11/01/2021
NEWS STORY
Renault has announced that team boss Cyril Abiteboul is leaving the team with immediate effect. The move comes ahead of the French team's official rebranding as Alpine.
"I would like to thank the Groupe Renault for having trusted me for many years," said Abiteboul in a brief statement, "particularly with the relaunch and reconstruction of the team since 2016.
"The solid foundations of the racing team and the entities in France and England built over these years, the strategic evolution of the sport towards a more economically sustainable model, and more recently the Alpine project which provides a renewed sense of meaning and dynamism, all point to a very fine trajectory.
"I would like to thank Luca de Meo for involving me in the construction of the Alpine Business Unit and I wish the new structure every success."
While it is anticipated that Marcin Budkowski will be appointed team principal, Laurent Rossi is appointed CEO of Alpine, taking charge of Alpine cars, Sport, F1 and competition activities. The 45-year-old will report directly to CEO, Luca de Meo.
Rossi began his career in 2000 at Renault, in the mechanical engineering department. In 2009, after obtaining an MBA from Harvard Business School, he was recruited by the Boston Consulting Group, where he worked in the New York office as an automotive expert.
In 2012, he joined Google, where he was in charge of developing business relations with key accounts in the automotive industry. He then returned to Renault in 2018 and was appointed Director of Strategy & Business Development for Groupe Renault.
"I would like to warmly thank Cyril for his tireless involvement, which notably led the Renault F1 Team from the penultimate place in 2016 to the podiums last season," said Luca de Meo. "His remarkable work in F1 since 2007 allows us to look to the future, with a strong team and the new Alpine F1 Team identity to conquer the podiums this year."