Marko: "Nothing has changed" at Renault despite Prost appointment
F1 News
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
After his team Aston Martin Red Bull Racing completed their first season without a Renault engine since 2006, Dr Helmut Marko underlined the problems at the French works team, and how they haven't gone away since the appointment of Alain Prost.
Red Bull and Renault have enjoyed tremendous success together at the start of the decade, winning four consecutive double championships between 2010 and 2013. In the turbo-hybrid era, however, things went downhill quickly, and so did the relationship between both parties.
The Bulls' criticism of the lack of both power and reliability grew until the eventual divorce, which was announced during the 2018 season. With new engine partners Honda, Red Bull have only had one mechanical retirement all season long, something they could only dream of in previous years.
"We had very successful years with Renault and very difficult years with Renault," Marko reflected when speaking to Motorsport.com.
"It's quite simple, really, because at the top, this is how people think: you can't be half pregnant. This also applies when you're not completely committed to something, when you're not fully financially committed and not doing everything within your power."
Prost has been in the Renault paddock ever since their return to F1 as a constructor in 2016 in an advisory role but became non-executive director earlier this year, a role comparable to the one Niki Lauda had at Mercedes until his passing in May.
"There were so many problems [at Renault] they appointed Alain Prost [as non-executive director], but still nothing has changed."