F1technical.net

https://www.planetf1.com/news/renault-r ... r-deficit/

Renault here just admitted a 20-27 HP Deficit in the race with a massive 53 HP Deficit in Qualifying.
Then state this...
“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t close the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari with the engine over the winter."

Not only are Renault claiming to close this massive gap. But close it over the winter which is only 3 months to go. Which means he would have to have this engine spec already running on the dynos for reliability testing. As Engines have very long lead times and the specs they will use at a race usually need months on a dyno of testing before being put in the car. Plus testing is only 2 months away so he would need the engine ready for that.
Which means Race 1 in Australia the engine deficit will be closed and Renault and Mclaren should have no more excuses.

That is if you read between the lines of his statement.
Is Abiteboul being honest about the engine gains or completely lying out of his teeth?

Renault has been running what they call their "new architecture" coming next year since the end of 2017 (single cylinder) and the full package all year long. From what I understand, they knew their current spec wasn't strong enough to handle more hp way back but while developping the new architecture this year they implemented new combustions processes in the current one.

With the Spec-c they reach the maximum potential of the bloc without running into too much reliability issues. So I suspect they couldn't deploy all the performance due to reliability which should be fixed next year.

Now, is that going to be enough to get close to Mercedes and Ferrari, time will tell.

Walkman wrote: ↑

08 Dec 2018, 10:27

Renault has been running what they call their "new architecture" coming next year since the end of 2017 (single cylinder) and the full package all year long. From what I understand, they knew their current spec wasn't strong enough to handle more hp way back but while developping the new architecture this year they implemented new combustions processes in the current one.

With the Spec-c they reach the maximum potential of the bloc without running into too much reliability issues. So I suspect they couldn't deploy all the performance due to reliability which should be fixed next year.

Now, is that going to be enough to get close to Mercedes and Ferrari, time will tell.

It will also depend a huge amount how far Mercedes and Ferrari pull ahead during the winter. Renault can only aim at where they think the target will be, they could miss by quite a bit.

Mclarensenna wrote: ↑

08 Dec 2018, 06:15

https://www.planetf1.com/news/renault-r ... r-deficit/

Renault here just admitted a 20-27 HP Deficit in the race with a massive 53 HP Deficit in Qualifying.
Then state this...
“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t close the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari with the engine over the winter."

Not only are Renault claiming to close this massive gap. But close it over the winter which is only 3 months to go. Which means he would have to have this engine spec already running on the dynos for reliability testing. As Engines have very long lead times and the specs they will use at a race usually need months on a dyno of testing before being put in the car. Plus testing is only 2 months away so he would need the engine ready for that.
Which means Race 1 in Australia the engine deficit will be closed and Renault and Mclaren should have no more excuses.

That is if you read between the lines of his statement.
Is Abiteboul being honest about the engine gains or completely lying out of his teeth?

What do you think they've been doing this whole year? They didn't upgrade the power unit save for spec 3 which only Red Bull used and was full of teething issues. They are developing spec 3 because that is the basis for next year's engine, and have been doing so since May. I think that's enough lead time, they're not just starting to work on it.

I dont think spec 3 has anything to do with next year engine. Spec 3 gave nothing but small boost in qualies, with no improved car driveability or extra horsepowers in race. And that small boost come at expense of possible even worse reliability as well changing whole car packaging to install it. Neither Renault or even Mclaren bothered to not use it, but even just test it.

If they plan to close gap it needs to be new engine.

Correct. Next year will be a revised architecture.

One of the dynos (2018 intake plenum)


A side view of the turbo area


https://www.tf1.fr/tf1/auto-moto/videos ... rieur.html

Any trace of that video somewhere that isn't geo-blocked to France?

I hope Renault will deliver, but when Abiteboul comes with statements like that, "there is no reason ...." im sorry i need to seee him deliver more then just empty promises which he is very good at

AH i forgot to say, Nicolas Kiesa danish F1 commentator and former "horrific" f1 driver mentioned on danish tv, that there are rumors of a big step from renault

Oh, it works for me although I'm not in France. I dont think you can find it elsewhere. Maybe you should use a proxy. But the video is not that informative for hardcore f1 fans like us

The bulkhead shot is the other interesting feature in that video viewtopic.php?p=800940#p800940

f1rules wrote: ↑

10 Dec 2018, 12:52

I hope Renault will deliver, but when Abiteboul comes with statements like that, "there is no reason ...." im sorry i need to seee him deliver more then just empty promises which he is very good at

AH i forgot to say, Nicolas Kiesa danish F1 commentator and former "horrific" f1 driver mentioned on danish tv, that there are rumors of a big step from renault

I think the moment Renault returned as a works team, they stopped working with a Red Bull time table and started working on theirs. They've said from the start their aiming for 2020/21, so it appears they're still on the right path. But I believe (or at least hope) they will make a big jump in the 2019. They're easily the lowest spending of the works teams, but have made a few key hires (Budkowski, Harman, not to mention Ricciardo), and we expect to see their effect starting from next year. It wouldn't be bad to see 4 teams having battles at the front.

f1rules wrote: ↑

10 Dec 2018, 12:52

I hope Renault will deliver, but when Abiteboul comes with statements like that, "there is no reason ...." im sorry i need to seee him deliver more then just empty promises which he is very good at

AH i forgot to say, Nicolas Kiesa danish F1 commentator and former "horrific" f1 driver mentioned on danish tv, that there are rumors of a big step from renault

Abiteboul's past proclamations have generally not yielded much visible progress so I'll wait and see.

As a Danny Ric Fan I really hope Renault do deliver both an excellent chassis and PU - it's be great for the sport too.

I really hope Renault can close the gap, for Danny, for the sport in general, but I doubt it. Renault isn't committed (yet) to spending as much money as the other three. Of course money does not tell the whole story, but Renault doesn't have a trackrecord of building the best/strongest engines and they progressed the least during 2018 (of the 4 manufactures). Hence I see no reason why Renault would do a better job than Ferrari, Mercedes and Honda this winter.
Maybe they can close to gap to where Mercedes and Ferrari were at Abu Dhabi, but they are moving targets...

About Cyril, he has said these kind of things for the past 3 years now. In april he will probably be "surprised" by the step that Mercedes and Ferrari have made. This guy can't be taken seriously.

I hope they will, but I really think the same story will occur next year....

Krischnen wrote: ↑

11 Dec 2018, 00:40

I really hope Renault can close the gap, for Danny, for the sport in general, but I doubt it. Renault isn't committed (yet) to spending as much money as the other three. Of course money does not tell the whole story, but Renault doesn't have a trackrecord of building the best/strongest engines and they progressed the least during 2018 (of the 4 manufactures). Hence I see no reason why Renault would do a better job than Ferrari, Mercedes and Honda this winter.
Maybe they can close to gap to where Mercedes and Ferrari were at Abu Dhabi, but they are moving targets...

About Cyril, he has said these kind of things for the past 3 years now. In april he will probably be "surprised" by the step that Mercedes and Ferrari have made. This guy can't be taken seriously.

They just had the best engine at the end of the last regulations. (2011-13)
Early 80's and mid 90's were also strong in F1.

They haven't shown any indication they can do it again with these ones yet no doubt but tbf the same was true with the V8 in the beginning but they ended up with the strongest overall engine by the end. (Best compromise between power and economy and the best maps for EB)


(Below not aimed at you)


If its true that the problem with this engine is it structurally can't handle the extra power then some people seem to be glossing over a pretty important detail within all the (albeit justified) criticism. That being that they know how to create that extra power in the first place now.

Its usually finding the power Renault struggle with so its not the worst news to hear that they are producing more power but that the engine can't withstand it within its current structure if you're a Viry/Enstone fan or hoping for some convergence engine wise.