Double retirement for Renault: “Our season started very badly”

Renault seemed to be sailing peacefully towards a good result during the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday March 31. Starting from a distant 17th place, Nico Hulkenberg came out alive from the first laps in the peloton and was in sixth place when his engine failed three laps from the end!

“I lost all power quite suddenly and that was the end of it., explains the German.  It's really hard to swallow today (Sunday). This sport can be so cruel sometimes. The team did a great job on the two-stop strategy and we can take some positives from it. »

LAP 55/57: Now it's agony in the Renault garage as both Ricciardo AND Hulkenberg suffer engine faults on the same lap #BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/8GL7oToa9c

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 31, 2019

His teammate Daniel Ricciardo suffered the same fate, at the same time. “We had a problem with the MGU-K (braking jam recovery system. Editor’s note) at the end of the race. It was a very busy weekend with lots of ups and downs. We will take the time to digest everything”, says the ex-pilot Red Bull, who was painfully pursuing a one-stop strategy.

“Our pace looked competitive at the start, so we committed to a one-stop strategy, continues the Australian. The further we progressed in my first stint, the more I felt that the tires were struggling. In hindsight, it would have been better to make two stops. Towards the end, I couldn't defend myself too much against those who were coming back up. »

The main team Cyril Abiteboul recognizes it, this double abandonment is not worthy of Renault's ambitions. “After a very intense winter, our season started very badly. As in Melbourne, our qualifying in Bahrain was heavily compromised by minor electronic issues affecting both cars. Today our race came to an abrupt end so close to the finish. We have encountered these issues before, but have not been able to correct them in Bahrain, analyzes the Frenchman.

These problems are increasingly frustrating and unacceptable to the extent that the two cars showed excellent competitiveness, both on a lap and in the race. » In the Manufacturers' Championship, Renault remains stuck with six points and is only seventh.

This week, Daniel Ricciardo and Jack Aitken will be mobilized for the private tests in Bahrain. “Daniel will continue to familiarize himself with the car by carrying out performance-related work during testing. We must respond and focus our attention on reliability. »

Discover the analysis of the Bahrain GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2210 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.