Renault Sport F1 achieved its goals at Jerez

Renault Sport F1 was satisfied with the first session of winter testing in Jerez (Spain) by completing more than 2200km with Red Bull Racing et Toro Rosso. The priority of Viruses-Châtillon was to validate the developments made to the 6l V1.6 turbo / hybrid in order to make up for its delay on Mercedes. The STR10 was even one of the most diligent single-seaters on the track with more than 1500km on the clock.

“These trials were very productive and confirmed that we took the right path in our development choices. This is very reassuring given the extent of the late regulatory clarifications regarding "tokens", etc., and the number of times we have had to reconsider our different strategic options., commented Cyril Abiteboul, the general director of Renault Sport F1.

However, Renault Sport F1 still had to deal with reliability issues mainly affecting the Red Bull RB11 which only covered 730km, compared to nearly 2300km for the Mercedes W06 Hybrid. “We also encountered some difficulties, largely because we were uncompromising in our technical choices this winter”, recognized Rémi Taffin, the director of track operations at Losange. “We have gone as far as possible with the Energy Store and we will have to do the same with the other components in Barcelona. Likewise, the water pump problem was due to a teething problem, this part having been driven more on the track rather than on the test bench. »

The results therefore remain imperfect for Renault Sport F1 which is now awaiting the next test session scheduled for February 19 to 22 in Barcelona (Spain) to continue its development. " NOTOur own performance meets our expectations », assured Cyril Abiteboul. “We measured them precisely on the bench and they correspond to the results recorded on the track. However, like the cars that will still evolve between now and Melbourne, our Power Unit will also be different in a month. In terms of reliability, Mercedes is still ahead, but we have had a very positive week with Toro Rosso and we also hope that it will also be positive with Red Bull next time. »

The figures and results of the Jerez tests can be consulted on this link.