Ricciardo and Hulkenberg promised 'drastic' new 2019 Renault engine
Ricciardo and Hulkenberg promised 'drastic' new 2019 Renault engine
Renault hope to close the gap to Ferrari and Mercedes in 2019 with a completely new power unit, team boss Cyril Abiteboul has revealed. It remains to be seen whether the French marque will be able to add sufficient pace next year, when they will lose Red Bull as a customer.
Renault have been left for dust in the V6 Hybrid era, especially by Mercedes, but the works team are resurgent and hope to take fourth in the constructors' standings this season.
Daniel Ricciardo will arrive from Red bull in 2019 and Abiteboul says the Australian and Nico Hulkenberg will be treated to an entirely redesigned power unit.
"It is a new engine," Abiteboul told Motorsport. "One of the reasons for it, and why the Spec-C is not delivering more in terms of performance, is because we are not held back by the structural limitations of the [current] engine.
"Given the ambition in terms of power improvement for next year, pretty much all of the engine will be new.
"Not only on ERS side, because there is little power and little performance to extract there, but the rest of the ICE will be new.
"That is why we need to be a little bit careful and that is why we need to be extremely drastic and have lots of discipline on planning and milestones to make sure that we are not putting ourselves in a difficult position at the start of the season."
Abiteboul claims that Renault have developed parts that could have improved their performance in 2018, but says F1's rules have prevented them from adding the parts to their car.
He said: "That is what is silly with the current regulations, even if you have a better part you cannot afford to introduce it because of all the penalties and all the sporting consequences. That is crazy.
"You are spending money to improve your parts, you approve it on dyno, it is available it is built, it is there [at the track], and you cannot put it on the car.
"That is crazy. There is really something wrong here. But anyway, that is why – those two issues are addressed."
MORE: Keeping Raikkonen over Leclerc 'too risky' for Ferrari
MORE: Rosberg backs Hamilton to surpass Schumacher
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Mercedes star tipped to replace struggling driver THIS season
- 34 minutes ago
F1 legend issues DAMNING verdict on proposed rule change
- 1 hour ago
Red Bull chief admits interest in poaching TWO rival stars
- 2 hours ago
Audi agree LONG-TERM F1 deal with star driver
- 3 hours ago
FIA boss HITS OUT at 'court of public opinion' after interference allegations
- Today 08:27
F1 News Today: Horner reveals Verstappen SECRET as team reveal surprise name change
- Today 06:27
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860