No major changes for Renault engines this season
Renault director Cyril Abitboul has announced that the French engine will not be receiving any major upgrades this season, but only a few minor ones that will continue to be made to the power unit at each Grand Prix, as it has done since the start of the season.
Contrary to what was announced at the beginning of the season, the Renault engine did not receive a major upgrade for the Canadian Grand Prix and will not receive one for Azerbaijan either. In fact, Renault will not introduce significant engine upgrades this season.
The lack of power compared to Ferrari and Mercedes engines had been criticized by the Red Bull management at the beginning of the season, while acknowledging that the Austrian chassis was not without fault, hoping for the introduction of a significant power unit update to get closer to the two leading teams.
This could therefore further exacerbate the relations between Renault and its customers, who do not hesitate to openly criticize the French brand while maintaining more restraint than in 2015 when Red Bull and Renault nearly parted ways.
Cyril Abiteboul told the official Formula 1 website that Renault, although not introducing a major engine evolution, will continue to bring small improvements to its engine at each race as it has been doing since the beginning of the season: « It was Red Bull who stated there would be developments. There are constant updates. We make small improvements at each race ».
The former Caterham director explains that the significant development of the Renault hybrid turbo V6 introduced in 2016 was exceptional and that it was not possible to reproduce the same thing every year: « Last year, we created huge expectations and we came up with an update that had a big impact. But we cannot repeat that every year. Now, it is about constant improvements that, overall, will make a difference. But there is no magic bullet. With each race, the engine will become more and more reliable with the continued test bench program. »
The Frenchman concluded that there would be no updates this season but that the French manufacturer planned to introduce a whole new engine concept for the 2018 season: « Frankly, the next big upgrade will be next year. Then we will have a completely new concept. It will make a difference, but as I said, in 2018. »
