Budkowski: I lost faith in my work at the FIA

Budkowski - who was tipped to take over from current F1 race director Charlie Whiting - revealed that he lost faith in the direction his FIA work took.

In Singapore, speaking to MN in depth for the first time since he came off gardening in April earlier this year, he revealed, "It came at just the right time for me and over time I lost faith in my work and Renault is a great project."

Budkowski recalled his motivation for moving from McLaren to the FIA in 2014, "When I went to the FIA, I had only the World Association in mind, it was designed as a long-term project, but unfortunately it did not work quite as planned."

Budkowski began his Formula 1 career when he joined the Prost F1 team in 2001, not long after the team went bust and he was taken on by Ferrari where he remained until 2007. His role at Maranello in his final years was head of the wind tunnel operations.

After that, he joined McLaren's aero department and by the time he departed, seven years later, he was head of aerodynamics at Woking.

In 2014 he took up a job at the FIA where he worked as a technical and sports coordinator. In March 2017 he became the head of the technical department of the federation, but by October he had resigned and was hired by Renault, a development which did not go down well with the team's rivals.

Of the controversy he caused at the time, Budkowski said, "That was blown up too much."

As for his current role, the 41-year-old Pole explained, "I started [this] April and spent the first three months in Viry to get to know the team better. That sounds very trivial, but I just met the people I do not have time for now."

"My responsibility is that the entire technical team, as well as the operational management, report directly to me, plus the human resources department and the rest of the departments are directly subordinate to Cyril because they are split between Viry and Enstone."

Last month Renault sent a clear signal of their intent next season by scooping Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull, the team intends to be on the podium in 2019 and by 2020 they are targeting grand prix victories.

Budkowski continued, "Enstone is great, the team has a special history. They've experienced so much together, a core group of people has kept the team together during the Lotus years, and these are still the same people that are the foundation of the team today."

"I'm excited to help rebuild the team, and many changes are coming to us, from the budget cap to resource constraints, and the rule changes will be just in time for us as we rebuild the team ready to take on the fight with the top three, because that's our plan," added Budkowski.