Renault's Mexico preview

25/10/2017
NEWS STORY

Cyril Abiteboul, Renault Sport Racing Managing Director: After the tremendous spectacle of the United States Grand Prix in Austin it's no rest for the team as we head to another race which promises much for fans; the Mexican Grand Prix.

When Formula 1 returned to Mexico in 2015 we didn't know quite what to expect. What we found was a superb event which was well run and organised, and supported by enthusiastic and knowledgeable fans.

Mexico City has been through a lot with the recent earthquake but the strength and the spirit of the city is strong, and Formula 1 is determined to put on a good show.

Talking of a good show, the initiatives on Formula 1 to further showcase the sport in Austin were exciting and it was great to see such a strong build-up on the grid. We're looking forward to many further initiatives as the sport develops under its new ownership.

As we look to the future, we are bringing Renault's own vision of a future Formula 1 to Mexico with the R.S. 2027 Vision, as debuted earlier this year at the Shanghai Motor Show. We will show this car to the Mexican media and look forward to as positive a response to its ideas as we've received in other markets.

On the sporting side, in Austin, Carlos Sainz made a tremendous debut for the team, delivering beyond his expectations and in line with our aspirations. We all worked very hard to make his transition to a new team mid-season as fruitful as possible and this hard work was well rewarded.

On the other side of the garage, we let down Nico Hulkenberg through an engine issue. Nico is certain to have been able to get the car into the points in Austin and both cars scoring has been our year-long goal. America demonstrates we have everything we need to fight for points and to climb back in the Constructors' Championship, which is most certainly the target in Mexico. We have moved up to seventh in the standings and fifth is still an ambitious but realistic goal for the team. We sit five points behind Toro Rosso and 20 adrift of Williams - it's about heading into these final three races with the determination to reach our objective.

Mexico is an important market for Renault and for the team's fuel partner, BP, we will see a strong promotion to accompany our visit. It's been rewarding working with BP and Castrol for our first season together and this combination promises much for the future.

There are just three races left for the season, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi, so we are pushing very hard to score the maximum. We do have one eye on next season, which is why we have pushed forward with using some PU elements. As Remi Taffin explains, it can be a tightrope to walk between performance and reliability, but we are determined to get to the top step of the podium in the future.

With three races left in the 2017 season, much attention is already focused on 2018, notwithstanding the relentless quest for points, power and performance for the final countdown as Engine Technical Director Remi Taffin explains.

What are the challenges of the Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez track?
Remi Taffin: It's an interesting venue. There are high speeds through the long straights with the thinner air at high altitude giving less resistance. The thinner air means the turbo has to spin at a higher rate to input enough oxygen into the ICE, it actually spins around 8% more in Mexico than in Abu Dhabi. Equally, fuel consumption over one lap is quite low so energy recovery is less critical in Mexico than at other circuits.

What can the team do to maximise the points-scoring opportunities for the remainder of the season?
RT: The challenge is still the same; you want maximum performance with maximum reliability! This is the age-old goal in motorsport, and something we all expend tremendous energy and resource to achieve. Over the course of the season we have made good strides in performance and seen our Power Units on the podium. However, we have suffered from too many reliability issues and it is an area where our attention is strongly focused as we try to continually increase performance on other parameters too.

How much are you looking to 2018?
RT: Back at Viry, of course, we are well into our 2018 programme as so much work is done ahead of the Power Unit getting to the track. On track too, we have brought certain elements which are relevant to our 2018 PU as we look to take another step forward. We have a busy four months before we see the 2018 cars unveiled, as we do every year.

What does it mean working with a new partner team for next season?
RT: It's always interesting working with a new technical partner as everyone has potential to bring something different to the table. McLaren, like Red Bull, have a tremendous history in the sport as well as amazing facilities to work with. We will learn how to work with McLaren while we keep optimising our collaboration with Red Bull.

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Published: 25/10/2017
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