Renault facing 'compromises' in midfield battle

Renault may have suffered four retirements in three races but Cyril Abiteboul feels it is a “compromise” they have to make in order to improve in the future.

Renault have managed to get their car to the finish line only twice this season, Australia and China.

In both those races the driver who finished, Nico Hulkenberg and then Daniel Ricciardo, did so in seventh place.

However, it is not just the Renault works drivers who have had problems with the engine.

Carlos Sainz retired from the Australian GP because of a MGU-K failure while Renault’s double DNF in Bahrain led to the French manufacturer updating their MGU-K.

Despite that Hulkenberg still retired a race later, China, due to a software issue.

Abiteboul isn’t happy with the failures but concedes it is part of progress.

“We have had another retirement, the fourth in six starts, three of these were due to reliability issues,” said the Renault team boss.

“If our objective this season – to widen the midfield gap – remains unchanged then we must accept to put in strong efforts to resolve these issues that could compromise our season.

“Nevertheless, we will push on and bring new elements over the next races.

“Baku is often unpredictable, the racing there is thrilling and it is an opportunity to capitalise on rivals’ errors whilst avoiding making some ourselves.”

Follow all the action from the Chinese Grand Prix with the PlanetF1 live centre

Source: Read Full Article