Mansell urges Renault to be 'very fair' with McLaren

Former Formula One world champion Nigel Mansell has urged Renault to be 'very fair' with the distribution of their engine parts now that they will be providing for McLaren as well as Red Bull and their own competing Renault team on the track.

McLaren have not enjoyed much success in recent years and this has mainly been attributed to the performance of their Honda engines provided by the Japanese manufacturer, with bosses at McLaren, and Fernando Alonso, lamenting the lack of power and reliability.

They have taken steps to try and get back among the contenders for the championship by terminating their partnership with Honda and taking on Renault as their provider from the 2018 season on.

However, Renault is already providing for their own competing team and Red Bull also, leading to many commentators suggesting that McLaren may not be given priority for parts.

Mansell has pleaded with the French manufacturer to be fair with their distribution of engine parts.

“It’s going to be tough, but hopefully they will be able to get very close and hopefully Renault will be very fair with the supplying of engines,” Mansell told Motorsport.tv at the Autosport International show.

“Obviously, Mercedes don’t want to supply them because they don’t want them as competitors.

“The hardest thing in F1 is to get a level playing field.

“We need a better level playing field, we need 26 cars on the grid and we need not to be able to spend fortunes to try and bend the regulations.”