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Renault will introduce a brand new specification of its MGU-K this weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix.
The update comes after a series of reliability concerns for the manufacturer, that started at the season-opening race in Melbourne.
Carlos Sainz retired early on in Australia for McLaren, after a fire sprouted at the rear of his MCL34. He took on new power unit components for the Bahrain Grand Prix two weeks ago.
Sainz also failed to finish in Bahrain, while the Renault works team suffered a double DNF as Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo stopped on track late on in the race.
Hulkenberg confirmed that he will start the weekend with new components at just the third round of the season.
"We worked on reliability to get on top of the situation,” he said. “It’s a pity we lost a great result there but that’s gone.
“For me it was a failure on the PU side. We had a problem there, that’s why I’m onto my second engine now. Obviously also since the beginning of the season there has been several other issues on the MGU-K side.
"For here all the Renault engines we’re on the redesigned MGU-K where we’re very confident that it’s taken care of all the issues we’ve seen. There’s further, ongoing work obviously to improve things.”
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Replies (3)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Quick reactions, which is what was needed here. I wonder though, do Hulk intend to grab multiple new allocations, or just the MGU-K? How do the component usage stack up right now?
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Were they still using the 2016 spec MGU-K? Just can't see them improving their reliability; its been dreadful for multiple seasons now. Hope they improve quickly otherwise I can see them leaving F1.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I think they can, but I do however think that them having to focus on reliability now will cost them this season. If Honda have nailed that bit, they can now enjoy the luxury of focusing on power. Renault seemingly cannot. I could kinda see them leaving, but I do however think they get what they are after in F1 for now. When they aren't, I could see the works team leaving, and McLaren will be left as the "works" team. Alternatively, Nissan could take over the Ren-Nis F1 project: Infiniti has been longing for that kinda opportunity, so I'm sure they'd be delighted.