Renault had a 10% power deficit to Mercedes last year and has shown few signs of significantly reducing that this year while still struggling with reliability. Daniel Ricciardo has already experienced one engine failure this weekend in Australia and Newey cannot see things changing any time soon.

“It’s very frustrating that we’ve been pushed into a position where we’ve got an engine which is quite a long way behind, with all sorts of failings, and with no obvious light at the end of the tunnel,” he was quoted by the Guardian. “You can say: ‘Okay, Mercedes have done such a good job, Ferrari are now doing a better job and Renault haven’t got it together.’ But at the same time I think the FIA needs to be a bit more active rather than being completely passive and saying: ‘Well, that’s not our problem.’ They can’t just give up – there has to be some governance.”

Renault is focusing all of its attention on the two Red Bull-owned teams this year, but Newey claims the working relationship is still far from perfect.

“It’s one thing being in the position where you’re not competitive but you can see your way out of it. It’s another thing when you’re not competitive and your partner doesn’t seem to be willing to engage.

“I honestly don’t know the reason for it. It seems to be: ‘Yes, we hear you say’, talk. In pre-season testing, we had 12 days and a filming day in which I think we had six major failures. So our mileage was very restrictive through engine problems and as measured by the torque sensor through those tests, the power we have is exactly the same as last year.”