No Renault upgrades until Russian Grand Prix
 Renault will not bring performance updates to its power unit until the Russian Grand Prix, according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. A series of reliability issues earlier in the year means Renault still has 12 performance tokens to spend on its power unit - more than any other manufacturer. However, despite two power-sensitive circuits - Spa-Francorchamps and Monza - coming up on the calendar, Renault will not be ready to bring upgrades until October. "I don't think there is anything scheduled now before Sochi," Horner said. "That probably is the earliest that we are going to see any form of development or use of the tokens, so the engines we've got at the moment are what we're having to live with for the time being." As a result Red Bull is hoping its current supply of engines remain reliable, so as not to incur another grid penalty before it has to. However, Daniel Ricciardo's practice engine blew up in Hungary on Friday, meaning he has just one left to try to nurse through all on-track sessions to Sochi. "Engines four and five of what the drivers have been using between Friday and Sunday racing, unfortunately Ricciardo has now lost engine four, so he's only got engine five, that came into service for the first time in Austria, to get him through the next few races, so only time will tell as to whether we can get to Sochi or not without incurring another penalty before introducing an upgraded unit." Horner said Renault realises the severity of the problems. "Renault would be the first to admit that they're not at all happy with where performance or reliability has been with this engine. They are making progress, they are making strides. I think the problem with engines is it's - unlike the chassis - long lead-time items. Renault have got strategically some decisions to make over the coming weeks in terms of the direction they want to go along - not just for 2016 but for beyond that. "We have an agreement with Renault to the end of next year and of course as a partner, we're expecting them to enable us to run in a competitive manner and in order to do that, we need a competitive engine. Of course, Renault need that more than anybody as well for both of their customer teams." |
