Sunday, 11 february 2018, 09:07 , by Matthew Scott

Renault have communicated with McLaren that there is a new and improved engine 'on the way', one that has made significant strides in terms of power and reliability, with the beginning of the new Formula 1 campaign just six weeks away. 

The Renault engine struggled to maintain the correct balance in the 2017 campaign, with reliability issues coming to the fore as the engineers attempted to extract more power.

But in a message to their base in Woking this week, Renault confirmed to McLaren that they will be delivering a superior product to them, adding that they have made 'significant process' from their offering last year.

McLaren boss Zak Brown added: "In terms of power and reliability, they are happy with where they are at and what has been happening on the dyno.

"And specifically the reliability – they think they are on top of it. Last year they had the power, and it was when they turned it up that the reliability issues kicked in. So they had their issues in Mexico but they also dominated the race, so we are feeling good."

McLaren's engineering director, Matt Morris, also passed comment on the situation, and said that in comparison to Honda, Renault's relative experience would be a massive boost for the team this year. 

Morris said: "I think the big difference, speaking with all the guys at Renault, is they have got more experience.

"Those guys on the ground have been doing it for a lot longer than Honda, that is just a fact, and that is what allowed us to get the packaging done so quickly.

“It is just their experience and the same is true in their factory at Viry. It is more mature than Honda. It might not have as many fancy dynos, but they just have more experience.

"We are over there at the moment doing some work on the dyno with them, and that has just been seamless."