Renault has confirmed the appointment of Marcin Budkowski as executive director, who recently stepped down from his position as head of the FIA’s Formula 1 technical department.

The controversial move has been opposed by the rest of the teams on the grid, given his knowledge and understanding of Renault and its rivals’ cars. The teams had been pressing Jean Todt to at least postpone the appointment for a year.

Budkowski is currently on a three-month gardening leave.

Renault says Budkowski will oversee the chassis development and ‘production activities’, and the signing is the latest step forward for the works Renault team, which expects to be competing for wins by 2020.

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