Renault to Debut Upgraded Engine at Monaco Grand Prix

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief

Following a successful test at Barcelona in Spain earlier this week, Renault is ready to push their upgraded power unit for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Renault believed it was reliable enough during testing to warrant an early debut, having originally set the debut for the Canadian Grand Prix, the race following Monaco.

By moving up the date, the French manufacturer will only be able to give one version to each of their two teams.

Overall, the new power unit is expected to be 0.5s faster per lap, according to Renault’s Engine Technical Director, Remi Taffin.

“The power unit we have used since the first race in Australia was really a continuation of the work started in the ‘Spec D’ power unit we introduced at the tail end of 2015,” Taffin stated.

“We explored some concepts in that earlier iteration and the 2016 unit took them further, for example, in the turbo.

“This new spec goes even further down the line and also includes significant modifications to the combustion system.

“It will make the ICE more powerful but also efficient, leading to a gain of around half a second per lap.

“We’ve used a small proportion of our token allocation for this upgrade.”

Image: Renault Sport Formula One Team

About Joey Barnes 624 Articles
Joey Barnes is the Founder of Motorsports Tribune, an outlet that began with the goal of helping aspiring journalists break into and grow the industry. A regular on the racing scene since 2013, the journey for Joey started by covering a Grand-Am event at Circuit of The Americas in his home state of Texas. He has since primarily focused on the IndyCar Series, with appearances in the garages of NASCAR, paddocks of Formula 1, IMSA and World Endurance Championship, while also occasionally engulfing clouds of dust at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and select Supercross rounds. With previous stops at Autoweek, IndyCar.com, Motorsport.com and RACER, among others, Joey evolved from the singular task as a freelance writer to advanced roles behind the copy desk and alongside some of the best editorial teams in the business. Recognized as a multi-time award winner by the National Motorsports Press Association, Joey currently resides in Dallas-Fort Worth with his trusty four-legged canine companion, Rocket.

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