Renault postpones its own development while Red Bull takes it onto the track

Renault F1 Team decided against intalling its feshly upgraded power unit and reminded its custormer team McLaren and Red Bull that the new specification may come with some reliability risks.

The French manufacturer has been working hard on its engine developments which is the third-specification of its 2018 power unit. The upgraded unit is available for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, however its introduction involves realibality concerns which forced the works team to postpone the new PU. However, Red Bull will give debut to the developed engine with installing it into Daniel Ricciardo’s car.

Renault’s engine technical director Remi Taffin estimated the performance gain to 0.3s per lap.

"The C Spec is an evolution of the current B Spec engine," Taffin explained. "It's significantly more powerful. Conversely, it's possibly not as reliable as the current generation, hence the different choices made by each team.

"Depending on fuel used, the power gain is in the order of 0.3s per lap in qualifying on a circuit like Monza, which is a substantial step forward."

Renault driver Nico Hülkenberg will get a fresh power unit after he will serve a grid-drop penalty which he recieved for ramming into Fernando Alonso’s McLaren at the start of the Belgian GP. Interestingly, Renault will stick to the second-specification PU for the German driver.

Taffin also confirmed that only the works Renault team has been using the lastest specification MGU-K. The previous version which caused multiple issues for Red Bull earlier in the season was upgraded to reinforce its sturdines. However, McLaren and Red Bull did not want to introduce it because it required alterations to its installation.