Picture from Renault media centre
F1 News
Renault claim new MGU-K provided a significant step forward despite bad results
Renault claims that their new MGU-K provided them with a significant step forward at the weekend. However, the number of drivers using the Renault engine that retired doesn't back that statement up.
Nico Hulkenberg's engine seemingly blew up as he drove down the home straight. Daniel Ricciardo and Stoffel Vandoorne were both forced to retire following an issue. Red Bull confirmed they turned down eventual race-winner Max Verstappen's engine just in case the Dutchman suffered a repeat of his team-mate's issue.
In an interview with Motorsport following the race, Bob Bell, technical director at Renault remained positive about the outcome in Austria.
"The upgrade brings two advantages: it is lighter, so that the ballast slightly decays, as well as making the centre of gravity of the car more central, which in turn probably produces better reliability."
Meanwhile, one of his drivers remains confident that the upgrade will continue to improve the teams qualifying results.
"It will undoubtedly help us qualify. The lower weight certainly helps, as we can still improve on this for our speed," Hulkenberg added.
In qualifying alone, Red Bull's Ricciardo was beaten by Haas driver Romain Grosjean. And for the first time since Australia, both Haas cars out-qualified the Renaults. We'll be keeping a close eye on their performance at Silverstone.