Budkowski: Scale of F1 2021 changes unprecedented

Renault executive director Marcin Budkowski believes the Formula 1 rules overhaul set to arrive in 2021 is nothing the sport has ever been through before with a “revolution” in the regulations.

F1 bosses presented its 2021 vision at last year’s United States Grand Prix, laying out a plan for how the new generation of cars will perform with new technical and sporting regulations.

The shake-up is part of the wider changes also set to hit the financial governing and running of F1, which is primarily focused around the introduction of a team cost cap estimated to be set at $150m per season with exceptions like marketing costs and driver salaries.

As a result, all F1 teams are preparing to juggle its 2020 car development with designing its all-new 2021 projects which has led to Budkowski calling the extent of the incoming changes something F1 has never seen before.

“Finding the balance between the 2020 and 2021 car projects will be a huge challenge, of a scale that is probably unprecedented in Formula 1,” Budkowski said. “You always try to start new cars as early as possible but it’s even more valuable when you have a big change in regulations, and the 2021 regulations are nothing short of a revolution.

“Of course, our ambition is to have a good 2020 season, but we are aiming to transition to 2021 as early as possible as we expect the slope of development for the new car to be very steep.”

Renault has already made early preparations for its 2021 efforts by hiring ex-McLaren technical head Pat Fry as its new chassis technical director.

Budkowski says Fry’s introduction brings a timely injection of experience and focus for its 2021 project.

“Pat joins us with a wealth of experience in engineering from a number of top teams,” Budkowski explained. “His background is wide-ranging, from trackside race engineering to overseeing car designs and managing technical teams. From a personality point of view, he also has a lot of drive and a very strong ability to focus on the things that really matter to make a car go quicker.

“His expertise will be of strategic use in the development of the 2021 car as well as for the R.S.20. The latter’s principal characteristics were already determined a few months ago and it is more of an evolution of the R.S.19.

“As such, its potential progress is limited, but it is an informed decision based on the resources we have at our disposal and our mid-term ambitions.”