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Ricciardo says Renault engine upgrade is the real deal

Published on 15 Feb 2019 09:06
6
By: Richard Fletcher

Daniel Ricciardo says that Renault's optimism over the significantly improved output from their power unit is justified based on the data he has seen.

The team has been hinting at the increase and Daniel believes that the numbers confirm it. Cyril Abiteboul made allusions to the improvement at the launch of the 2019 car. It was suggested that the engineers at its French plant have seen the largest gain in output that they have experienced since the start of the hybrid era in F1.

Newly signed Ricciardo seemed to confirm the suggestion: "Obviously being pretty deep in the Renault family, I've seen numbers and I know they are not just saying it to please everyone. It has been a good winter."

The Australian was careful to not be too optimistic. He stressed that "race cars are race cars" and that what works on a screen or computer simulation might not work on the track. Ricciardo made it quite clear that although he is very upbeat about the figures it does not mean that Renault will be challenging for wins.

"So far what they have done over the winter, looking at the numbers they have done in previous years, it has been a good one. By no means are they saying it is going to be better than a Mercedes, but from what they have done it is really positive. It is nice to hear that for sure."

Nico Hulkenberg who will be racing alongside Ricciardo expressed his pleasure at the news: "It is what we needed, last year we didn't have much coming on that side so it was kind of overdue."

The German driver who is on his third season with Renault added a few words of caution: "But then again on the other side, Ferrari and Mercedes may have found another whole lot of power again which means we will have to find more again."

Jutlandia

Posts: 191

Don't get carried away, Danny.
It's still a Renault, and they have a tendancy to fail.
You should know that by now.

1
Feb 15 2019 - 11:48

F1 News Daniel Ricciardo Nico Hülkenberg Cyril Abiteboul Renault

Replies (6)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
At the very least it sounds much better compared to last year.
- + 0
- Feb 15 2019 - 09:44
Jutlandia

Posts: 191
Don't get carried away, Danny.
It's still a Renault, and they have a tendancy to fail.
You should know that by now.
- + 1
- Feb 15 2019 - 11:48
- Ram Samartha
  
  Posts: 1,172
  Not too sure about that. When I lived in France they were generally considered to be very reliable cars. From what I read recently they are right up there with the Korean cars in terms of reliability. Maybe that's what we need, some Kia and Hyundai engines in F1. They could probably get up to speed faster than Honda has done.
  + 0
  
  Feb 16 2019 - 05:17
Ram Samartha

Posts: 1,172
He is kind of obliged to say that now isn't he? My gut feeling tells me that they made improvements and are still going to be faster and more powerful than the Honda engines and that RBR and STR management are going to be whinging about their engines this year just like they always have.
- + 0
- Feb 16 2019 - 05:19
- boudy
  
  Posts: 1,168
  @RAM agree about Ricciardo, noticed his change in behaviour last year before he signed with Renault.
  
  It's the same old story from Renault every year they come out saying they improved but every year they are behind Mercedes and Ferrari. We will see on the track in testing if they are getting closer to the top 6.
  
  Honda will be improving over last year I can't see RBR complaining about their supplier since it really is the only option of breaking the dominance of the top two teams. The whole story coming out of the RBR family is one of positivity. If Honda do deliver their promised powerunit to spec than Renault won't be anywhere near them and Ricciardo jumped ship at the wrong time from an performance perspective.
  
  Currently it seems that Renault is more bitter about Honda and RBR. It's an classic strategy to move attention away from the themselves. Honda/RBR in turn seem to be more focused on their future than slating others which is an sensible standpoint.
  + 0
  
  Feb 16 2019 - 08:49
Ram Samartha

Posts: 1,172
Nice onboard footage on the sky f1 gossip page and Hamilton's twitter feed of Lewis on in the new Merc. Sounds and looks good. Going to be hard for Renault or any of the others to beat them this year methinks.
- + 0
- Feb 16 2019 - 05:25