Renault have confirmed that former FIA technical chief Marcin Budkowski has joined the team in the role of executive director.
Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul said: "There have been a lot of positive changes these last few months at Renault Sport Racing with an accelerated expansion at Enstone, the restructuring of our engine deployment from Viry with the supply of two top customer teams for 2018, three titles in a row in an increasingly competitive Formula E championship and other motor racing categories, and the arrival of new strategic partners."
"Marcin's mission will be to continue the strengthening of Enstone to enable Renault to join the top Formula 1 teams by 2020, through relying on the proven personnel of the likes of Bob Bell, Nick Chester and Rob White. Marcin's arrival is excellent news and further proof of our determination to achieve our goals," added Abiteboul.
It was confirmed during the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend that Budkowski was put on gardening leave after resigning his post with the FIA.
The appointment has aggrieved several team chiefs who believe the appointment is a conflict of interest and the gardening leave period for a senior FIA official involved in F1, such as Budkowski, is too short as he has been privy to confidential technical and operational information of all the teams.
Red Bull chief Christian Horner said of the appointment, "I don't think there's any real issue with Marcin but the issue is the notice period. He's been privy to everybody's secrets, everybody's designs for next year. I think it could be a big issue for Renault if a team finds one of their components on that car.
"Personally I think its incorrect that a person of that seniority within the FIA should be allowed to be in another working environment within a three-month period. I'm sure it will be on the agenda at the next strategy group. It absolutely needs looking at," added Horner.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff added, "Nobody wants to stand in the way of Marcin's career path but it's a matter of how long of a notice period you should have with senior people that have a lot of knowledge. Within the industry the minimum is six, or even 12 months or more.
"We need to be very transparent with the FIA. They need to look into every detail of the car so they have quite an intimate knowledge about the deficit and the areas of strength of each of the cars.
"But I think common sense will prevail. Jean Todt needs to step in. Renault i think will have a realistic assessment whats morally and ethically correct and what's not," concluded Wolff.
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