Magnussen feels Renault power unit gains

2016 F1 season

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Kevin Magnussen says Renault has found more than just extra power from its upgraded power unit.

“It’s definitely been a positive test,” said Magnussen at the end of today’s running. “The power unit feels stronger and has better drive-ability and there are some other good improvements too.”

A lot is riding on the performance of Renault’s upgraded power unit which it and Red Bull have run at this week’s test at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Esteban Ocon sampled the new engine yesterday and the Renault has run strongly throughout the test, its two drivers logging almost three-and-a-half race distances in total.

“That was a full day for me and a productive one,” said Magnussen. “I think the only issue I experienced all day was wanting to take my helmet off for a little break.”

“The car feels good and it was great to conduct such a wide variety of assessments as it shows we’re clearly making progress. It wasn’t just me busy in the car, all the crew were flat out changing bits or adding or removing rakes so a big thanks to everyone for their hard work after the race here.”

Technical director Nick Chester said: “We’ve now run for two long days with the latest specification power unit with no major issues or concerns.”

“We’ve tested all the aero and mechanical parts we wanted which allows us to plan our next race upgrades effectively.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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15 comments on “Magnussen feels Renault power unit gains”

  1. If true Red Bull may be the second best and Monaco will be fun to watch. Hopefully Red Bull are close in Montreal as I will be attending my home GP……I almost gave myself goosebumps but it’s never the same without the sound. Boy I miss the screaming engines. You could almost hear it in Hull,Quebec back in the V8 days….now you can’t hear it from one side of the track to the other.

    1. … and, Boy, what an improvement that is…so much more depth and detail…

    2. I think they were planning to use the upgraded engine from Canada and onwards. But Monaco, should give red bull a very fine chance anyways. Their mechanical grip out of the slow corners is clearly the best of all.

  2. And they didn’t want Ilmor thank RB for shaming Renault.

    1. They mainly did not want Ilmor on Red Bulls terms (with RBR paying for him and gaining part of the IP to the power unit) @peartree, off course their French pride also played its part, but its not everything.

      1. @bascb I wasn’t aware of that, anyhow it’s great that Renault has taken their advice after defiantly going against Ilmor’s direction and introducing the fabled Interlagos ICE. @pyon It’s not Ilmor’s engine, it is Renault’s and Ilmor’s Engine, Mark.

        1. It is not until you can prove otherwise. As far as i know Ilmor is contractred by Renault and this is mainly around using their extra test rig.

          I have read a few info last year about Ilmor helping with the Ice development, and then Renault deciding to take another direction. Even more, what make you think the upgrade above is solely around the ice? While i am sure Ilmor have helped a bit with the Renault upgrade i cannot possibly understand why you would say this is “theirs”.

          F1 industry is always working with contracted third parties in plenty of developments area (aero, manifacturing, engine etc), this is nothing new and surely never remove any credit for the main team. In my opiniom this also has to be true for Renault.

    2. @peartree
      Are you saying this is Ilmor engine? Or the improvement can be attributed to Ilmor? Have you got any source to backup your claims?

      Sounds like a completely random comment to me.

      1. agreed, random comment it seems, many in here just let words fly out of their mouth like its the trueth. I’m cautious when it comes to not giving Renault any credit for their engine. Why shouldn’t they get credit? it seems they never do no matter what they do.

  3. So was the Renault power unit being tested here this week still different between the Renault factory team and the Red Bull team also testing the new ‘Renault’ engine?
    E.g. Renault brought new units to be tested, but the one unit in the Red Bull car had gone through some additional tuning/customization at Ilmor?

    1. Fudge Ahmed (@)
      19th May 2016, 9:52

      No. The upgraded unit is the same for both teams, the engine is solely Renault’s IP.

  4. I wonder; does the PU they use for testing count as 1 out of the 5(?) they may use without penalty this year?

    1. To the Max !
      19th May 2016, 13:05

      The engine being used in testing doesn’t count.

  5. @Bustertje
    It doesn’t count, but it can also not be used in the races. It is for testing only.

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