Renault Fears That An Engine Manufacturer Might Quit F1 If Development Costs Don’t Drop

If you’re looking for proof with regards to how engine development spending is accelerating in Formula 1, look no further than Honda, which has made tremendous progress with their power unit as of late.

According to Renault F1’s managing director Cyril Abiteboul, spending big has become more rewarding than spending smart, and as far as he’s concerned, this is not a good thing. Meanwhile, Honda’s performance increase is something he saw coming.

“It is not a surprise because it was very clear last year already that Honda were making very rapid progress,” said Abiteboul in an interview with Autosport. “Reliability was not there last year, but it was extremely clear, and I remember in Spa, there was a very clear signal that Honda was on the move given the huge investment which we understand that Honda is putting in.”

“It is not a surprise that this is paying off because we are still in an F1 that is rewarding how much you are spending rather than how you are spending it. And that is a concern.”

Right now, F1 engine manufacturers need to brace themselves for the added investment of revamping their power units for 2021, something Abiteboul is well aware of.

“That [rising cost] is in my opinion untenable. It may be paying dividends for Honda now, but at some point it will be untenable for one of the four – and who knows what will happen then. I think F1 cannot afford to lose one of them. And I don’t see enough decision/action being taken to alleviate that necessity to spend in a way that might be untenable in the medium to long term.”

The Renault exec also stated that due to Honda’s progress this year, his outfit will also need to increase its own efforts moving forward.

“They are definitely back,” he said while referring to Honda. “They are at a similar level to us in terms of competitiveness this year because of our decision on Spec-C. That is why again we cannot sleep on next year’s engine development.”