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Renault’s managing director, Cyril Abiteboul, has revealed that there will be no major power unit upgrades for the remainder of the 2017 Season for neither the works team, nor customer teams. He did reveal however that there will be a series of race-by-race developments that will equate to a ‘big’ upgrade for the rest of the year.
"There are upgrades permanently - every single race we are making some small improvements. Last year we created a huge expectation and we came with an upgrade that had a big impact. But we can’t repeat that every year,” Abiteboul told Formula1.com.
“Now it is all about constant improvements which overall will make a difference - but there is no magic bullet. Every race the engine will become more and more reliable with the program on the dyno progressing.
"Frankly the next big upgrade will be next year. Then we will have a completely new concept. That will make a difference - but as I said 2018."
This contrasts the belief of Red Bull Racing’s Christian Horner, who believed that there was a major engine update coming to the team for the Canadian Grand Prix, with this since being pushed back to the next race in Azerbaijan. "It was Red Bull who said that there would be an upgrade,” Abiteboul confirmed.
Chris Soulsby
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
C. Sainz jr
685 members have this team as their favourite
Replies (2)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
They better hope that their 2018 engine is a good one then...
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Im not sure. They tried the same strategy last year, yet they failed to produce an engine that was even close to what Mercedes or even Ferrari produced.
I've said it before, and I stand by that opinion: I think this is a mistake. Not only is it a disservice to your customers, but it is a waste of precious time. They have the opportunity to replace a ridiculous amount of parts in their PU this season thanks to the removal of that bloody cap, utilize that time and build a basis for the 2018 spec. Saves time and helps you now.