Mainly because the former works Renault squad have become an embarrassment to Renault over the past few years.MIKEY_! wrote:... it don't make sense to me that Renault (engine supplier) would drop Lotus (black/gold) and keep other lotus while taking on Williams. Why trade a reasonably good team while keeping a rubbish one and taking on a pretty poor performer (5 points this season!?!).
First there was crashgate, which made the board of directors want a graceful exit from the sport, so they sold the team to a venture capitalist who are yet to drop the Renault name 2 years after the sale.
Next came the naming dispute between the two Lotus teams, where Renault come off looking like the bad guy because the little green minnows had claimed the Lotus name first (which, in the playground logic of public perception, is all that really matters).
There were also the complaints about Petrov's "Renault" getting in the way of the championship decider last season (generating bad PR for Renault) and the recent driver dispute where Heidfeld was reported to be taking "Renault" to court for breach of contract.
There have been persistent rumours about "Renault" running out of money : Would the average layman think "Oh, that is because of the strange way the venture capitalists at Genii are running the team" or would they simply think that Renault are a big wasteful corporate entity producing cars that nobody wants to buy?
This has all been terrible PR, as most people won't differentiate between Renault the team and Renault the corporation, so any controversy associated with the team will also smear the manufacturer despite having sold the team to get away from the negative press that they had been attracting in F1.
How many cars have gone up in flames this season? Only the Renaults ... did Renault build those cars? No ... but their name is on the chassis and the commentators are obliged to call them Renaults. Will Renault have been happy to see that? I don't think so.
Selling the team to Genii may have made financial sense at the time, but the situation has gone from bad to worse : being associated with that team has generated nothing but negative press.
And THIS is why Renault are more likely to dump their former works outfit, yet keep the backmarking team in green : by comparison, the outfit run Tony Fernandes is bright and positive, running their team with unparalleled openness in a sport that is reknowned for smoke and mirrors. This open approach has created a small but loyal fanbase that are more likely to reciprocate any support that "their" team receives. In marketing terms, this is infinitely more valuable to Renault than the black and gold controversy-magnet that is currently bearing their name.
I believe Renault will have NOTHING to do with Bahar's trainwreck next season : they've already strengthened their partnership with Red Bull, trying to glean as much exposure from that relationship as possible.
If you can take some of the credit for the most dominant partnership of recent years, why would you want ANYTHING to do with a team that does nothing but generate negative press? Grid position won't even be a factor in the decision for second-string engine supply. If your engines are winning the championship, you'll get more goodwill from fans for also supporting an underdog.
</epic rant>
