Renault to work on "more permanent fixes" for Spain

The French manufacturer has been plagued by problems in China and Bahrain and it raced with a de-tuned engine at Sakhir after it was unable to introduce permanent fixes to its issues due to the events being back-to-back.

Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen retired form the Bahrain race with an electrical problem, while Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo lost his engine right as he crossed the finish line at the end of the race.

Renault's managing director Cyril Abiteboul found some consolation in the fact that the failure happened late in the race.

"It wasn't a memorable weekend for us in any way, but we did what we needed to do," said Abiteboul.

"We came here aware of the risks from the previous race, and considering the starting positions, sixth and ninth is the best we could have hoped for with Red Bull today.

"Another engine problem is definitely not what we wanted to see, but I will take as a positive sign that it was at the very end and did not impact the final result of Daniel.

"Reliability has been our Achilles Heel since the last two races, but with 18 days to go before the first session in Spain, we have the time to introduce the more permanent fixes we have in the pipeline and start making the performance steps we are all keen to make."

Ricciardo was using his fourth engine in Bahrain and will have to start serving penalties if he uses a fifth unit.