Early debut for Renault’s upgraded engine

Renault could run their upgraded power unit as early as the Monaco Grand Prix as it yielded “very positive” results during the post-Spanish GP test.

Renault tested the new power unit during the two-day Barcelona test with the aim of racing it for the first time at the power-hungry Canadian GP.

However, after positive results engine chief Rémi Taffin says it could yet be used at the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix.

“The tests were very positive and showed it to be more powerful and driveable,” he explained.

“We had originally planned to use the new version in Canada when the current units are scheduled to be removed from the cycle, but if we can get the units together and completely validated by Monaco we will use the ones available at this race.”

Taffin revealed that Renault expect the upgraded engine, which used only a “small proportion of our token allocation”, will be worth as much as half a second per lap.

“The power unit we have used since the first race in Australia was really a continuation of the work started in the ‘Spec D’ power unit we introduced at the tail end of 2015,” he said.

“We explored some concepts in that earlier iteration and the 2016 unit took them further, for example in the turbo.

“This new spec goes even further down the line and also includes significant modifications to the combustion system.

“It will make the ICE more powerful but also efficient, leading to a gain of around half a second per lap. We’ve used a small proportion of our token allocation for this upgrade.”