Renault believes it deserves more credit for Red Bull title success

The French car manufacturer is chasing its fourth consecutive world championship this year, but its chief operating officer Carlos Tavares feels it has not made the most of its dominance.

"We are frustrated by the lack of recognition we get for beating the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes," said Tavares in an interview with AUTOSPORT's sister publication Autocar at the Geneva motorshow this week.

"But part of that problem at least must lie with our global marketing team. It is clear that we must create a bigger buzz around what we do.

"We are world champions. We are able to sell our engines to the teams because of that, but we do not get enough recognition beyond that."

Tavares believes the situation has not been helped by Red Bull's tie-up with the Infiniti brand, but he sees opportunities to do better with its partnerships with Williams, Lotus and Caterham.

"The relationship with all our teams is warm, emotional even," he said.

"Frank Williams himself is highly respected within Renault, not just for the championships and races we have won in the past together, but also for his humility and personality.

"Lotus we have historic ties with, through the Enstone operation, while Caterham is our joint venture partner on the Alpine sports car project.

"All three of these teams have a specific link back to Renault, and that counts. Perhaps one day we can reach the same point with Red Bull."

AUTOSPORT SAYS...
Jonathan Noble, Group F1 editor

Renault's frustrations at the lack of profile it gets for winning multiple titles is the product of two factors.

The first is that its most successful team has such a close allegiance with the Infiniti brand, even though the power units have not been re-badged.

The second is that Formula 1's long standing engine freeze has lessened the competitive impact of what the car makers get up to.

While the first topic is an internal marketing matter for the Renault-Nissan alliance, the second issue is something that is going to get sorted out much sooner.

Renault COO Carlos Tavares is excited by the imminent arrival of V6 turbo engines in F1 in 2014, which he thinks will provide a better opportunity for manufacturers to show their strengths.

"The rule change will make it more a championship of the engine suppliers than in recent times," he said at the Geneva motorshow this week. "That will be key for our return."

Renault is not alone in thinking along these lines. Earlier this year, Mercedes said that the new V6 turbo regulations will put the 'motor back in motor racing.'

The new regulations have got Honda going full steam ahead for an F1 return too.

Although it has not yet spoken officially about its future plans - beyond that F1 is a possibility - sources insist that it is well-advanced in its return plans having given the green light for a V6 turbo engine months ago.

A McLaren deal from 2015 is on the cards, but there are suggestions from insiders with good knowledge of the situation that the company could even be back as soon as 2014 with another team.

Amid all the controversy over the new engine regulations, and the focus of the debate being centered around how they sound, there are clear positives coming out of the new 2014 regulations.

Perhaps best of all is that new manufacturers are on their way back to F1, and even those already involved are hugely excited by what is happening.