Renault Sport Racing announced that Frédéric Vasseur is leaving his role as Team Principal of the Renault team in Formula 1.
“Renault Sport Racing and Frédéric Vasseur have agreed by mutual consent to part company, effective as of today”, the statement said.
It continues that both parties remain committed to maintaining their good working relationship. “They expect this to take a new form sometime in the future.”
President Jérôme Stoll and Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul will continue to manage the team.
Frédéric Vasseur was one of the leading team principals in single seater racing for over a decade before taking the control at Renault F1
He played a key role in the careers of drivers such as 2016 F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg, triple F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas (who will allegedly replace Rosberg in the Mercedes team).
ART took Nico Rosberg to the GP2 Series title in 2005. Lewis Hamilton maintained the run of trophies in the following season. In GP3, Esteban Gutierrez became the inaugural champion for ART and Valtteri Bottas followed his crown in 2011.
Under the ART identity and its ASM predecessor, Vasseur’s squad won 51 of 80 contested F3 Euro Series races. That happened between 2004 and 2009. The team took the title with Jamie Green in 2004. Then it went to Lewis Hamilton in 2005, Paul di Resta in 2006, Romain Grosjean in 2007, Nico Hülkenberg in 2008 and Jules Bianchi in 2009.
Renault F1 Team will present its 2017 challenger at February 21st.
“We’ve stated the reasons for Renault returning to Formula 1 as a full manufacturer entry for 2016 many times. But they are worth reiterating. Through having our own team we are the masters of our destiny. We can promote our image as well as showcase our technology to a massive global audience,” explained Abiteboul earlier.
“2016 was always about laying the foundations for the future. We are committed to Formula 1 for the long haul. Our 2016 car was conceived in an unbelievably short timeframe. Literally a couple of weeks. So our focus for this year has been on expansion of headcount and infrastructure and looking to 2017 and beyond.”
Until the end of 2016 Renault F1’s workforce increased by 20% in the Enstone chassis base, while Viry-Châtillon saw a more subtle evolution.
