Renault F1 team moves Frederic Vasseur to team principal role

Vasseur, who was initially appointed racing director following Renault's takeover of Lotus at the end of last year, is now directly responsible for the performance and results of the team.

Cyril Abiteboul will continue as managing director, and he will move to England as he will now be overseeing operations within the team's base at Enstone, to get the factory up to speed, rather than the engine facility in Viry.

Explaining the overhaul to the official Formula 1 website, Renault Sport Racing president Jerome Stoll said: "In our management structure, Cyril will retain his previous position of managing director.

"But he will focus his time on the improvements that need to be made to Enstone, as well as the alignment between the two sites of Viry and Enstone.

"The consequence is that he will move to the UK in the very near future.

"Frederic gains the title team principal of the team and will be responsible for the performance and results of the team.

"He will share his time between a long and demanding F1 season, at all races managing the track operations, and the day-to-day management of the activities in Viry-Chatillon where both Formula 1 engine and customer racing activities are based.

"We also have the target of almost 100 extra personnel at Enstone this year, as well as over 30 extra personnel at Viry.

"This is not the work of a moment as we are targeting the very best people in their respective fields."

Stoll feels while Renault has "made superb gains in performance and reliability" from its power unit, overall "better performance" is required given the team has only managed one points-scoring result from nine races to date.

LONG-TERM GOALS THE PRIORITY

Stoll recognises, however, the rebuilding process is still in its infancy given the takeover deal was only completed in December.

"We are at the start of a long project and the steps we have made, and continue to make, are about securing repeatable performance gains and being able to deliver at the highest level for the years to come," he said.

"Seven months ago there was no Renault Formula 1 team so we have achieved a lot, not just getting this year's car out on track, but also in getting all the building blocks in place for sustainable development.

"We have seen the potential of the power unit, and this has been the result of a number of years work, but also of the strategic changes in Viry decided at the beginning of this year.

"We keep an ambition to finish in a better position at the end of the year, but will not lose sight of the longer-term objective to fight for podiums as soon as 2018."