Renault clarifies alternator failures
Renault's Rémi Taffin clears up some of the question marks that were raised after the mechanical failures from Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean during today's European GP. On both cars the alternator of the Renault engine failed, but it appears the reasons are different.
Rémi Taffin, head of Renault Sport F1 track operations:
"A very dramatic race on almost every lap! Congratulations to Kimi on his result, equalling his best of the year, and to our partners at Lotus for reading the race exactly right and scoring its fifth podium of the season. Well done to Mark Webber as well for a great race from the back of the grid – with everything that was happening that’s no mean achievement."
"However we do need to hold our hands up and apologise to both Red Bull and Lotus on the problems on the sister cars of Sebastian and Romain. Both suffered alternator failures, although it seems for different reasons at this point in time. Sebastian’s overheated and the engine shut down, while Romain’s alternator failed and the electrical power to the engine stopped."
"We will of course thoroughly investigate the reasons for this when we get the units back to Viry to try and ensure that Red Bull and Lotus, plus our other partners, do not have the same issue in the future. Similarly, we will also work to understand the reasons for Heikki’s KERS failure – there is a lot of work to be done between now and Silverstone but we have a strong team and resources in the factory."
