Sometimes reduced to the miscellaneous category, the city of Viry-Châtillon, in the Essonne, however, hosts for 40 years one of the most prestigious factories in the world: the site Renault Sport, where are manufactured the engines of Formula 1 which have propelled several pilots to international titles. Report.
“Remember that from the top of this factory, forty years of history of the Formula 1 you contemplate”. It is tempting to paraphrase this sentence of Napoleon Bonaparte about the Renault factory in Viry-Châtillon, Essonne, stuck to the A6 motorway towards Paris and just minutes from the Grande Borne district. A special factory because it is the seat of Renault Sport, concentrating the management of the subsidiary of the former Régie and the manufacture of engines for the Renault F1 team.
“This factory has been around since 1969,” says Cyril Abiteboul, General Manager of Renault Sport, born in 1977, the year Renault launched its Formula 1. Over the past 25 years, Renault engines designed at Viry-Châtillon have helped drivers like Nigel Mansell (1992), or Alain Prost (1993), Michael Schumacher (1995), Fernando Alonso (2005, 2006) and Sebastian Vettel (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) to become world champion.
Home page Renault sport, Viry-Châtillon (Essonne)
Transmit Renault skills to the youngest
Renault Sport as a whole is 1,100 people spread over two sites (Enstone, England, for the chassis and Viry-Châtillon, where we are, for the engine). Here in Viry, 400 employees run the plant: French, but also English, Japanese, Brazilians … who occupy the positions of engineer, mechanic and logistician mainly.
This factory feels the urge for surpassing, raging to conquer and success. Moreover, at the entrance, in what is called the hall of the champions, appear historical engines of Renault F1, in particular the V10 in the 1990s, the trophy of the championship constructors gleaned by the stable in 2006 and the Renault R26 Fernando Alonso. In the corridors leading to the management offices, photos of Renault 2017 drivers Nicko Hülkenberg and Jolyon Palmer in their suit or track with their cars. In the office of Cyril Abiteboul, with a view of the A6, there are images of Renault’s different periods in F1 since the 90s. “Our commitment to Formula 1 has evolved over time. We passed stable, engine and stable again. We adapted to our environment. We adapted to the circumstances. Finally, it was like a red thread, “says the managing director about Renault’s commitment in Formula 1.
F1 engine
A commitment, as a complete security, which officially resumed in December 2015, with the decision of the former Régie to return to this competition, “with a vision of medium-long term”, says Cyril Abiteboul. This requires an improved site for engines because the seniority of the Viry-Châtillon plant poses a problem. “It is a very old factory, which is very complicated, which is expensive for us in maintenance. The technology is changing. We went from a hybrid engine, with electric elements, batteries that are works of art, battery assembly that is made on this site, with also security issues because they are batteries to very high voltage. All this was complicated to maintain in an old factory that had not been designed for that. There was a mismatch between our factory and the current technology, “says the number 2 Renault Sport.
Cyril Abiteboul, General Manager of Renault Sport
A solution was found in 2017 to communities to maintain the motor activity on Viry-Châtillon, with an extension on the other side of Kennedy Street, on a current industrial wasteland. The future building of an area of 4,000 m², whose installation work should begin this year, will host assembly, assembly of engines, but also a possible mechanical workshop that would serve to “train more people on the premises , through learning systems they would come to do on historical engines, according to Louis Bordes, director of communication of Renault Sport. It’s something we’ve been thinking about for a while with Cyril. ” The project is still in the process of reflection. It remains to agree with the education system to set up such a device, as well as find staff with a perfect knowledge of the historic engines of F1 within Renault.
A site that goes from 11,000 to 15,000 m²
This additional 4,000m², together with the 11,000 m² of the current plant, is not too much for the 400 people working throughout the year. “The site was becoming too narrow,” says Cyril Dumont, director of operations, responsible for organizing “engine assembly, engine testing, development of test facilities, logistics, sending engines on track”. The latter improvised guide the time of our visit. On the program: design office, the OP room where engineers analyze telemetry data during free practice, assembly workshop where the V6 turbo hybrid is mounted by two people, test benches for the engine …
Exhibition of engines in the corridors of Renault Sport, Viry-Châtillon (Essonne)
“We represent the work of the whole factory”
In the factory, some engineers or mechanics went through the track. Cyril Dumont, for example, was track engine engineer for Sebastian Vettel from 2009 to 2012, taking part in the first three titles won by the German driver, at the time at Red Bull powered by Renault. Rémi Taffin, technical engine director of Renault Sport, de facto director of the factory, was the track engineer of Fernando Alonso during his two world titles (2005, 2006). Cédric Baudesson, engine mechanic in the Viry-Châtillon factory, worked on track for 10 years (2004-2014), crisscrossing the different corners of the world hosting an F1 Grand Prix, serving drivers powered by a Renault engine. Mark Webber, Valtteri Bottas, Jarno Trulli or Daniil Kvyat.
Now sedentary, Cyril Dumont and Cédric Baudesson emphasize that the work at the factory is more enjoyable than on the track. “The work on the track is exploitation, it’s the finished product. And there, at the factory, it is rather the work of development. Which is well before the exploitation. It’s less strict in terms of timing, in terms of timing. It’s easier to organize, “says Cédric Baudesson. “When we’re on the track, we have more weight on our shoulders. We are at the end of the chain. We represent the work of the entire plant. If we miss, if we give up the car, for this or that reason, bad adjustment, we bear the full weight of the company, “bids Cyril Dumont. For Rémi Taffin, there are no “really” differences between the daily life in Viry and the weekends in the paddock, as the two atmospheres are imbued with the spirit of competition, the will to want to challenge each other to ride the better engine that is today, tomorrow or the day after, in a functioning that wants to be family according to him.
2020 goal
In December 2015, when Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault, announced the return of the former Régie in F1 as a complete safety net, he also announced the goal of fighting for the title drivers and manufacturers from 2020. After a ninth in the constructors’ standings in 2016, Renault progressed in the hierarchy, finishing sixth in the standings in 2017. “After, sixth, it is still far from the first places. I think we will continue to see this improvement over the next two years, “relativizes Cyril Abiteboul, saying that Renault should be able to become the fourth force on the plateau, behind the three top teams that are Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.
Louis Bordes, director of communication for Renault Sport
The French team has a budget for 2018 which equates to “85% of the budget of the largest teams”, Abiteboul estimates their amount between 300 and 400 million euros. Clearly, the budget of Renault should oscillate between 255 and 340 million euros.
F1 model
Renault has embarked on a new chapter in its 40-year-old history with Formula 1. All this, with engineers, mechanics from around Viry-Châtillon or various countries around the world, to perpetuate the Renault’s legacy in F1. “We quote 40 years of Renault Sport and we hope to live 40 years more!” Concludes, enthusiastic, Rémi Taffin. We’ll meet again in 40 years!
Jonathan BAUDOIN
Photo credit: Michel Escallier