Looking back at a mostly disappointing 2014 season, Renault knew they had their work cut out for them as far as making their 2015 engine good enough for Mercedes to take notice.
Managing director Cyril Abiteboul stated that their objective is “to close the gap as much as possible and give Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso a more competitive car on most circuits, independently of their characteristics and sensitivities”.
This sounds like an obvious plan, however closing the gap isn’t exactly the same as being on the same level as Mercedes. Still, Renault-powered cars did manage 3 wins last season so it’s not like they’re starting from scratch.
Rob White, Renault chief technical officer said that they have made “fundamental changes to gain performance and reliability. The principal changes involve the internal combustion engine, turbocharger and battery. The ICE will have a new combustion chamber, exhaust system concept and variable trumpets, as permitted by the 2015 regulations. The compressor is more efficient, while the energy recovery systems are able to deal with more severe usage.”
We’re certainly anticipating a better season for Renault-powered F1 cars, a season in which even if they won’t win too many races, they might still be able to top last seasons’ 435 points in the constructors standings.
Next season’s engine manufacturers’ field will be a little more diverse than what we saw last year. Ferrari will power both their factory car as well as the Sauber car, Renault will power Red Bull and Toro Rosso, Honda will make their F1 re-debut with McLaren while Mercedes will continue to power the most teams in Formula 1 (Mercedes, Williams, Force India, Lotus).
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