Three engine failures during Formula One’s Mexican Grand Prix is a signal of concern for Renault heading into 2018, including for their new teams.
On Sunday in Mexico City, Max Verstappen took his Renault-powered Red Bull Racing machine to victory lane for the second time in 2017. It would have been a solid day for the French marque, if not for rampant engine failures around the field.
Brendon Hartley, Nico Hulkenberg, and Daniel Ricciardo all exited the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday with failures, some in spectacular fashion. But should that concern Renault heading into the 2018 Formula One season?
The issues for Renault were not just confined to the race, however. Both Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers, Pierre Gasly and Brendan Hartley, lost engines in practice. This also caused Gasly to miss qualifying on Saturday, forcing him to start at the rear of the field.
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Fortunately for Toro Rosso is perhaps the fact that they switch to Honda engines in 2018. However, Honda has been plagued with their own reliability issues over their recent return to F1, meaning the issues may be just beginning for Red Bull’s junior team.
For what it is worth, Motorsport.com reports that Renault simply “made an error” in the balance between reliability and speed for the Mexican Grand Prix. Blaming it in part on the highest elevation race of the Formula One calendar, Renault-powered team Red Bull Racing was reportedly on pins and needles as Max Verstappen raced the final laps ahead of victory.
Red Bull Racing wasn’t the only team worried as they watched Renault engines expire throughout the race. McLaren, who will use the French engines in 2018, watched closely and based on an interview on NBCSN, will debrief the incident with Renault this week.
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What does this mean for 2018? It is too early to tell if this will have any bearing on the performance of the Renault engines next year. The marque could have been testing a new setup for the next year in Mexico, knowing that both the manufacturers title and drivers title were out of reach. In any case, Renault will hope to bounce back with a more consistent performance in Brazil, while still powering one of their drivers to victory lane. What did you think of Renault’s performance on Sunday in Mexico City? Can they bounce back in two weeks in Brazil?