Renault to bring new engine to Monaco
After conclusive tests last week in Barcelona, Renault has decided to bring its new engine evolution to the Monaco Grand Prix. However, only two of the four drivers powered by the French brand will be able to benefit from it.
Following the Spanish Grand Prix, Renault tested a specification B of its power unit during the two days of private testing at the Barcelona track last week.
The aim was initially to install these new engines in the yellow single-seaters of the Renault team and those of Red Bull starting from the Canadian Grand Prix next June. However, the good results obtained during the tests will prompt the French engine manufacturer to offer this upgrade as early as the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend.
This was confirmed by Remi Taffin, the technical director of the brand with the diamond this week: « We had initially planned to introduce it in Canada, the initial date for the end of the current groups’ cycle, but if we can have it assembled and fully validated for Monaco, we will take those available. »
It seems that a version B of the engine might be offered to Red Bull to equip one of their cars and another to Renault’s factory team. For now, neither team has chosen the driver who might benefit from it. This decision will be a clear indication of the priorities each team makes in their driver pairing, which will undoubtedly create tensions between the two teammates, especially at Red Bull where Daniel Ricciardo has to contend with the Verstappen wave.
A gain of half a second per lap is expected with this new specification, even if the progress might be less noticeable on a track like Monaco: This specification includes significant modifications to the combustion system. This makes the engine more powerful and more efficient, for an estimated gain of about half a second per lap. For this development, we have thus spent a small proportion of our allocated tokens. specifies Taffin.
