Renault surprised by Ferrari’s power unit gains

Renault admits it is surprised by the gains Ferrari has made with its Formula 1 power unit since the season began.

The team’s technical director Nick Chester told media including RaceFans “they’ve definitely made a big step [around] Canada time.”

“And I’d say yeah, we are a bit surprised. We know they have a strong engine anyway, it’s really quite strong now.”

Speculation continues to surround the unique structure of Ferrari’s battery which is believed helps the team recover power more quickly.

There have also been claims the team is using an exhaust-blown rear wing similar to that which Renault has had since the beginning of the season. Chester said Renault isn’t aware Ferrari are doing the same, “but obviously it’s always hard to know what other teams are doing.”

Ferrari’s power advantage allows them to run high wing angles on their car, said Chester.

“It just seems to be [they have] more power unit output. Their straight-line speeds are very strong while running a sensible rear wing on the car. So they do seem to just have good power.”

Renault has faced stronger competition from Ferrari customer team Haas in recent races, which Chester says is partly due to the gains Ferrari have made.

“They’ve got a stronger engine and their car is a bit better in the high-speed corners,” he said. “We’ve tended to be a bit better in low-speed corners.

“So I think here for qualifying will probably be quite close and we know you just have to add developments to the car so we can move ahead of them on normal tracks, not just ones that focus on low-speed corners.”

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