Renault says ﷺthe early signs from its all-new Formula 1 engine look “very promising” ahead of the 2019 season. 

The Fꦏrench manufacturer has developed a new power unit for the upcoming campaign in a bid to close up on the performance benchmark set by rivals Mercedes and Ferrari. 

Last season Renault recorded its best result since returning to F1 as a full works outfit in 2016 with fourth place in th🐻e constructors’ standings, while the squad ha𝓰s prized Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull to lead its 2019 charge alongside team regular Nico Hulkenberg. 

“We’re very optimistic on the engine side,” said executive director Marcin Budkowski when asked by how the development on Renault’s new engine design was go⭕ing. 

“But the engine is like the chassis side - it’s never finished until you close the engine that ♌goes t🌟o the first race. 

“It is very promising in terms of performance but we still have to cross the t’s and dot the i’s in terms of reliability aಌnd durability etc, which we are doing now🌠 in Viry-Chatillon. 

“We are still doing work on the engines that will start the year, and in the end  performance and reliability is a trade-off. You can extract more performance from any engine but it might not last the number of races, the number of se👍ssions you want i𒐪t to. 

“So we will have to see where that cursor stops𝓡 in terms of performance versus reliability. But we are optimistic.” 

Budkowski admitted Renault is keeping ꦍtabs on Red Bul🍬l’s progress with new power unit supplier Honda and sees an opportunity to capitalise should the move backfire. 

“Definitely any kiﷺnd of shake-up is an o💫pportunity,” he said. “It’s a threat as well. We are making progress on our engine development. 

“I’m sure Honda, Merced🎶es an𒁃d Ferrari are all making progress as well. In relative terms, we’ll see where they end up.” 

Renault 2019 F1 car all-new bar power steering

Budkowski also revealed that Renault’s 2019 challenger is a completely new design, with 🍌only the power steering system used last year being carried over, in a renewed push to find added performance. 

“It’s always challenging to get a car out,” Budkowski explained. “There’s thousands and thousands of parts that we have 🦩to do. 

“The only thing we carried over from last year’s car is the power steering. That gives you an idea that all of the res꧒t is changing and it’s c♋hanging because we are trying to squeeze more performance from every area. 

“It takes a big effort♔ to do everything from scratch, and with the regulations, but at the end of t🤪he day it is a performance goal. 

“The later you leaveꦐ it the more performance you have but the more stressful it is to get it out on time.” 

Renault has passed the mandatory FIA crash tests ahead of its season launch event at its Enstone base on February 12 - in which it will unveil its 2019 F1 car ahead of pre-season testing which begins in Barcelona the fo🧸llowing week. 

When asked if everything is on target ahe🔯ad of testing, Budkowski replied: “It’s tight. It🐻’s very tight. 

“It’s always tight and if it wasn’t it would be wrong because by definition you leave everything as late as possible to try to ওget as much performance as you can before you commit to manufacturing the parts and getting them onto the car. 

“🦄We’ve left it late and hopefully it’s because of the right reasons in terms of performance and we are going to get a car in time for the first test and the launch but that’s how it should be.”