Renault have been hiring like crazy and are also expanding at Enstone. It could also be said this years car is the first one to really benefit from the Renault investment. They may surprise a few people.
Hiring and investment without great management doesn't get you anywhere but wasting money. Think Toyota, or Mclaren with a huge team and no rudder steering it well. See Mercedes with the right guys at the top getting the best out of the other hundreds of employees.
The main guy who has overseen engine development since what, 2012, is still overseeing the engine today. Ferrari's guys who made their dire 2014 engine was cut within a couple months, new major players at the top of the division and by 2015 the engine was dramatically improved.
Renault just tried to take a huge step changing the head of the racing division and he quit before he ever set foot in the office.
Hiring, expanding and investing is all well and good, but we've seen loads of teams throw money at a problem which really need the right people instead. I've seen very few signs of Renault poaching the best of the best in the sport and without that you get nowhere.
They also just did what I regard as the worst thing possible, where they did need to authorise a higher budget for the right management to take the company forward, they just instead blew their load on making Ricciardo one of the best paid drivers in F1, rumoured to be in the $30-35mi a year range, that puts him at higher than what Hamilton had when he joined Mercedes iirc and frankly this year has only shown that he's a step down from verstappen in speed and that's with multiple years extra experience. They just threw championship level money at a driver who isn't good enough. As mental as if Ferrari went over to RBR and then handed Webber a $30mil a year contract.
Where Mclaren could have been doing with paying a different driver $5mil a year and putting the other $35mil into the car instead they gave it all to Alonso and Renault look to be doing the same thing. Who was more likely to win a title, Alonso in a Mclaren or Leclerc in a Sauber.
