Renault adds new director to F1 team

Jan.11 (GMM) Renault's Lotus takeover is continuing to race ahead, even though an official name change for the Enstone team is yet to be announced.

But the big Lotus team sign on the main building at Enstone has now been taken down, while another director has been added to the management board.

Just before Christmas, the French carmaker said Renault's Jerome Stoll and Cyril Abiteboul have been added to the new board of directors.

And now RTBF, the French-language Belgian broadcaster, said Thierry Cognet has also become a director. The business social media service Linkedin said Cognet is a Paris-based financial director for Renault.

At the same time, the formerly Lotus-linked Eric Lux and Andrew Ruhan have departed, although Genii's Gerard Lopez is reportedly retaining 10 per cent of the F1 team.

"The new team name, full management structure, team partners and other details will be announced during an event to be held in Paris in February," Renault said.

Talking recently about Renault's decision to buy back Enstone after working in F1 only as an engine supplier since 2010, director Stoll said: "Carlos Ghosn said (last year that) our sports activities must be at the service of our communication and marketing policy.

"I saw four options," he told Auto Plus. "Remain an engine supplier: for the budget, the marketing return was not good. Put a 'sticker' on a car: other manufacturers have done it but not always with the desired success.

"So two alternatives remained: withdraw from F1 or stay as a major player," added Stoll.