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Boullier: "Renault engine one second faster than Honda V6"

Published on 05 Feb 2018 10:26
12
By: Rob Veenstra

Eric Boullier says McLaren will get a one second per lap boost simply by using a different engine in 2018. After three years with Honda, the British team lost patience and will use customer Renault power this season.

Team boss Boullier says McLaren is on schedule for 2018. "The Honda and Renault engines have a different configuration so we had to re-design the rear of the car," he told France's L'Equipe. "But we have made up the delay."

Boullier said communicating with Renault is easier, after McLaren struggled to adapt to the Japanese culture. "I insisted upon attending the first technical briefing with Renault," he revealed. "Just to help my guys if they did not understand something. I am sure that both sides are happy."

Expectations of the McLaren-Renault partnership are high, with some even predicting wins and a championship tilt. Boullier said: "We need a little time to adapt and it's still too early to say. We are not the only team and I do not know what the others did in the off-season."

"But we introduced the Renault data in the simulator and discovered that just by changing the engine it turned out to be a lot of laptime." When asked how much exactly, he revealed: "One second." (GMM)

F1 News McLaren

Replies (12)

JoeGreen84

Posts: 30
yea thats a maybe. its still 2 seconds slower than everyone else after development time
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- Feb 5 2018 - 11:20
Kevin

Posts: 5,341
1 second ain’t gonna cut it
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- Feb 5 2018 - 11:41
blade

Posts: 341
1 second before development, remember, the mclaren chassis is thought to be the equal of all others, so a good guide could be RB - by the half way point we should have a great feel for the total package. Does anyone know whether McLaren are getting the current year works engine, or last years' works engine??
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- Feb 5 2018 - 16:04
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Its the recent spec.
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  Feb 5 2018 - 16:15
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  But remember that its not a works deal, they'll get the customer treatment.
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  Feb 5 2018 - 16:17
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  I can't wait for someone to break that notion, because this whole thing about a manufacturer being the only ones that can win has been terrible. McLaren fell for it bad
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  Feb 5 2018 - 16:23
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I legit only think Red Bull or a customer using Merc units can win right now unless you have a works deal. Mercedes and Ferrari were way ahead last year, and I expect Works Renault to take a decent leap this year. Honda and Renault will both likely be much better this year, but enough so that a Renault customer could win? Not likely, and not if Renault can help it.
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  Feb 5 2018 - 17:41
- Pauli
  
  Posts: 140
  RB would be good comparison but it would be minor miracle if McLaren can make their chassis to be as good as RB. RB had the best chassis in the end of season and I would surprised if they wouldn't have improved during the winter break. I expect McLaren to have about equal performance on the emperor's month (August).
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  Feb 5 2018 - 22:59
Bhurt

Posts: 320
Great. Another untrue statement from the McLiars team.
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- Feb 5 2018 - 21:28
fzrniko

Posts: 11
And how do they know this? F1 2017? They testing this on track somewhere or is it just virtual? Btw - computers have the Patriots winning by a touchdown. /Meh
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- Feb 6 2018 - 05:48
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Simulations using data from their chassis development and data on the PU provided by Renault. I dont know how exact McLaren's simulations are though.
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  Feb 6 2018 - 08:30
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
1 second compared to their 2017 car? Fair enough, but comparing a year old unit to a recent spec doesnt exactly convince me, nor does comparing real world data to data received from simulations. And I sadly dont trust Boullier ever since he contracted the McLaren Boss Brain Parasite
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- Feb 6 2018 - 08:36