Cyril Abiteboul linked to new role at Red Bull Powertrains following ex-Renault boss’s Red Bull sighting in Abu Dhabi

Former Renault F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul has been linked with a potential role at Red Bull Powertrains after he was spotted with the team during the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend.

The Frenchman had previously worked alongside Milton Keynes when its power units were supplied by Renault. More famously, he had a difficult relationship with the team's management.

Ahead of the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi, Abiteboul, who currently works for Mechachrome in an advisory role, was spotted at Red Bull’s hospitality unit. A subsequent report by the Turkish version of Motorsport.com claims that the Frenchman might be considering a move to Red Bull Powertrains.

During a post-season interview with GPfans, Abiteboul confirmed he was in Abu Dhabi and said:

“I have to confess I was at Red Bull. I can admit it because I was spotted there. It’s all right, I’ve chosen the right place! I have worked a lot with [them]. People remember our differences, but I also have a lot of respect for this completely result-oriented organization. I want to say that at all costs. Sometimes that was what Renault lacked, that willingness to want to win at all costs.

Continuing to hail praise on the team, Abiteboul said:

“When I see the strategic choices made by Helmut Marko, with Max (Verstappen) and with Honda, and the implementation of them by the team in Milton Keynes under Christian (Horner)’s leadership, I am glad it paid off in the end. And those last few minutes in Abu Dhabi, you could say to yourself it was meant to be.”

Cyril Abiteboul and Christian Horner were famously at odds with each other during the early years of the turbo-hybrid era, when Renault was supplying engines to Red Bull. Horner felt his team's performance was being hampered by Renault delivering a mediocre engine, and would often air his frustrations in public.

Abiteboul felt disrespected by Horner’s public comments and would fire back at the Milton Keynes outfit, claiming they were simply offloading their failures on the French manufacturer.

Relations between the two further deteriorated by the end of 2018, when the Austrian team switched to Honda power while Renault poached Daniel Ricciardo from the former.

Two years later, Abiteboul left Renault prior to its rebranding as Alpine at the end of 2020, while Red Bull finally managed to win the championship with Honda last season.

Max Verstappen's championship victory and Abiteboul’s departure from Renault seem to have dissipated the animosity between the latter and Christian Horner. Faced with Honda’s departure from F1, Red Bull are putting together their own power unit department.

Over the last year, Milton Keynes has been on a hiring spree, poaching talent from all over the motorsport landscape. Abiteboul, with his immense experience of working for Renault, might just end up working for his former "customer" team.

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Red Bull-Renault saga a key factor in Netflix’s 'Drive to Survive' popularity

Netflix docudrama series Drive to Survive has often been lauded for renewing mainstream interest in F1 as well as introducing a newer and younger audience to the sport. The series closely follows select teams and drivers throughout the season to provide an exclusive behind-the-scenes perspective of the F1 paddock.

The first season of the series was shot in 2018, and heavily featured Daniel Ricciardo’s imminent departure to Renault and the events leading up to it. Both Christian Horner and Cyril Abiteboul got plenty of screentime and were often shown as being at odds with each other.

The off-track drama between Horner and Abiteboul, combined with Daniel Ricciardo’s internal conflicts made for excellent TV and helped fuel Drive to Survive's popularity. The series renewed interest among old fans, who had come to feel that races were becoming boring, while drawing in newer audiences who were intrigued by the series.