Q&A with Jean-François Caubet

A good start to the season from Renault’s partners in F1 so far!

It’s been a very good start to the season so far for all of our partners. Red Bull Racing has scored two out of three wins and now leads the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. Likewise Lotus Renault GP is looking very strong with two podiums and can be counted within the same group of leading teams including the Red Bulls, Ferrari and McLaren. Team Lotus are also doing a great job both on and off the track, achieving a double finish in China for the first time this season. From Renault’s point of view we are very pleased with the results so far: one of the reasons for remaining in F1 was to achieve success and demonstrate the quality of the Renault product, and the recent results are satisfying this goal.

How do you ensure that this success can be continued throughout the year?

We work very closely with our partner teams to determine what direction they are taking with the chassis and how we can give the maximum power within this envelope. We cannot take credit for the design of a chassis or any upgrades, but we do need to ensure that as the car develops throughout the season, the engine delivers the same driveability and traction. This is particularly key this year with the blown floors becoming more refined at each race and therefore more crucial to lap time.

Renault is supplying three teams this season. With three races run, how has Viry responded to the challenge and have there been any changes to the way the factory is run?

We see the supply of a third team as a challenge, but we have developed the engine to a readily usable state and while we have reorganised some of the team to facilitate the work at the track and factory we have not had to significantly alter our modus operandi. It means we can put our efforts into delivering the best engine we can.