

Renaultsport F1 will introduce an upgraded V6 engine at the Monaco Grand Prix. The French manufacturer has been plagued by poor performance and unreliability since the season started and has revealed that it has exploited a rule introduced at the start of the 2014 season.

The Sporting regulations were quietly amended in March to allow modifications to the power units on the grounds of cost, safety or reliability, but notably not for performance. Renault has taken advantage of this.

It has been suggested that any change to improve reliability would be likely to bring a direct performance gain.

“I think it will give us performance, because the engine will last longer but I don’t think we will gain in terms of power” Remi Taffin claimed at Monaco. For a change such as this to be made all of the rival manufacturers must approve the modifications, but despite this Renault was reluctant to release details. Though it is known that Renault is using a new fuel blend from Total.

Some of Renault’s customer teams will get the new engines in Monaco while the rest will likely get them in Montreal.

