Breaking news
Formula 1
Renault engine best I've had in F1, says Ocon
Esteban Ocon says Renault’s new power unit is the best engine he has ever driven in Formula 1.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Mar 26, 2021, 2:07 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The former Mercedes reserve and test driver is starting his second season at the rebranded Alpine team, after an encouraging 2020 campaign as he got himself up to speed at the outfit.
And with Renault introducing some upgrades to its power unit for this year, ahead of an all-new concept coming in 2022, Ocon says he is impressed with the progress he feels has been made over the winter.
“I think it is a step forward definitely,” he said.
“The team has worked on some areas and we have seen already in pre-season testing it was a step better. The rules are different but haven’t changed so much, so the teams have new ideas and new thoughts behind what they do.
“I think it is the best power unit so far that I have run in my whole career. It is hard to compare with the other ones.”
As well as testing for Mercedes, Ocon raced with the German car manufacturer’s benchmark power unit during his earlier career at Manor, Force India and Racing Point.
Read Also:
- Alpine can't afford "shitty" F1 season in 2021, says Renault CEO
- Alonso: ‘Good sign’ Enstone has changed a lot since last F1 stint
- Renault committed to Formula 1 "for eternity" through Alpine
New teammate Fernando Alonso, who is returning to F1 after two seasons away, says he has no complaints about the engine after his early testing experience.
“I think power unit comparisons are always difficult to make because it is not only the power of the engine, the regulations have changed slightly, like the constant engine mode for qualifying and the race, which was introduced last year,” he said.
“There are always different things to compare. But what I can say is that we are already happy at Alpine with the power unit we have this year.
“It is an evolution of last year obviously and it felt very strong and very good in testing. We had zero issues and we accumulated a lot of laps.
“And I think the main difference in the last six years I have felt is the reliability improvements. It is quite difficult to see any problems on any of the engines. It has been an impressive job from everybody.”
Additional reporting by Tom Howard
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 Bahrain GP: Verstappen tops FP1 from Bottas
Next article Bahrain GP practice as it happened
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Latest news
Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
55 min
Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
4 h
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 4 h
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
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