Renault learned from Formula Renault 3.5's 2014 problems
Renault Sport chiefs believe that they have learned lessons from a tough Formula Renault 3.5 season in 2014 where the series was unable to field a full grid of cars
The championship was rocked by the news that established, championship-winning outfit Carlin decided to sit out 2014 on the eve of the season, while a handful of other teams struggled to field a full line-up through the year.
Those issues led to Renault working with the teams to come up with cost-cutting measures for next year, and championship organisers are confident of returning to a full field in 2015.
When asked by AUTOSPORT if 2014 was a transitional year for FR3.5, Renault Sport CEO Patrice Ratti said: "I think so. We should have reacted earlier on the costs.
"We underestimated the problem, and we underestimated the solutions.
"Once we started working on it - when you dig you find that you can find things here and there."
Ratti believes that the changes could save teams €100,000 per season from next year.
"Without changing the performance of the car we have helped save at least that," he added.
"The teams should be able to offer better rates, or make more profit.
"This year was difficult for some teams, but they are happy with the decisions, and we made the changes by working with them.
"They are all preparing for next year, and discussing with drivers. They told us it's a better situation than a year ago."
Carlin will return to FR3.5 next year, replacing Czech outfit ISR in the line-up of 12 teams.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments