Breaking news
Formula 1
Renault's engine focus already on 2018
Renault's engine development focus is on 2018 and getting on top of the string of failures that have blighted its Formula 1 season, says its managing director Cyril Abiteboul.
Lawrence Barretto
Published: Nov 8, 2017, 12:14 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg and Brendon Hartley suffered engine problems in the Mexican GP as Abiteboul admitted it was too aggressive in its approach for Mexico.
It has been trialling a revised V6 engine, which features development parts for 2018, since Austin with the upgrade believed to be worth around two tenths depending on the track.
"We know the update is working, there is no doubt about that but it's an update that is only bringing a portion of what we want to bring over the winter and 2018 has to be the focus now," Abiteboul told Motorsport.com.
The French manufacturer has failed to get on par with rivals Ferrari and Mercedes in terms of power this season, but Abiteboul is hopeful the gap can be bridged over the winter.
"The picture hasn't changed," said Abiteboul, after Max Verstappen took victory in the Renault-powered Red Bull in Mexico.
"On Saturday, we still have a substantial gap to the leaders but in the race, we're getting very close.
"The target for the winter is to close that gap for Sunday and to understand what we can do in terms of qualifying mode."
Following its second double retirement of the season in Mexico, Abiteboul conceded Renault's goal of achieving fifth in the constructors' championship may be out of reach.
Renault is seventh in the constructors' championship, five points shy of sixth-placed Toro Rosso with Williams a further 23 clear ahead of the final two races of the season.
"We need to bounce back from [Mexico]," said Abiteboul. "We have two races to go.
"Our championship position is not helped by what has happened [in Mexico] but clearly it's going to be extremely difficult to fight for fifth in the championship.
"We need to keep the morale high and also look ahead. But we can't ignore what happened this weekend because we need to understand and take measures."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Mercedes to trial 2018 concepts in final two F1 races
Next article Red Bull's wins a confidence boost for McLaren
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lawrence Barretto
Sirotkin, Stroll to have two race engineers each
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sirotkin, Stroll to have two race engineers each
Hamilton "sacrifice" saved Mercedes an hour of testing
Formula 1
Formula 1
Hamilton "sacrifice" saved Mercedes an hour of testing
Kubica regrets being "too honest" about driving limitations
Formula 1
Formula 1
Kubica regrets being "too honest" about driving limitations
Latest news
Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
5 h
Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix
Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
8 h
Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team
NASCAR Cup Phoenix starting lineup: Blaney earns pole as Larson struggles
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
8 h
NASCAR Cup Phoenix starting lineup: Blaney earns pole as Larson struggles
Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
9 h
Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe