Renault confirm Abiteboul return

Just a day after his departure as Caterham team principal was announced, Renault have confirmed that Cyril Abiteboul is to return to the company in the newly-created position of managing director of Renault Sport F1, the suppliers of power units to four of the 12 Formula One teams.

Frenchman Abiteboul originally joined Renault in 2001, becoming development director of the Renault F1 team in 2007, and executive director in 2010. In September 2012 he moved to Caterham as team CEO, before replacing owner Tony Fernandes as team principal later that year.

His Caterham exit follows Fernandes’ sale of the team to a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors and among his new tasks at Renault will be to make the French firm’s F1 power units competitive with those produced by rivals Mercedes.

Renault have at the same time announced the departure of Jean-Michel Jalinier, president and managing director of Renault Sport F1, who is retiring for personal reasons. New president Jerome Stoll, to whom Abitelboul will report, will take on the role in addition to his current responsibilities as chief performance officer and group sales and marketing director.