre haul of 26 points last season before jumping to Ferrari and Kubica has the lion’s share this term with 108.

Petrov’s future is up in the air, with talk of former champion Kimi Raikkonen in the frame and other drivers queuing up for what is now once again a desirable seat, but the team say they want the Russian to succeed.

The balance sheet shows that, even when converted to the new scoring system, they have scored many more points than last season already.

KEY POSITIONS

‘Just by changing some key management positions, I think we’ve kind of reignited the will to win and essentially showed the team and the people that were there that they can do it, just like they did it a couple of years ago,’ said Lopez.

‘I think the foundations are rock solid.

‘We are pretty much done with our programme in terms of putting in some key management people, here and at the factory,’ added the owner, whose personal style of jeans and sneakers is a far cry from Briatore’s blazers and billionaire couture.

‘As far as we are concerned, for the first time now we can actually focus on delivering results rather than just rebuilding stuff. So I think it’s as solid as it has probably ever been.’

Frenchman Eric Boullier is now team principal, the youngest in the paddock at the age of 36, and working closely with long-serving team member Bob Bell on the sporting and performance side.

Boullier’s approach has been to focus on the fundamentals.

‘Basically we just turned the team into a racing team,’ he told Reuters.

‘We split a lot of responsibilities but the way the team is organised now, and we keep the same people with the same job titles, we brought a stability and a confidence to work together for the team and for the future.

‘The last two years have been very destructive in terms of morale in the team...the team needed to be reassured about its future and shareholders giving trust in them,’ he added.

‘Then on a daily business, we just put our nose everywhere in the team to make sure everyone is focused back on one way. And it works.’

Lopez said Renault’s chief executive had been as ‘happy as happy could be’ with the situation within the team after visiting Monza.

‘As far as we are concerned, I don’t know why we would sell,’ he added. ‘Financially we are very solid. It might have pleased other people if we weren’t but tough luck for them.’