Renault, returning as a constructor after buying back the team they sold in 2009, this week followed McLaren and reigning world champions Mercedes in doing away with the once exalted position of team principal. Frederic Vasseur will be racing director instead, reporting to Renault Sport managing director Cyril Abiteboul under president Jerome Stoll — with company chief executive Carlos Ghosn above all. It is very different to last time. Then the French car giant had Italian Flavio Briatore — a flamboyant multi-millionaire who exercised complete control while never straying far from the celebrity gossip pages — as F1 team principal. A decade or two ago, the principals were...
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