Renault F1 staff told to work from home ahead of shutdown
Renault has told its Formula 1 employees to work from home ahead of the official shutdown, if it's possible for them to do so.
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
While all teams agreed to keep race team staff who had travelled back from Australia at home for 14 days, Renault's policy is more wide ranging.
The company is in the unusual position of having its F1 chassis and engine bases subject to UK and French government advice respectively, while also having to comply with any restrictions imposed on all facilities and employees by parent company Groupe Renault.
Along with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, Renault was one of the first teams to push for the cancellation of the Australian GP once a McLaren team member had been tested positive for COVID-19.
A statement from the team said: "Our decisions must also be consistent with French and English government advice, the policy of Groupe Renault, but also that of Formula 1 authorities.
"The first of these decisions was to support McLaren's decision not to participate in the Australian Grand Prix following a positive test in the paddock, then to quickly repatriate our track teams present in Melbourne.
"We subsequently asked them not to not return to Enstone or Viry-Chatillon for a minimum period of 14 days.
"Working from home has been widespread for all employees able to do so at Viry-Chatillon. Following measures taken by the French government and implemented from Monday evening in France, Renault Sport Racing's management has also decided to close Viry-Chatillon from the evening of Friday 20 March until Sunday 5 April inclusive.
"Working at home has been progressively implemented at Enstone and will be mandatory for all employees able to do so from Monday 23 March."
The period of working from home is independent of the official shutdown, when servers are switched off and there is supposed to be no email contact between team members. Renault has opted to close the Enstone site from Monday 30 March until Sunday 19 April inclusive.
Regarding future developments, Renault added: "These initial measures taken at Enstone and Viry-Chatillon will be reviewed and adapted in view of the situation's evolution.
"We will now enter into a phase of in-depth discussions with F1, the FIA and the other teams to define and put in place measures that our sport will have to take in these exceptional circumstances.
"In the face of the coming challenges, responsibility and solidarity must prevail to reduce the impact of this health crisis."
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
How an F1 underachiever became a Japanese political player
What could have been: When Villeneuve’s shock return thwarted an F1 rookie
Ricciardo: Time running out to sort Abiteboul's tattoo
How Ricciardo helped Renault rediscover its swagger
Mercedes joins Williams and RB with 'quick and cheap' F1 cockpit airflow upgrades
Alpine gets F1 spare car for first time as lighter chassis appears
Supercars Taupo: Mostert leads Ford 1-2-3 in opening practice
F1 Chinese GP: Stroll leads FP1 as small fire causes early red flag
Why F1 2026 worst-case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Motorsport.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