Renault has confirmed that it is working on a completely new engine for the 2017 Formula 1 season.
Although the French manufacturer has made up ground on its rivals throughout the 2016 season, its 1.6-liter turbocharged V6 has always had trouble keeping pace since its introduction in 2014 and last year, Red Bull came close to leaving the sport because of the Renault powertrain.
Now, Renault team principal Fred Vasseur has revealed to Motorsport that the potential of the current engine had been reached and that a new one was on the cards.
“We have some good improvements in the pipeline. We will have a completely new engine next year.
“It is 100 percent new. It was the end of the development of the current one. We needed to do a step in order to move forward and we will do that. So far, everything is progressing and close to the expectations,” he said.
Mercedes has had a key advantage over its competitiors the last three seasons, predominately because its engine uses a split turbine and compressor.
Commenting on whether Renault’s new engine will feature the same concept, Vasseur said “It is a Renault concept…I think we don’t have to stick to the others on the engine.
“We made a very good improvement over the past six to eight months and if we want to do another step we need to change a little bit the concept. I think they did it.”
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