Frederic Vasseur has confirmed in a statement to Motorsport that Renault is working on a completely new concept of thruster unit for the season 2017.
The mark of the diamond has suffered significantly in the first two years of development of thrusters hybrid but, after deciding to invest in a factory team, the progress made in the field of engine have been remarkable and that has allowed Red Bull to get close to the head and to renew his contract and the Toro Rosso.
Now, Renault wants to take the next step, which is to catch Mercedes and allow their teams to ascend on the grill. “We have some good improvements planned. We’re going to have a completely new engine next year. It is 100% new. Has come to the end of the development of the current. We need to take a step forward and we will. So far, everything is progressing according to expectations”, confirmed Frederic Vasseur.
Vasseur said that the new concept is not an evolution of what’s seen in the rest of the bikers, but that is a philosophy of its own and is exclusive to Renault. “Is a concept from Renault… I Think that we don’t have to follow others. We made a very good improvement in the last six or eight months and if we take another step we need to change a bit the concept. I think that what we have done. We improved during the winter. We would expect the same for the next year and during the season. When we make a decision on a project, it is because we were at the end of the concept, and, to give another step forward, we need to change a little bit that concept”, said Vasseur, who, with the factory team already settled after the purchase of Lotus, expects to be able to come closer to the podiums in the medium term.
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