Rudderless Renault's F1 goals are a pipe dream

I wish I could use the phrase recently offered up to me by one insider to describe the present behind-the-scenes farrago at Renault.

Unfortunately it is highly derogatory in nature, but it leaves you in no doubt what this particular person thinks is going wrong with Renault's return to Formula 1 this season.

They are extremely concerned, if only because they genuinely care about what is going on inside the team and where it is heading. Right now it is sending out the message it is a rudderless ship.

Renault returned to F1 with the very best of intentions. It wanted to make a more valid contribution beyond simply being the virtually-unheralded engine supplier to Red Bull's success.

It was also infuriated at being continually criticised and scapegoated by Red Bull's hierarchy for the failures of 2014 amid the introduction of the current power unit era.

The near-divorce last year between the two played a considerable role in Renault deciding the time was right to again make its mark as a works team, while Red Bull's engines were subsequently rebranded as TAG Heuers.

The takeover of Lotus was protracted, with the deal taking three months longer to complete than it actually should have done, and that set the tone for what has transpired on track this year.

The eventual completion of the deal in mid-December meant there was precious little time for Renault to influence the design of the chassis, which has been the team's main failing over the course of the last few months.

Ironically, the power unit previously so derided by Red Bull has now become a big part of that team's 2016 resurgence and its current 'best-of-the-rest' tag, having usurped Ferrari to lead the chase of Mercedes.

Red Bull's performances with the same engine package have exemplified the differences between its RB12 chassis and Renault's maiden offering of its new era, the RS16.

Managing director Cyril Abiteboul claims the car on track at present is not too far removed from the chassis built by Lotus over the winter of 2014-15.

That car went largely undeveloped last year as the takeover wrangle prevented any injection of resources and development was consequently put on hold.

You would have expected a French corporate entity such as Renault, however, to have taken up the Lotus gauntlet and put a firm structure in place.

For all of France's unionist ways and the perception from the outside looking in that its companies strike at the drop of a hat, to all intents and purposes those companies are particularly well structured.

In France, the buck stops with someone somewhere. There is a leader, a figurehead to whom the rest of that company reports, and who makes decisions.

In the Renault F1 team this is clearly not the case, and the lack of an authoritative figure is undermining its cause.

When Renault launched its car at the team's engineering base in Viry in February there was considerable fanfare, and understandably so.

But what played out that day was effectively a microcosm of how the season unfolded.

Following the initial presentation from CEO Carlos Ghosn, the man who pulled the trigger on Renault's return as a works team, the media was suddenly presented with a vast array of interview subjects.

Aside from the three drivers - Kevin Magnussen, Jolyon Palmer and reserve Esteban Ocon - there was Abiteboul, new racing director Fred Vasseur, Renault Sport Racing president Jerome Stoll, chief technical officer Bob Bell, chassis technical director Nick Chester and engine technical director Remi Taffin.

What followed can only be described as a bun fight, with cameras, microphones and dictaphones pointing in every direction, with no structure or plan as to who should be interviewed in what language or when.

It was basically a case of 'you pay your money, you take your choice', and may the best person win.

Beyond that, the working area for the journalists and media was nowhere near adequate enough to house even a small percentage of the hundreds in attendance.

This is not to point any accusing fingers at anyone in particular regarding that event, but to highlight the fact that from that day to this Renault has seemed to lack structure - whether running a media event or running a racing team over a grand prix weekend.

By his own admission, in an interview with Autosport in Singapore, Abiteboul readily conceded "the one thing the team needs is not money, investment or people, but leadership - very clear leadership".

Abiteboul added that himself, Stoll and Vasseur were the triumvirate charged with bringing that leadership, and that "people just need to give us a bit of time so that there is a clear understanding and perception of who is responsible for what".

But that should have been clear from day one, not nine months into the process.

The problems are underlined by the fact Vasseur changed job title and became team principal in early July, with Abiteboul switching his focus from Viry to the chassis base in Enstone.

The suggestion is, however, that Vasseur lacks power, is apparently often at odds with Abiteboul, and may yet be gone at the end of the season.

Manor is rumoured to be a likely destination, where his forte as a strong driver manager would come to prominence.

The lack of leadership is why number-one driver target Sergio Perez has not signed for Renault for 2017, and is instead near-certain to remain with Force India. The Mexican is understood to have expressed his concerns at the Renault situation as he did not know who was going to be his boss.

There is now only a very small chance Perez will sign, but it is almost too far gone to be salvaged and the management at Renault only has itself to blame.

And it is the lack of leadership that had Magnussen expressing confidence after the Italian Grand Prix his future would be sorted before the next race in Singapore, only to turn up at the Marina Bay street circuit none the wiser.

Magnussen's remarks were also particularly telling: "If there was absolute clarity about who was in charge at Renault right now, I'm sure there would have been a decision."

That screams from the rafters all you need to know about behind-the-scenes problems so endemic it is believed a high-profile figure from another team has now stepped in to work as a form of external referee.

Renault's move for James Allison has also stalled following talks that began in early August. The problem is where he would fit into such a complicated technical department structure.

Abiteboul also conceded that month the team was behind in its recruitment plans, that bringing people in of the quality and quantity required had been "more difficult than anticipated" as Renault was "struggling" to convince its targets of its ambitions, which he could not understand.

But if people's current perception of Renault is of a team lacking direction, it should be clear to Abiteboul why enlisting those needed has been difficult.

Abiteboul adds that "it's year one, everyone has had to find their own space, their position", and yes this is Renault's first year back in F1 in this form.

But that is not a valid excuse. The team Renault took over has been in existence at its Enstone base for more than two decades now, with reasonable facilities and resources.

This is not some debutant entering F1 - like Haas, which has comfortably outperformed Renault in its maiden campaign this year - but a works team with all the might of a major manufacturer behind it.

As one observer put it: "It feels like the whole thing has gone to sleep."

If that's the case, Renault needs to wake up, because the targets it set itself at its launch of wins in three years and championship challenges in five, are nothing more than a pipe dream.