Vettel visits the Renault Technocentre

It’s been a very busy start to the season, with two races in two weeks, but reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel took time out to pay a visit to the Renault Technocentre on the outskirts of Paris.

Sebastian visited the nerve centre of Renault, where the next generation of Renault road cars are designed. Head of industrial design, Laurens van den Acker, and François Frenette, head of Renault sites in the Ile de France, welcomed Sebastian before giving him a behind the scenes tour of the design studio where concept cars including the Dézir and the new look Renault range have been conceptualised.

Following his look round the studio and some media commitments Sebastian then addressed the staff of the Technocentre – some 11,000 people ! TF1 anchor, Christophe Malbranque, led proceedings with an informal Q&A before discussing Seb’s on-track performance with his Renault Sport F1 engine engineer, Cyril Dumont, and head of Renault Sport F1 track operations, Rémi Taffin, giving the workforce unprecedented access into the life of the world championship winning team.

Sebastian commented, "I’ve been to Viry-Châtillon before, where my F1 engine is built, but this was the first time I’d been to see where the road cars are designed. It’s been fascinating ; I’m sworn to secrecy of course, but I can tell you that some of the concepts they are coming up with here are really outstanding. It’s also been a pleasure to see so many Renault employees here. Even though I couldn’t thank everyone in person, I hope they realise the depth of their involvement in our success."