In a recent interview with F1i, Remi Taffin, the newly appointed director of operations at Renault Sport F1, said the 2015 version of the French power unit did not run at its full capacity during the recent Jerez tests.
“In terms of design, we’ve focused our efforts on the V6 internal combustion engine to make it more efficient, as well as the ERS to strengthen reliability”, Taffin told F1i. “We’d already improved our level of performance at the end of last year, so our 2015 power unit is more an evolution than a revolution. Mercedes’ design is quite different so we elected not to go that way and decided to use our experience to optimise our own concept instead,” he added. Taffin explained that the first Jerez tests were performed with an intentionally detuned engine. “Right now, we are not running the specifications we’ll use in Melbourne,” he said. “We’re only at 80 or 90% and will gradually pick up the pace and gain momentum to reach 100% by the season opener. Most developments will have been brought in the early stages of the season, but we’ll keep some cards up our sleeves to improve the overall package during the year,” the French engineer explained. “We have been quite aggressive in our development calls on the 2015 power unit. Therefore, some parts had not been thoroughly tested on the dyno prior to taking to the track [in Jerez]. We’ve already put in place measures to prevent any further issues,” Taffin concluded.
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