Renault 'bitter' about engine issues

Renault chief Cyril Abiteboul has admitted that the manufacturer feels 'a bit bitter' about having to sacrifice the speed and performance of their engines in favour of reliability for the Brazil Grand Prix, but admits it was necessary after a series of mechanical faults.

In the 2017 season Renault have suffered a number of engine failures which has not only affected them; Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley of Toro Rosso were penallised with grid penalties for the Brazil GP due to previous faults, while Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo of Renault-powered Red Bull only managed fifth and sixth place in Interlagos.

Abiteboul has insisted that Renault did not want to be forced into putting more of an impetus on reliability, but it was the correct decision after the poor previous performances.

"We knew we were in a position where we had to sacrifice a bit of performance in order to increase the reliability,” he told Autosport.

“It’s not a nice situation to be in. It was a bit of a savourless race for us and actually it’s a bit bitter because we know there is much more potential.

“We just need to make sure it doesn’t happen again and that we don’t have to choose between performance and reliability. If we want to race in F1, we need both."

Renault are currently in seventh place in the constructors championship with Toro Rosso just ahead and Haas in behind. They could indeed drop a place if more engine issues occur, but Abiteboul thinks that a more aggressive approach could be worth it, given Abu Dhabi represents the last race of the season.

"We have to think about [what to do in] Abu Dhabi," he said.

"On one hand, we would like and could afford to be aggressive, because if you're not aggressive at the last race, when are you going to be?

"At the same time, we know Haas are very close in the championship so we need to take a balanced approach. That will be the focus of the next couple of days."