Renault's engine progress 'biggest since V6 introduction'

Renault believes that they have made 'substantial' progress with their engine for the 2019 season and believe that they are on track to start winning races by 2021. Renault F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul spoke about the developments that they have made with the engine. 

"No figure - but it is substantial," said Abiteboul, when asked by Autosport about the scale of the power step made.

"The furthest I will go is that it is the biggest we have ever done since the V6 [turbo-hybrid engine] introduction."

It is believed that the Renault RS19 will have over 950 horsepower.  

"It is very much new, and it is just pushing further the concept that we introduced and tested successfully with Red Bull - the C-spec that we elected not to run," he said.

"But it is OK because we had enough information and feedback by getting it on the Red Bull. It has really been pushed much further with this year's engine."

Renault was confirmed as 'best of the rest' by finishing fourth last season and now face the challenge of breaking into the top three. The Renault boss admits that race wins are unlikely in 2019.  

"To a certain degree I don't like what I am going to answer but I'd like to say that the most important thing is that we don't stop, we don't break the momentum that has started," said Abiteboul.

"For three years it is clear that we have a nice and steady progression, which is good both at the track and at the factory." 

Renault will hope that the progression the team is making remains constant and that they can get back to World Championship success in 2021.