The RE17 power unit is made to suit Renault RS17, engine technical director Remi Taffin explained at the launch of the new car.
“If you were able to look at the naked car and could evaluate the architecture, you would be able to see a lot of difference between last year’s unit and its installation and this year’s. The power unit is made to suit the car, and this is a fundamental difference. The engine and the chassis fit together, and not like a puzzle with the RS16. The RS17 is far more homogeneous”, Taffin said.
“We’ve also worked a lot on the weight, the cooling layout for both power unit and also aerodynamic performance, and then we have targeted a further step forward in performance. On the power unit side we made a good step last year with achieving our targets. We now need to take another step.”
Renault plans updates for the power unit according to its schedule for changing the engines. Taffin explained the cycle will be normal but the team has to achieve reliability with the first engines.
Remi Taffin: “On the power unit side we made a good step last year with achieving our targets. We now need to take another step”
Renault’s Chief Technical Officer Bob Bell feels very confident for the 2017 season:
“Our performance metrics show that we’ve made gains in a strong and consistent manner throughout its development. If you look at the car itself you will see tremendous attention to detail and sophistication, illustrating that it’s been designed by a talented and knowledgeable group of people. This is a proper Renault Formula 1 car and what we know about it so far gives me a lot of optimism.”
“The R.S.17 is the first real Renault Formula 1 car of the modern era. It’s a ground-up design as we had the time and the resources to do it, notwithstanding the fact that the change in the regulations demanded it. There is no carry-over in of componentry from 2016 to 2017, so it really has been a ‘clean sheet of paper’ approach.”
“The regulation changes are so fundamental that they represent a revolution in many regards. This is the chassis equivalent to the power unit regulation changes of 2014. And it’s certainly more fundamental than the last big chassis change in 2009. The desire for the change was to make the cars a lot quicker and with a more modern appearance without compromising safety. The numbers we’re looking at for lap time improvement does represent a sea-change in terms of performance.”
Bob is talking through the science bit. Also known as the 2017 regulation changes. We’re taking notes.#RS17Launch pic.twitter.com/O6IuPulgTn
— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) 21 February 2017
