Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRenault

Mercedes 'hiding their game' - Taffin

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Renault engine technical director Remi Taffin says it is hard to compare with Mercedes because the team has been hiding performance.

Ferrari set the fastest time on five of the eight days of pre-season testing in Barcelona, with Mercedes only doing so once courtesy of a soft-tyre lap from Nico Rosberg. While Renault enjoyed a solid pre-season following its takeover of the Lotus team, Taffin says he is unsure how far away from the strongest power unit it will be this year.

"To be fair it's difficult to compare to Mercedes," Taffin said. "They are hiding their game and going to raise it when we get to Q3… in Silverstone!

"I guess we should be closer to them – but the gap will still be there. Depending on how we assess this season and the steps we can fit in, I think the aim is still, starting 2017, to be fighting with them if we are to produce overall a good car."

From Renault's own point of view, Taffin says the power unit development is set for 2016, with the French manufacturer knowing it can make sweeping changes next season when the restrictions from the token system are lifted.

"The programme is settled, we know when we wish to introduce new specification. Then, we are looking into 2017 as well. There are plenty of things that we are carrying from last year that we would like to change, we will try to change everything in one go."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.