Budkowski’s Renault arrival delayed to April

Editor

Controversial Renault signing Marcin Budkowski will only join the team in April after his gardening leave from the FIA was doubled.

Renault angered their rivals when, earlier this year, they announced that FIA technical chief Budkowski would be joining them as their new executive director.

With just three months gardening leave between his old and new job, rivals were worried that he could pass on design secrets as he was responsible for liaising with teams to ensure the compliance of the cars.

To assuage those concerns, Renault and the FIA have agreed to double Budkowski’s gardening leave, meaning he will only join the team in April.

Renault F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul told Autosport: “I will confirm exactly what is going on, and he will be in Enstone on April 1.”

The publication adds that Budkowski will be free to join Renault the weekend after the Australian Grand Prix.