Renault Sport F1 Spanish Grand Prix Preview

(Renault Sport F1)

Renault Sport F1 head into this weekend’s opening race of the European season, the Spanish Grand Prix at the Barcelona Circuit De Catalunya following an extremely difficult race for the French manufacturer last time out as Daniel Ricciardo suffered his third power unit failure of the season out of the four for the year that are available.

As a result it is likely that the Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver will at some point during the season be forced to take a ten place power unit grid penalty.

Despite his power unit failure right at the end of the race which meant he couldn’t cross the line, Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finished the race in sixth place while his team mate Daniil Kvyat ended the event in 9^th respectively.

It was a disappointing race for the Scuderia Toro Rosso due as both Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz retired from the race. Speaking ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, Renault Sport F1’s Director of Operations Remi Taffin stated:

‘Barcelona is much more of a traditional circuit than the first four tracks we have visited so far this year. The layout flows a lot more, with high and medium speed corners rather than tight, slow hairpins and long straights. It also has changes of altitude as the track follows the contours of the hills. As such, the circuit represents medium difficulty for the Power Units, which subsequently have to deliver good all-round performance across all the parts.

The three week gap has given us an opportunity to look at all the information from the start of the season. We have been flat out to counter the issues encountered early on and we will have a modified spec of engine for this race that should give improved reliability and driveability. We are looking forward to Spain to see our hard work in action.’

© Ben Johnston 2015