Cyril Abiteboul has confirmed that the Renault engine has exceeded 1000 Horse Power mark and that he can prove this through GPS measurements. However, Max Verstappen did not believe this at the beginning of August.
Verstappen drove at Red Bull with a Renault engine for a number of seasons but struggled with the lack of reliability and power. The Dutchman finds it hard to believe that this year they have hit 1000HP.
"If that is really the case, then their car must be really bad!" Verstappen said.
Abiteboul has responded and explained how they achieved it.
"We have a powerful power unit, there is no doubt about that," Abiteboul said to Auto Hebdo. "We have passed the 1000 horsepower some Grands Prix ago. We know that there are people who are skeptical and make jokes about it," the Frenchman refers to Verstappen's statement. "But the data and GPS measurements tell us that it is really right."
"We just can't always use it because the engine is at risk," he refers to reliability. "If you look at our level in Montreal, Spa and Monza, there can be no criticism. The reality is that we started a reorganization in Viry in 2016 (the factory is there) And that three years later we have a top engine."
Abiteboul will hope that the engine becomes more reliable and that they can become a genuine force in Formula 1 once again.