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Reliability first priority for Renault for 2018

Published on 13 Dec 2017 11:58
9
By: Rob Veenstra

Cyril Abiteboul says Renault's first priority for 2018 is reliability. Although Red Bull won three races this year, a late season reliability crisis saw tensions spill over with another Renault customer, Toro Rosso. Renault is now adding McLaren to its customer roster for 2018 as well as pushing on with its works team, so boss Abiteboul said priority number one is reliability.

"Reliability will come first," he is quoted by Spain's Marca. "We've seen this season that you need to walk before you can run. "I think we were too aggressive on many occasions in the way that we tried to provide extra performance too quickly due to expectations," the Frenchman added.

"I think we have to go step by step, first by being reliable and accumulating as many kilometres as possible during the winter tests, which is I think important for any plan you may have for the chassis," Abiteboul said. "I think if we have reliability, I am extremely comfortable and confident that we can beat Mercedes."

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527

Mercedes will be fine with that system, they and their customers really didnt need more than 3 each this year, but Mercedes is the leader of the pecking order. They cant be the yard stick. Ferrari maybe could've, with some downclocking. Honda and Renault would've been completely done for this sea... [Read more]

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Dec 13 2017 - 18:17

F1 News Renault

Replies (9)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
I think this apply for all of the manufacturers. 2018 will almost be more about endurance than WEC, maybe even for the viewers. Oh FIA, why? I would be happy with 5 allocations, I would survive with 4, but 3? Why would you betray me?
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- Dec 13 2017 - 13:33
- Kean
  
  Posts: 692
  I'm with you on that one... 3 PU's over an entire season!? They way their minds work is God's own private little mystery.
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  Dec 13 2017 - 17:14
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Mercedes will be fine with that system, they and their customers really didnt need more than 3 each this year, but Mercedes is the leader of the pecking order. They cant be the yard stick. Ferrari maybe could've, with some downclocking. Honda and Renault would've been completely done for this season if there were but 3 allocations, they couldnt even handle 4. And even if I think they will improve significantly next season, they will have a harder time than the competition. And even then, you wont have as many opportunities to grab upgrades midseason, and that will most certainly only benefit Mercedes. Its just such a genuinly bad idea. It wouldnt surprise me if they'd have to give teams penalty free extra allocations next year.
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  Dec 13 2017 - 18:17
reg

Posts: 162
I'm more interested to see how Merc get on without their Oil Injection system. Even though everyone else had to stop it, they did all those new engines halfway through the year so they could use it all year and get Ham the Championship. They didn't do this for Valtiery and everyone was saying how off the pace he was, so I suspect without it we may see a much more even playing field next year!
I certainly hope so, if I have to watch Ham cleaning up again, it will be the last year I bother, he such a pr*t.
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- Dec 13 2017 - 15:07
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Mercedes released their final update before the ban was implemented, meaning they could continue to burn oil on both cars. Thus, Valtteri was unaffected by the ban. Meanwhile, both Ferraris were affected after their latest engine update, and as far as I saw, there was no significant power difference. Arguably it didnt help their reliability. Im sure they'd been better off with oil burning, but it wasnt a significant difference. One could argue that Mercedes has done it for longer, and thus their PUs maybe rely more heavily on it. I sorta hope this is the case, but I dont think it will affect them that much. Maybe in terms of reliability, hopefully in terms of power in quali mode, but the Merc package as a whole is so good that even without the oil burning, they and their customers will likely be the only ones to have a legit chance of going through the season penalty free and be competitive at the same time.
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  Dec 13 2017 - 18:04
- f1ski
  
  Posts: 726
  Calle.itw The Merc had such a power advantage when they wanted or needed it! When you can pick up 3/4 of a second on one lap that isn't a chassis adjustment. The Mercedes could turn it up when Ferrari or Red Bull was directly behind. My suspicion is Hamilton was running at a higher output mode at lower oil burning at the end of the season after he locked it up in Mexico. MB could then see the damage or lack of on tear down post season
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  Dec 16 2017 - 19:23
Patentprutser

Posts: 392
Please, please please, increase the power!
Reliability should come clear during the winter
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- Dec 14 2017 - 08:22
Barron

Posts: 625
It’s worth remembering just what Renault has brought to the F1 table during the past 3 decades: the original turbo 1.5 litre engine, the all conquering V10 configuration and the high tech desmodromic pneumatic valve train which enabled F1 motors to rev to 20k rpm and thereby extract more power out a smaller displacement. All other engine manufacturers followed their lead. They literally left Ferrari, Ford, Porsche, Honda & Peugeot in their dust. I don’t believe they have the same budget as they did before, but Renault is a big and clever company. I think they will do it again, but perhaps not until 2019.
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- Dec 14 2017 - 09:27
- f1ski
  
  Posts: 726
  But it took them the longest to figure out how that the biggest gains with the new power unit was not from the IC portion of the unit but utilizing the max energy from the fuel. They will be relevant with the next engine rules.
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  Dec 16 2017 - 19:29