Hyundai's rallying success fuels speculation of F1 entry with new French talent
May 25 - Just as Aston Martin and Honda team up in Formula 1 for the future, another manufacturer not already on the grid is also attracting attention.
Former Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul is now in charge of Hyundai's world rally program, although until now he has played down the possibility of the South Korean carmaker entering F1.
"My contribution is not to make comparisons with Formula 1 because they are so different," the Frenchman told the Spanish sports newspaper AS this week.
"Both are motorsport disciplines, but in Formula 1 you try to have everything under control and in rallies there are many things that cannot be controlled," he added.
"The interactions between team members and drivers are also different," Abiteboul, 45, said.
"I spent 15 years in Formula 1 and I wanted to continue in this sport, but with something new and this was a perfect path."
Now, it emerges that Hyundai has snapped up well-known engineer Francois-Xavier Demaison - another Frenchman who was ousted from Formula 1 recently.
Demaison left his role as Williams technical director at the end of last year along with team boss Jost Capito - and he will now be technical boss at Abiteboul-led Hyundai Motorsport.
"His extensive experience and accomplishments will prove invaluable as we strive to establish ourselves as the benchmark in our motorsport programs," said team president Sean Kim.
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
Since the South Korean Grand Prix was axed from the calendar there is little interest in F1 in that country. Hyundai aren't interested in moving into F1, it isn't in their business interests. Rallying promotes their road cars, which with their success they see as good for sales. In F1 they would only be an also-ran! It won't happen!
✅ Checkout the latest 50 F1 Fans comments.