Does Renault have A Winning Flavor Without Flavio?
The Renault team that raced last season will become a different team that will race this season in terms of management. The flamboyant Flavio Briatore who has been one of the most colorful executives in the Formula One will be missed this season as his involvement with a race fixing allegation was given substance by one of his former drivers, Nelson Piquet Jr. forcing the FIA to rule against Renault F1’s top honcho. In light of this development, Renault has been sold to a Luxembourg-based company, Genii Capital to cool off the situation.
Another development to team Renault is the transfer of ace driver, Fernando Alonso who will now be driving for Ferrari. This year, the revamped Renault team will be fielding in Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov with Eric Boullier as team principal and Bob Bell as technical director.
Robert Kubica would be a perfect driver as this Polish driver is hungry for respect from his peers and the Formula One followers. Somehow his 137 points and 9 podium finishes in 57 races are not impressive enough to catapult him to a super racer status but this young man has the makings of becoming one of the greats if he can overcome his over eagerness which more often causes him to retire out of the races. This year could be his year in achieving personal glory as the field is populated by so many great drivers and standing out among them would definitely make him a giant among giants if he could exhibit more patience on the grid. The talent is there, no question about it but a great F1 driver does not rely on just being able to control a car but it is more of timing and adapting to whatever situation may come up. Finishing at least in the top 6 this year alone would be a hard feat to do as the cars are, more or less, designed to be almost at an even keel with each other meaning, the results of the races would be more dependent on driver decisions.
Vitaly Petrov, the runner-up of the 2009 GP2 Series, will be the first Russian national ever to drive a Formula One car. Perhaps, his inclusion in the new Renault team is a damage control strategy as the team is still trying to leave behind the “Crashgate Scandal.” The team needs to go away from that incident very badly and signing up the first Russian F1 driver might just do the trick.
The Briatore-less Renault team could only be on a win-win situation no matter what the outcome with their new lineup for this season. If Kubica or Petrov finishes on the podium without one of them crashing into another car, then Renault would be good on the press as it would mean that the “Crashgate” episode was over on the minds of the team as a whole and that the new guys are blending well. If there is one thing that can erase the Briatore hoopla, it would be good performance. If they don’t score points, it would still be good for Renault as they would be out of the limelight and not be reminded by the press of that dark incident. Renault management has still an ace up their sleeve as they are also the engine supplier for Red Bull Racing team’s RB6. A point for Red Bull would always be a point for Renault as no one can deny the fact that they did indeed can come up with a Formula One caliber engine.
