Ricciardo eyes ‘proper step’ from Renault engine in Canada

Daniel Ricciardo says Red Bull is expecting power unit supplier Renault to bring a significant evolution for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The French manufacturer updated its engine for the season-opening race in Australia, as it strives to catch up rivals Mercedes and Ferrari.

Asked whether he could feel any extra oomph from Renault’s latest specification, Ricciardo replied: “I do, but we're not talking a massive step yet.

“When you've already got x-hundred amount of horsepower and you get five or 10 extra horsepower, it's not a world of difference.

“You don't really feel an extra kick when you put your foot down.

“But I do feel like sort of top end, at the end of the straight, it just seems to run more, so it has a bit more legs in the last quarter of the straight.”

Ricciardo hopes Renault’s planned upgrade will help further cut the power deficit to the frontrunners.

“Once we get to – at the moment we're talking sort of Montreal - we should have a proper step,” the Australian added.

“And then hopefully I get some whiplash and some good g-forces through my neck!”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner praised Renault’s progress over the winter after Ricciardo claimed an encouraging fourth-place finish in the 2016 F1 curtain raiser.

The French manufacturer used the fewest engine development tokens ahead of the new campaign - only seven of the 32 available - but managing director Cyril Abiteboul quickly moved to say he still expected to see a step forward in performance during the course of the season.

Technical focus: 2016 F1 power units

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