Renault say this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix will be their first opportunity to see where they are compared to the opposition.
Teams powered by the French engine manufacturer suffered numerous reliability problems during pre-season testing and whilst the situation has improved, Renault say there were in “recovery mode” for the first six races.
That said, Sebastian Vettel was forced to retire in Monaco due to a turbo failure on his Renault-powered Red Bull while a fuel pump problem meant that Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus failed to even make the start. Both Toro Rosso cars also dropped out after developing exhaust issues.
Nice and quotable in a ‘damages court case’ filed by Red Bull against Renault.
So….. the engine was so bad, that, prior to Canada, it could not even be considered as an effective F1 power unit?