Renault, Circuit de Catalunya, 2019

Renault hires former Williams aerodynamicist De Beer for 2021 rules push

2019 F1 season

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Renault has replaced its head of aerodynamics in a shake-up of its technical department in preparation for Formula 1’s overhaul of its rules in 2021.

The team announced its head of aerodynamics Peter Machin has left the team “by mutual agreement, with immediate effect”. He will be replaced by Dirk de Beer.

De Beer is returning to the role he held at the team between 2008 and 2013. Prior to that he worked at Sauber, and following his first stint at Renault he moved to Ferrari. He stayed there until 2017 before moving to Williams, but left the Grove team a year later following their disappointing start to the 2018 season.

Renault also revealed a new deputy head of aerodynamics who will join them next year “from another team”. The role will be occupied in the meantime by Vince Todd. The team’s principal aerodynamicist James Rodgers has been promoted to chief aerodynamicist, a new position, with responsibility for aerodynamic performance development.

Team principal Cyril Abiteboul said the team has “shown some strengths,” in 2019 but has “identified areas that needed reinforcement.

“After a rapid growth of our aerodynamic department and a modernisation of our equipment, the strengthening of the management layer of this key department will help us reap the benefits of our investments. This is particularly relevant as we enter a very important year in our midterm plan with the 2021 aerodynamic regulations now confirmed.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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19 comments on “Renault hires former Williams aerodynamicist De Beer for 2021 rules push”

  1. And so the money spending race begins. 2020 is all about spending as much money as possible to make a good car for 2021 and onwards. Once the 2021 season begins the budgets are capped so any advantage you can create during the 2020 year will likely keep giving for the next couple of years as the car performance may slowly become closer. And if you make a bad car for 2021 you’ll have a tough time sorting it out when your competitors are spending the same money to make their quick car even quicker.

    Of course this is really an issue just with the top teams. Merc, ferrari and red bull will probably spend a lot of money starting now to be ready for 2021 and onwards. In the midfield I’d guess we’ll see some teams evaluating how much 2020 car development budget goes into making 2021 car. Apart from the volantery budget reporting in 2020 it was a bit sad to see how this obvious loop hole of mega spending year got through. Or maybe it got through because the top three wanted it. It just means the true effect of 2021 rule changes and especially budget gap will be probably felt in 2023 or so. Which is pretty sad because out of all issues f1 has the by far biggest one in my opinion is the formula 1 and formula 1.5 gap. Instead of making sure this gap is closed as far as it can in 2021 the opposite will happen and the big three will carry lot of their advantage well into the new regulation era.

    1. CFD and wind tunnel testing is still limited, so they’re already limited in that regard.

    2. Oh stop moaning. A cap is a cap, you can’t impose one straight away, there’s livelihoods to consider.

  2. No return to Sauber then. Someone better tell Kimi he will not have De Beer.

    1. If this story can’t be scotched, I guess it will leave Kimi whining

  3. That is all good and nice until Renault’s new management takes “Honda 2008” decision, which I think is around 80% probable.

  4. Is that good news – given the recent, “succesful” Willy years?!

    1. @Bruno Verrari – Exactly. Not sure this is a step up.

      1. @hobo, Dirk de Beer does have some rather successful cars to his credit though – considering how much financial trouble the team was in at the time, the Lotus E20 and Lotus E21 that he designed in 2012 and 2013 rather punched above their weight in terms of success. After that, he then had some solid cars at Ferrari under his belt too, helping the team recover after the disaster of their 2014 car.

        With regards to Williams, I am not sure how much influence he did actually have over their recent cars. He joined the team in March 2017, then he left the team in May 2018, so wasn’t there for much time to influence the design.

        The other question might be the terms that he left Williams under, as he seems to have described himself as being on “gardening leave” ever since he left Williams – which would seem to imply that there was a fairly lengthy enforced break clause in his contract. If he was already lining up a deal with Renault back in 2018, it may be that Williams limited his involvement in the FW41 – so, in those circumstances it’s possible that he might not have had as much involvement with Williams’s cars as perhaps we think.

    2. Maybe it is all a cover up to get out…
      Like “You see, we hired the super specialist, but still failed… unfair sport, we quit”…

      1. Quitting is not in the Williams DNA. They’ll call it quits only when the money runs out; they won’t do a Ferrari and throw a hissy fit threatening to leave for Formula E.

  5. So who is the un-named deputy head of aerodynamics?

    1. Some guy named Adrian New—something
      He seems to be up-and-coming:)

      1. +1 if only :)

  6. With a Head of aerodynamics, a principal aerodynamicist and a chief aerodynamicist, backed up by a deputy head aerodynamicist, one wonders what’s gone wrong with the broth, oops, what’s gone wrong with the car.

    1. @hohum I have read the they are designing a new car for next yr, it will not be just an evolution. This yrs car was a failure and with the pressure they would be getting from the new boss. Abiteboul will need to pull several rabbits out of his hat if he wants to keep racing.

  7. So this means Renault are indeed going to stay in F1, great news then?!

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