Renault ready for 2006 changes
Formula One world champions Renault claim their preparations for 2006 are on target despite major rule changes in Formula One.
Fernando Alonso and Renault won the last championships to be run entirely with three-litre V10 engines before a reduction in capacity designed to cut rising speeds.
Next year Formula One will feature 2.4-litre V8 engines – although Squadra Toro Rosso will use restricted 2005 units – and engineers have faced a race against time.
FIA president Max Mosley’s late and controversial move to cut engine size gave teams just 18 months to prepare but Renault’s engine boss Rob White is confident all is going to plan.
He said: “The entire team is focused on arriving at the first race in Bahrain as well prepared as possible.
“We have accelerated our work to hit our performance and reliability milestones. There is still a lot of work to do, but we are on target.
“Our goal is to arrive well prepared at the first race of the 2006 season, and at the moment we are on target to do so.”
Renault technical director Bob Bell hopes to see his new engine on the test track in January, well after some of his rivals.
The likes of Toyota, Ferrari and Honda have already tested their V8 engines on track but Bell believes his patience will be rewarded.
“We have planned the project in a prudent, pragmatic way,” he added.
“Some rivals are already running a V8 engine on track, and we are not underestimating their performance, nor in any way overestimating our own.
“But we do not know what constraints they are operating under, or how their development philosophy compares to ours. We are confident we have the correct answer for our team.”
