This is a philosophy from which Flavio Briatore did not swerve after his arrival. "We invest down to the last cent in this business, and we pay particular attention to the way in which we manage the various departments," he said, "but this also comes from our way of working. We have to set priorities and make the right decisions. Having an unlimited budget would be like going into a restaurant that has an amazing menu. You would order a bit of everything and end up not really knowing how much you spent. We work as if we were going to do the shopping. We know what we want to serve for dinner. In this way, we only buy the ingredients that we need, and thus we get the results that we want. Because you know exactly what you want, you make the right decisions and work efficiently. This is a way of working that comes from the very top of the company."

In the F1 programme, the total cost is estimated during the project initiation phase. "During the season, this allows us to know what has been spent and how much money is left," explained Arnaud Boulanger. "Then, we determine the impact of an expense on both performance and reliability, and rank our development projects accordingly." For Andre Laine, the biggest budget does not necessarily produce the best results: "Financial restrictions allow us to develop a certain approach and to remain inventive. The Renault F1 Team won the world championship with the sixth-largest budget in the field. We can be extremely proud of this."

"For a project manager, quality means delivering a project on time, within budget and in compliance with the objectives that have been set. We don't have endless personnel or financial resources, and we're on a tight schedule: the project has to be error-free and ready for the first race. This is the one non-negotiable parameter in our business. The quality of the final product is directly connected to the way in which it is designed. We have to find intelligent, practical solutions to complex problems; this comes about by rigorous, crossdepartmental thinking. We also have to build on the skills and abilities available to us at each stage of the process. Ultimately, the verdict is delivered at the track during the first race: does the product perform as promised?" - Leon Taillieu, Engine Project Manager


How the Technocentre contributes to the F1 programme

In 2000, Bernard Dumas was entrusted with the construction of a gateway between the Technocentre at Guyancourt - where future Renault-brand models are engineered - and the world of Grand Prix racing.

"The job consisted of offering highly specialized skills, depending on the needs of the F1 team", he said. "In return, our colleagues benefited from the unique experience of working in a highly competitive environment." In 2001, more than ten employees were seconded to Enstone for periods ranging from a few months to three or fouryears. The basis of the collaboration is quite simple: whenever Enstone encounters a need that it cannot meet by itself, it asks the Technocentre for assistance. This sets the recruitment process in motion, and the right person for the job is soon packing his or her bags for England. In 2003, the success of the operation became readily apparent, and the collaboration programme was extended to Viry-Chatillon. The system is now in its seventh year.

Didier Deffrasnes, manager of the F1-Technocentre partnership, came on board in February 2006. He can draw on a pool of 8,000 employees, more than a dozen of whom have been seconded to the F1 programme. "We want this experience to be more than just a brief interruption in our employees' careers," he noted. "It should serve as a springboard, a source of additional training. Our goal is to build skills thanks to an approach that is different from the methods used at Guyancourt, one based on shorter production cycles. Until they return to the Technocentre, the Renault staff become an integral part of the F1 programme."

"Sometimes, quality is a way of thinking, a philosophy that pushes you to find solutions to possible problems. The shape of a bracket, or the use of one material instead of another, could simultaneously improve performance, safety and reliability, but it might also save production time or even reduce costs by a few cents per vehicle." - Gilles Mulato, Engineering Project Manager

previous page | go to page 7