- Renault
Renault prepared for engine penalties
Renault says it is "fully committed" to introducing a sixth power unit to its cars with many on the verge of incurring grid penalties.
Daniil Kvyat received a ten-place grid penalty in Singapore for being the first man to use a sixth engine component - with five components of six different engine elements allowed to each driver this season. Over half the field has used five of at least one element, with Renault's reliability issues from earlier in the season starting to catch up with its drivers.
Renault's head of track operations Remi Taffin says the manufacturer is braced for this issue to continue and is even prepared to limit its teams running over weekends to save engines.
"Due to the strain on each part, we will, where possible, introduce new components for this race," Taffin said. "Reliability will start to play a major role in results at this point in the season since every team and driver has had to mix and match as we have learnt more on the operation of the power unit. To keep aces in hand, we my even see teams run fewer miles in practice to save the engines for the rest of the year.
"We are however fairly at ease on this front since we have committed ourselves to introduce a sixth power unit where needed. The picture is a lot clearer now and although not exactly ideal to have to introduce new parts and take penalties, we can do this at races where the impact will be minimised. We believe Suzuka will be a good challenge, but one that we are looking forward to with no worries."
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