McLaren trusts Renault over proposed engine improvements

McLaren F1 CEO Zak Brown has spoke of how the team trusts Renault over the engine improvements they are proposing for this season. Brown revealed the reasoning behind the trust is because of Renault's honesty and openness with the team during their first year as partnership last year.

Renault have spoke during their own car launch earlier in the week about how this was their best winter since their return in terms of engine development. Brown also told that the data shared so far with McLaren has been very encouraging.

"We are up to speed with the comments they have made, and they have shared with us in detail the gains they have made, so that is quite encouraging," Brown told Autosport. "We are new in the relationship, Renault are saying things differently this year than they did last year."

McLaren is confident that the MCL34 is a significant successor to last years' car, with McLaren's sporting director Gil de Ferran believes that it is down to a much stronger bond between the team and their supplier for 2019. New Renault F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo also backs up the claims of the supplier's improvements with the data he has seen.

"Last year was the first year for the team with Renault, and as you work together and understand how each party works, from the inside out, your relationship naturally improves.

"You get to know each other better, the conversations get easier and by consequence, the technical collaboration tends to improve," de Ferran added. "The systems that you set in place, you need to run them for a while to understand the weaknesses and where to improve. I really see more of that going on than anything transformational."

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