10/11/2016
NEWS STORY
Nico Hulkenberg and Jolyon Palmer - not to mention Red Bull - will hope to benefit from an all-new Renault power unit next season.
While the works Renault team has struggled this season, mainly due to the eleventh hour decision to buy the Lotus team which left no time in which to produce a decent chassis, the French manufacturer's power unit is much-improved on 2016.
Indeed, albeit badged as a Tag Heuer, the Renault engine has powered Red Bull to two wins and runner-up position in the constructors' standings.
While Renault will now be seeking to improve its chassis, the French manufacturer is also intending to close the gap to Mercedes courtesy of an all-new engine.
"We have some good improvements in the pipeline," team boss Fredrick Vasseur told Motorsport.com. "We will have a completely new engine next year.
"It is 100 percent new," he continued. "It was the end of the development of the current one. We needed to do a step in order to move forward and we will do that. So far, everything is progressing and close to the expectations."
Asked if the French manufacturer would be following Mercedes example and opting for a split turbine and compressor, Vasseur said: "It is a Renault concept, I think we don’t have to stick to the others on the engine.
"We made a very good improvement over the past six to eight months," he continued, "and if we want to do another step we need to change a little bit the concept. I think they did it.
"We improved over the winter, and between Spec A and Spec B," he added. "We could expect the same thing next year and during the season. When you take a decision on a project, we were at the end of the concept, and to do another step we need to change a little bit the concept."
Check out our Thursday gallery from Interlagos, here.