Sunday 19 April 2015

Renault Sport F1 Bahrain Grand Prix race report - double DNF for Scuderia Toro Rosso

(Renault Sport F1)

Renault Sport F1 had a mixed Bahrain Grand Prix as Infiniti Red Bull Racing secured a double points finish while the Scuderia Toro Rosso duo Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz failed to finish the race. Although Ricciardo finished the race for Red Bull his Renault power unit blew right at the end of the race and he failed to make across the finish line.

Ricciardo is now down to his final power unit of the season as he has suffered three power unit finishes in the opening four Grand Prix of the season. Speaking following the race Renault Sport F1’s Director of Operations Remi Taffin commented by saying:

Two points scoring positions with Red Bull are the most we could have hoped for today. We were conservative with the PU settings as we knew we were at a potential risk of problems. We just got to the end of the race with Red Bull. At Toro Rosso, it was not their day today as Carlos looked set for another points finish before his retirement. With regards to Max, it looks like an electrical problem. With three weeks to the next race we will look in detail at the first four races – the positive, as well as the negative. We will also look at more permanent fixes to the problems experienced and take further steps forward on all fronts.

Renault Sport F1’s Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul commented on the Bahrain Grand Prix by saying:

It wasn’t a memorable weekend for us in any way, but we did what we needed to do. We came here aware of the risks from the previous race, and considering the starting positions, sixth and ninth is the best we could have hoped for with Red Bull today. Toro Rosso did not fulfil the potential, and a double retirement is a disappointment after the strong performances of the first few races. Another engine problem is definitely not what we wanted to see, but I will take as a positive sign that it was at the very end and did not impact the final result of Daniel. Reliability has been our Achilles Heel since the last two races, but with 18 days to go before the first session in Spain, we have the time to introduce the more permanent fixes we have in the pipeline and start making the performance steps we are all keen to make.

© Ben Johnston 2015

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